Can Probiotics Reduce IBS Symptoms?

Short answer: yes. Long answer: not in the way you think!

It’s often inferred that once we take the magical liquid (probiotics), the good bacteria colonises our gut and replaces any that were missing and we’re good to go. However, that’s not the case.

The issue with probiotics is that they don’t actually colonise the gut. Anything entering our body that isn’t recognised by our immune system is instantly destroyed. We can see this in the case of organ transplants, where the receiver has to take a program of immunosuppressants to ensure that the body doesn’t reject the new organ. The same is for probiotics. Any bacteria, good or bad is rejected by our immune system and promptly destroyed. The only time you could take probiotics and it would actually colonise the gut is if you were a new-born baby (as within 2-3 weeks of being born, they have an immunity window).

A research study gave probiotics to an infant (during the immunity window) and their mother and found that the organisms from the probiotics were still in the baby’s stool 2 years later. However, it disappeared from the mother’s stool as soon as she stopped taking it. Hence proving that probiotics do not stay in the gut very long.

However, here’s the good news. It doesn’t need to be in the gut for very long in order to have an impact. Bacteria from probiotics can have beneficial effects on the bowel whilst they are passing along it, even if they don’t live there forever. According to Professor John Hunter, author of Irritable Bowel Solutions, probiotics can assist in ‘reducing fermentation, suppress inflammation, help break down bile acids, reduce the secretion of mucus and fluids into the intestine and stop other bacteria attaching themselves to the lining of the gut’. All of which can help greatly in reducing IBS symptoms.