[Effects of Boulardii] For Those Who Couldn’t Benefit From Lactic Acid Bacteria, Try ‘This’ Yeast

Hello, I am Jinny, a pharmacist.

I think many people are consuming probiotics as a basic health supplement.

However, there are quite a few people who feel uncomfortable after taking probiotics, such as not feeling any effect or having gas or constipation in their stomach. This is because the balance of intestinal flora varies from person to person.

For those people, I would like to introduce the various benefits of Saccharomyces boulardii (hereinafter referred to as Boulardii), a yeast fungus that creates an intestinal environment in which lactic acid bacteria can easily settle.

Unlike lactic acid bacteria, which belong to bacteria, Boulardii is a yeast bacterium, so it has the characteristic of surviving in external environments such as high temperature, stomach acid, and bile acid. Therefore, most of the boulardii we ingest reaches the intestines alive.

Due to these characteristics of Boulardii, studies are accumulating on its complementary effect with lactic acid bacteria. Especially, interest in academia continues to accumulate due to Boulardii's ability to survive even in environments where beneficial bacteria in the body are difficult to survive, such as long-term intake of antibiotics.

In March 2021, an article was published in Front Public Health stating that when lactic acid bacteria and Boulardii are taken together, the growth of harmful bacteria caused by antibiotic prescriptions can be suppressed.

Boulardii, which survives even in such extreme environments, is known to be excellent at suppressing the growth of harmful bacteria. Accordingly, hospitals sometimes prescribe it as a sedative to improve the side effects of patients receiving antibiotic treatment.

However, Boulardii's actions are not limited to improving gut health. Typically, Boulardii contributes to overall health through its ability to suppress Candida bacteria. Candida is a representative cause of vaginitis. It is a harmful bacteria that travels throughout the body through the bloodstream and causes skin disease and reflux esophagitis.

FEMS Yeast Research in 2009 mentions Boulardii's anti-Candida mechanism as follows:

In addition, Boulardii has been found to play an important role in the human immune system.

A paper published in the Federation of European Microbiological Societies (FEMS) in 2010 showed that Saccharomyces boulardii exerts anti-inflammatory effects by regulating cytokines secreted by immune cells.

Today we looked at Boulardii. It is very safe and has various benefits, but due to the nature of yeast, those with extremely low immunity or those who have taken steroids or immunosuppressants for a long time should be careful when consuming it.

Also, unlike lactic acid bacteria, Boulardii cannot settle and live in the intestines, so continuous consumption is recommended. If you are worried about not seeing the effects of the probiotics you have been eating, why not try choosing a probiotic containing Boulardii?

I hope you have a healthy day both physically and mentally. This was Jinny.