My Stance on Hemostatic Soil Organism (HSO) "Probiotic" Supplements. HSO's Part 1 - HSO's Not as Safe as They Are Believed to Be! One of the largest pieces of misinformation exchanged in the natural health blogosphere is the notion that HSO organisms are 100% safe. HSO stands for hemostatic soil organism. HSOs are a form of probiotics that can be obtained when one has eaten soil, food fermented with HSO’s, or soil-covered vegetables and fruits.
It has been theorized that these HSOs have always lived in human intestines because ancient humanity did not properly wash and sanitize their fruits and vegetables. Ancient man ate dirt! There may be some truth to HSO native flora, some people have been discovered to have Bacillus subtilis as normal gut flora. Jini Thompson gives her opinion of HSO’s in her following blog post: “On page 108 of the IBD remission diet, I suggest that readers may want to try a product called Primal Defense after they’ve been completely healed for 3-5 months. However, since meeting the founder and president of Natren, Inc. I’m very sorry for any confusion this may have caused you. July 2003. HSO's Part 2 - Is Bacillus subtilis Dangerous? Bacillus Subtilis: Any Benefit of the Bacteria Is Not Worth The Risk I will not recommend any probiotic that contains any strains from the Bacillus genus, including Bacillus subtilis, to my clients.
I will not even recommend the world-renowned probiotic Primal Defense. Primal Defense comes highly recommended for digestive ailments by most of the experts in the natural health blogosphere. I believe that the risk of supplementing with this particular “probiotic” is too great, compared to any benefit towards your health that you possibly obtain from it. The most common claimed probiotic bacteria in the Bacillus genus is Bacillus subtilis.
Endospores are dormant, tough encapsulations that protect the bacteria from your immune system, antibiotics, antibacterials, and even probiotics. In the rare case that subtilis became opportunistic, it would be almost impossible to eliminate using standard antimicrobials. But What About Bacillus subtilis That Is Ingested in Food? HSO's Part 3 - I Do Not Recommend Prescript Assist. Want to learn all about the HSOs in Prescript Assist? Get a copy of Fix Your Gut. Everyone in the natural health community loves Prescript Assist; I guess I am a lone wolf. From Sisson, to Asprey, to Kresser, everyone believes that Prescript Assist or HSO’s are the best things since sliced gluten free bread. The sad thing is most of the time I agree with Kresser, but this time I cannot stand firmly behind one of my mentors. However, why is that?
Well, in theory, Prescript Assist appears to be a perfect HSO supplement. Endospores are dormant, tough encapsulations that protect the bacteria from your immune system, antibiotics, antibacterials, and even probiotics. Kresser goes as far as to say that the HSO’s found in Prescript Assist are: “Finally, Prescript-Assist microflora are recognized Class 1 Etiological Agents, non-toxic, non-pathogenic, from independently maintained lines — this is well documented in both of the Clinical Therapeutics Articles.
The Issues with Prescript Assist. Another Look at Prescript Assist. Rob and Rachel, friends of mine over at Modern Life Survivalist do a lot of great work blogging about lesser known issues like mold toxicity and multiple chemical sensitivity. Rob took Prescript Assist off and on for the past few months and had differing effects from the HSO probiotic. I do not recommend the use of Prescript Assist as a probiotic. It is unknown if most of the HSO’s in Prescript Assist are part of normal human flora. Many of the HSO’s also have non-existent human studies and no research done on human safety. More information about the interaction between these HSO’s and their human hosts might be known once the human microbiome project is completed, but for now, it is truly unknown if any of these bacteria are natural flora in your gut microbiome.
That being said some people do have positive experiences with the supplement. Rob does initially, Prescript Assist helping him recover from his digestive issues and mold toxicity. HSO's Part 4 - What About Saccharomyces boulardii? I know that I have been bashing HSOs lately with hard science. Maybe I should recommend a “HSO” probiotic for a change. There is only one “HSO” I can recommend as a probiotic supplement and that “HSO” is Saccharomyces boulardii. Saccharomyces boulardii is a strain of beneficial yeast that is a soil based organism and is only found as normal gut flora in humans that eat lychee fruit on a regular basis. Saccharomyces boulardii has great potential to help with digestive disorders BUT like all other probiotic bacteria, you should supplement it with caution. S. boulardii was discovered in the 1920’s by French biologist, Henri Boulard, while he was in Southeast Asia looking for a strain of heat-resistant yeast to help production of wine. A cholera outbreak occurred during his exploration.
Boulard noted that natives would either chew on the skins of lychee / mangosteen fruit or make tea with the skins to relieve diarrhea. HSO's Part 5 - Did Our Ancestors Gorge Themselves on Dirt? Dirt is rich in HSO’s! Some people in the Paleo movement are suggesting you consume your homegrown dirt covered fruits and vegetables without fully washing them. Ancient man did not wash his produce thoroughly, why should we? The Paleo blogosphere links the lack of the ingestion of soil in our diet to modern digestive issues and even disease. It is true that an increase of overall exaggerated hygiene and overuse of antibiotics has led to an explosion of health complications.
But is eating dirt the safest answer to these problems? Was Humanity the Originator of Hygiene? The idea of hygiene did not begin with humans. Even from the very beginning animals, knew that microorganisms were the cause of disease and hygiene. So you might be asking yourself, what do animals having standards of hygiene have anything to do with washing fruits and vegetables? Did Our Ancestors Wash Their Food? Humans have not always known that microorganisms were the true cause of disease.
