Real Probiotic Strain Diversity In 2022
The microbiome, the scientific name for the environment inside your gut, is a complex masterpiece of evolutionary design. Your gut naturally contains about 40 trillion (with a "T") bacteria cells divided amongst a thousand different strains of bacteria. This equates to about five pounds of bacteria in your gut!
We're Constantly Killing Off Our Good Gut Bacteria
This microbiome ecosystem can unfortunately become easily disrupted, and since scientists are now calling this system our "second brain," any disruption can have serious health consequences. Medications, especially antibiotics, can exterminate your gut bacteria, both good and bad. Poor diet, chlorinated water, illness, and stress can also wreak havoc. Once this delicate balance has been disrupted, it is vital that you take action to replenish your good gut bacteria so that you don't suffer from compromised digestion and immunity.
Your gut bacteria isn't going to spontaneously regenerate out of thin air so you have to put it back in with fermented foods and supplements. We need to replace as many of the probiotic strains as possible to get our microbiome back in working order, so the more strains you have in your supplement the better. In other words, acidophilus is great, but it can't power your microbiome on its own.
Many probiotic companies have embraced probiotic strain diversity – a fancy way of saying they have several unique types of probiotic in their formula. This is a good thing because different types of good bacteria provide specific health benefits. However, there is a problem, which is that most probiotic formulas only provide diversity at the species level rather than the genus level. What does that mean?
The Zoo In Your Gut
A great analogy for probiotic diversity is a zoo. Diversity at the species level would be like a zoo that only has birds. The zoo might have parrots, toucans and flamingos, but it doesn’t have any other types of animals such as tigers, zebras or pandas. While appealing to bird lovers, this type of zoo wouldn’t provide any benefit to other animal enthusiasts.
The same thing happens with probiotics. Diversity at the genus level – a broader breakdown of probiotics where they are classified in families that have certain traits and provide certain health benefits – gives you a more complete probiotic supplement. In fact, different genera of probiotics reside in different parts of your digestive system where they support critical functions. Today, we know that diversity at the genus level is more important than diversity at the species level. That’s why Amplified Probiotics contains five genera of probiotics when most other brands only contain one to two.
"Diversity At The Genus Level Is More Important Than Diversity At The Species Level"
These genera include:
Lactobacillus- colonize in the small intestine, help regulate pH in the gut
Bifidobacteria- colonize in the large intestine, promote regularity
Saccharomyces- spore-forming and durable, fight yeast, anti-diarrheal
Bacillus- spore-forming and durable, help maintain the gut barrier, prime the immune system
Streptococcus- assist in the digestion of dairy, support other probiotics
This gives our product true probiotic diversity, and therefore a diverse range of health benefits. With Amplified Probiotics, you can get your microbiome back in great working order, fast, so that your digestion and immune system don't miss a beat in the new year!