…a very hard working probiotic
Saccharomyces boulardii is beneficial yeast, first isolated
from the skin of the lychee fruit. It has been widely used in
Europe to treat diarrhoea and in France is popularly called
the “yeast against yeast”, due to its ability to treat Candida.
SB promotes the growth and adhesion to the intestinal
wall of friendly probiotic bacteria, and treats infectious
diarrhoea and antibiotic diarrhoea, as well as decreasing
gut permeability. It competitively inhibits the Candida
species and I have had some truly stunning results in the
clinic using SB to treat some rather resistant cases of both
gastrointestinal and vaginal Candida infections. (Those
with a true yeast allergy – meaning anaphylactic shock –
need to avoid SB.) In the gut it produces lactic acid and
some B vitamins, and as it becomes established, it crowds
out unfriendly strains of yeast.
SB is also beneficial in the treatment of digestive discomfort
associated with food sensitivities, as it improves the body’s
natural metabolism of carbohydrates. It does this by
increasing the activity of our digestive enzymes; namely
sucrase, maltase and lactase. Lactase in particular is required
to digest lactose found in milk, and sucrase assists in the
digestion of carbohydrates.
SB also has been shown to be beneficially therapeutic in the
treatment of such common bowel pathogens as Salmonella,
Yersinia and Clostridium difficile, as well as Crohns disease,
ulcerative colitis and chronic diarrhoea.
A meta-analysis has proven that there is a significant
reduction in the occurance of diarrhoea for travellers taking
250 mg to 1 gram of SB daily, with supplementation
starting
5 days before their trip and continuing for the duration of
their holiday.
A very pleasing human pilot study on SB usage (1 gram)
for Crohns patients in remission has shown a significant
improvement in relapses. SB was given in conjunction
with mesalamine, a standard medication for Crohns, for
6 months. Results showed that the control group who
were administered only the mesalamine had a 37.5%
relapse over the 6 months. The group taking the SB and
mesalamine had only 6.25% relapse in symptoms. They
also noticed a marked improvement in other clinical
symptoms such as abdominal pain, general well being, and
red blood cell levels.
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