Do-It-All Immune Probiotic Bacillus Clausii Is The Strain You Want For Respiratory Health
Up until now, Bacillus strains including B. clausii, B. subtilis, and B. coagulans, unlike the species of Lactobacillus, were not considered as a part of the normal intestinal microbiome.
Researchers thought these soil microorganisms were only “guests” of our gut, but recent studies show that they are present in the human GI tract in amounts significantly higher than what can be explained by their ingestion with food alone.
What’s even more interesting is that there appears to be very good reason for the presence of this bacteria in our gut: immune and respiratory support.
In nature, Bacillus bacteria and its spores are found near decomposing plants and in fertile soil.
These hearty, nearly indestructible spores are inadvertently consumed by humans and animals and germinate in their digestive tracts.
Bacillus clausii is thus able to survive passage through the acidic environment of the stomach and has a rapidly growing list of health benefits that puts it solidly in probiotic (beneficial bacteria) status.
Clausii’s health benefits have been linked to several properties, such as antimicrobial and immune modulating activity, regulation of cell growth and differentiation, cell signaling, cell adhesion, signal transcription and transduction, production of vitamins and gut protection.
Clausii can amazingly colonize the intestine even in the presence of antibiotics which means it can be a deterrent to opportunistic bacteria and yeast infections.
3 month treatment with Bacillus clausii in the prevention of recurrent respiratory infections (RRI) in children.
A study out of Italy featured eighty children with RRI: half of them were randomly treated with B. clausii for 3 months, and followed up on after completion of treatment for a further 3 months; the other half were included in the control group during the same period.
The children treated with B. clausii had a shorter duration of respiratory infection in comparison with the control group both during the treatment phase and the follow-up period.
The researchers concluded that B. clausii may exert a significant and persistent impact on treating respiratory infection in children and is safe and well tolerated.
The possible mechanism of action may be due to its modulatory activity on the immune response or in other words, making the immune system smarter and more efficient.
In fact, RRI may be linked to immaturity of the immune system during the first and second years of infancy and B. clausii may “train” and redirect an infant’s immune response to more safely and effectively fight infections.