Testing for Probiotics

[Christopher]

I recently learned that it is possible to get tested in order to find out which probiotics are suitable for your gut. I was doing ok with probiotics until 1 dose of Culturelle gave me severe brain fog, and after that became allergic to the probiotic I had been taking before with no problem. It seems the Culturelle upset the balance in my gut for the worse.

Am I correct that there is testing that can be done to determine which strains of probiotics might be beneficial and which to avoid?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Little Bluestem]

Good question. Does anyone have an answer?

 

[DadgummedShango]

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but it might be of interest nonetheless.

http://ubiome.com/

UBiome is a citizen science project that offers to sequence your gut bacteria for your info, but also collates its customers' data for their own research purposes (presumably to further elucidate the functions etc of the microbiome.) As far as I'm aware, they make no recommendations on the basis of the results, but I would be mildly wary of companies purporting they can do so, as microbiomics is an area in its relative infancy.

If you have any further joy I'd be interested to hear for my own interest. Best of luck.

 

[Waverunner]

Another possibility next to ubiome is American gut: http://americangut.org/