HSO's Part 6 - What About Enterococcus faecalis? Everyone believes I have a vendetta against HSO’s. Maybe I do, maybe I do not. Honestly, I am just tired of everyone saying that HSO’s or that probiotics in general have no side effects whatsoever and that they are perfectly safe. Probiotics are our friends everyone loves to claim. People need to learn that bacteria are out for themselves, just like most humans! Bacteria are in a commensal relationship with us. This commensal relationship does not mean however that they will not stab us in the back if it is in their favor.
Bacteria will help us as long as we make it worth their while and do not ever give them the chance to turn on us. Enterococcus faecalis is a prime example of this commensal relationship. Enterococcus faecalis can become opportunistic and has been known to cause life-threatening sepsis in humans. Enterococcus faecalis is the main probiotic found in doctor Ohhira’s probiotic. HSO's Part 7 - Why I Do Not Recommend MegaSporeBiotic or My Issues With Bacillus licheniformis.
My Issues With Bacillus licheniformis What about a new probiotic that produces antioxidants once it propagates in your intestinal tract. Sounds great right? A probiotic supplement that, in addition, claims to: Be designed by nature.Survive the harsh stomach environment.Requires no refrigeration.Include a strain that is the most widely used in the world.Helps regulate the immune system.
The probiotic supplement with all this and more is known as MegaSporeBiotic! To be honest, if you give me any product – even those that I recommend – I can find something untrue or at least “bending” the truth when it comes to claims made about the product. MegaSpore makes a claim that the Bacillus species used in their supplement are the most widely researched and used in the world.
MegaSpore also makes a claim that Bacillus indicus HU36 would produce a wide variety of carotenoid antioxidants once it colonizes the large intestine. Bacillus licheniformis. HSO’s Part 8 – Why I Am on the Fence in Recommending Bacillus Coagulans. I continued to get asked quite frequently here at Fix Your Gut is there any HSO that you trust? If people remember I recommend S. boulardii as an HSO probiotic that I believe has benefits that outweighs risks when it is needed. That being said some people still react negatively to S. boulardii and there have been reported cases of fungemia. Most people continue to ask me if there is any bacterial HSO that I can recommend to take. Well, I always had this blog on the back of my mind to write, in the hope that the use of Bacillus coagulans would increase, and more research and studies would prove the safety of what I believe to be the superior Bacillus HSO. We do not sadly have those safety studies yet, so I cannot fully recommend it, but what I can tell you about this HSO is promising in those who want to use a HSO to try to improve their digestive health.
Bacillus coagulans is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, endospore forming, L-lactate producing bacteria. Lower inflammatory responses. HSO's Part 9 - Why I Do Not Recommend Just Thrive AKA MegaSporeBiotic Lite. Kiran seems to be at it again with a “re-branding” of MegaSporeBiotic known as Just Thrive. Just Thrive is very slick in its presentation and is available for sale on the retail market. Is there much difference between MegaSporeBiotic and Just Thrive?
Do I recommend Just Thrive over Megasporebiotic, even if I consider it to be the lite version? Are there any more studies to shed light on why I do not recommend most HSO probiotics? Just Thrive = MegaSporeBiotic Lite Imagine my surprise when I was shopping in my local grocery store, and I came across Just Thrive being sold in stores, and yes, I do check the digestive product and supplement aisles in pharmacies from time to time, I want to see what is being offered. Megasporebiotic contains one more billion colony forming units (four billion) per capsule compared to Just Thrive which contains three billion colony forming units per capsule. HSO Probiotics From The Bacillus Genus, Not As Safe As Everyone Claims. Soil Based Organism Probiotics – The Reality | CFS Remission. I think the easiest way to start a discussion is to look at what is in Swanson Ultra Dynamic Balance Blend Soil-Based Organisms. What! Those are “normal” probiotics!
What is going on???? If you go over to Primal Defence probiotics you see a similar list of probiotics with the comment “homeostatic soil organisms”. The harsh reality is that most probiotics are obtained from non-human sources. The diagram below shows the various strains for L.Reuteri. Why is the source important? You can usually assume that 99% of probiotics that you buy are not from human sources. While these foreign bacteria are in your system, they are producing chemicals (metabolites) that favor your own missing bacteria reviving. What can happen is a change, a new cross-supporting population – as illustrated by this report: A reader wrote: Hi Ken i Have report after using Symbioflor-2 I took it for nearly one and half week.
It looks like that the E.coli could be displacing the Enterococcus. Dr. Just Thrive Probiotics – Update | CFS Remission. In a recent post I suggested MegaSporeBiotic because it is full of different bacillus species [but only if you do not have histamine issues]. A reader pointed me at John Brisson’s blog on megaspore. He raises a valid question in his post “Why I Do Not Recommend MegaSporeBiotic or My Issues With Bacillus licheniformis”.
I reviewed this in a year ago with a do not take if you have histamine issues The Bacillus licheniformis strain is not identified nor it’s safety is unknown. “Bacillus licheniformis is one of the worst offending soil based “probiotics” and is known to cause food poisoning, septicemia, peritonitis, and ophthalmitis. John was kind enough to send me a followup draft. As a FYI, Bacillus Indicus HU36 was obtained from the ocean [2015]. John raises valid questions about safety with the assumption of no major illnesses [Future link to his updated post will be here].