Best probiotic for IBS – Irritable Bowel Syndrome

In this article we’re going to discuss which probiotic strain is the most effective for people with IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome). We’re going to look at the science behind this, what real people are experiencing, and why some probiotics work so much better than others.

There are so many different types of probiotics on the market that it can be a daunting task to try to choose the best one. There are also many different types of IBS – from having diarrhea, constipation, bloating, pain, excess gas, etc. Let’s try to understand what is really going on.

First of all, a lot of probiotics don’t work very well because they die as soon as they are ingested. Even if you see a certain type of probiotic has a lot of CFU, 25 billion for example, that doesn’t mean they will reach the gut alive. The stomach acids kill most of them immediately, and once they are dead they are ineffective. You can read in more detail about this in our article about bacillus coagulans.

The good news is there is a very promising strain of probiotics called bacillus coagulans. It is a spore forming probiotic that is stable at room temperature, and it is very robust. It not only survives, but actually thrives and proliferates once inside the gut. The bacillus coagulans produces the right type of lactic acid (The L+ form) and other essential fatty acids. These help to increase the levels of “good bacteria” and decrease the levels of “bad bacteria” in the gut. Once you have a healthy balance of these types of bacteria, or a healthy gut microbiome, then some major improvements result in not only your IBS symptoms, but also your overall health and immunity in general. This is a great general probiotic to take for overall health as well.

Note** This article is again referring to the specific strain of bacillus coagulans called MTCC 5856 (there are multiple different strains, so it is important to ensure you are looking at MTCC 5856 (Also known as Lactospore®)

The scientific results illustrating bacillus coagulans helping with IBS are impressive. It is the only probiotic in Canada to allow the health claim of helping to manage pain and symptoms of IBS. Many patients from all over the world have been appreciating the benefits of bacillus coagulans in managing their IBS symptoms.

The Science behind bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 and IBS

There was a famous double blind study done where 36 patients who were recently diagnosed with IBS put the claims to the test. The subjects were considered “diarrhea predominant”, but they exhibited a range of IBS symptoms.

Bacillus Coagulans MTCC 5856 and IBS

18 subjects received a 2 billion CFU dose of bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856, and the other 18 received a placebo. This went on for 90 days.
Clinical IBS symptoms like diarrhea, gas, pain, and constipation, were considered “primary” measures. These were evaluated with a questionnaire. Pain was measured using VAS (visual analog scale), which is essentially a visual diagram where patients can select which level of pain on the diagram they are experiencing. “Secondary” measures were the physician’s global assessment, as well as IBS “quality of life” scores. Those were also measured using questionnaires.

The conclusion was the patients who received bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 (2 billion CFU/day) reported a significant decrease in their clinical symptoms like bloating, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and also stool frequency compared with the placebo group.

So to summarize:

Bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 (Lactospore®) was shown to help with IBS in the following ways:

• Reduce abdominal pain
• Decrease bloating
• Reduce diarrhea
• Reduce stool frequency
• Reduce vomiting

In other studies bacillus coagulans has been shown to help IBS patients with constipation. So by improving the ratio of “good” to “bad” bacteria and improving the overall gut health and gut environment, bacillus coagulans is able to help with both diarrhea and constipation, in addition to the other wide range of benefits mentioned above.

We offer a premium form of bacillus coagulans MTCC 5856 with no magnesium stearate or other unhealthy fillers. We have thousands of happy customers all over the world using and recommending our products.

Here is the IBS Pain Relief Probiotic