Probiotic Advisor

Probiotic Advisor This is the page for ProbioticAdvisor.com - an innovative, unique, and independent resource

19/06/2026

We are both contributing modules (alongside our esteemed colleagues) to the 🌿 The Herbal & Naturopathic Skills Expansion Program 🌿🌳.

The anniversary special for this course finishes this Monday. Check it out details below😍

This is a 10-week online course starting in September that is being run through Goulds Natural Medicine. On completion there are placement opportunities. Goulds Natural Medicine, established in 1881, is an Apothecary; Clinic and Herb Farm that we have had the privilege of being part of for just over 20 years now. 🌳🌿🙏🙏

The benefits of exercise on gut health are profound! Read the full 2025 study by searching for PMID: 40450658 in your br...
16/06/2026

The benefits of exercise on gut health are profound! Read the full 2025 study by searching for PMID: 40450658 in your browser.

13/06/2026

One of my highlights from the final day of the congress was a talk by Associate Professor Sean Gibbons (Institute for Systems Biology; USA). The talk focused broadly on the importance of the microbiome in aging in which he highlighted some of the key microbiota characteristics associated with longevity and healthy aging:
• Greater diversity
• Greater uniqueness of the ecosystem
• Increased levels of butyrate-producing species
• Higher levels of Bifidobacterium
• Low levels of Bacteroides

He tied this in with the concept of microbiome enterotypes, which is a model that classifies one’s microbiome into one of 4 overarching types:
1) Prevotella dominant
2) Ruminococcus dominant
3) Bacteroides type 1
4) Bacteroides type 2

Unfortunately, most Westerners (due to dietary & lifestyle choices, as well as pharmaceutical medicine use) fit into the Bacteroides type 2 enterotype. This enterotype, characterised by dominance by the genus Bacteroides, a lack of species richness & diversity, and low levels of butyrate-producing microbes, is associated with increased risk of heart disease, obesity, various cancers, autoimmune diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases.
It is also associated with premature aging and increased risk of mortality. In fact, Dr Gibbons noted that it is very hard to find people aged 85+ years of age with this ecosystem enterotype, as they have all generally died by this age!

He also detailed that this enterotype had greater responses to statin medications, in terms of reductions in both total and LDL cholesterol, vs the other enterotypes. However, they were also more likely to develop statin-induced insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Research shows, in fact, the Bacteroides type 2 enterotype to often be associated with poorer medication responses and increased medication side effects.
So, as you can surmise at this point, the Bacteroides type 2 enterotype in not the enterotype we want.

11/06/2026

IHMC Congress - Infant-health-related update - cautionary considerations, 2-fucosyllactose supplementation.

The complex array of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) in breastmilk are well-established factors that drive infant-specific bifidobacteria abundance in the infant gut ecosystem. Hence, HMO analogues, in particular 2-fucosyllactose (2-FL), has recently become a common prebiotic addition to breastmilk substitutes (infant formula). But how do they preform as single agents given outside of the context of the complex system that is breastmilk? Undoubtedly the answer to this question is “it depends”.

Nakajima (Kyoto University) presented findings that provoke caution. They provide convincing evidence that Clostridium perfringens (a commonly present potential pathobiont that has been implicated in necrotizing enterocolitis) can utilise 2-FL and that it may in fact bloom when exposed to this compound in isolation. However, this depends on the ecosystem dynamics. When certain infant-specific bifidobacteria strains were co-cultured, C perfringens growth was suppressed. Their findings indicate that C perfringens may participate in beneficial cross-feeding relationships supporting the growth of infant bifidobacteria species. Additionally, when co-cultured with infant-specific bifidobacteria, not only does C perfringens appear to assist certain bifidobacteria strains in becoming dominant, it also appears to be less inflammatory in its makeup.

Bottom line here is to appreciate that 2-FL within breastmilk exists within a matrix of factors that drive infant-specific bifidobacteria dominance. The addition of this single agent in isolation may have the potential to produce some unintended negative effects when applied as a one-size-fits-all to formula-fed infants.

Fascinating strain sharing story within a daycare setting!Weekly infant stool sampling within a daycare cohort allowed t...
10/06/2026

Fascinating strain sharing story within a daycare setting!

Weekly infant stool sampling within a daycare cohort allowed the capture of the story of a specific Akkermansia muciniphila strain within this population. The story begins with the strain being shared between mother and infant. This infant loses the strain after a course of antibiotics. The infant then regains the strain from their mother (reseeded). Within the daycare setting this strain is then passed from the first infant to a second infant. The second infant then passes this strain onto their mother and subsequently their father and it becomes the dominant Akkermansia strain in the second infant’s family over the pre-existing Akkermansia strains held by the parents.
This story demonstrates the microbiome resilience associated with breastfeeding for the first infant and also helps us see how infants may pick up microbes from close contacts. Infant diet will then help to select who persists within the infant gut (Akkermansia utilises human milk oligosaccharides). How amazing to also to hear of the Akkermansia strain being shared from infant to adult!

We heard this this interesting story at the IMHC Congress, Seoul from Ricci et al (2026). Baby-to-baby strain transmission shapes the developing gut microbiome. Nature, 651(8104), 191-200. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09983-z

Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid created in your gut by butyrate-producing bacteria. Some butyrate leaves the gut an...
10/06/2026

Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid created in your gut by butyrate-producing bacteria. Some butyrate leaves the gut and exerts its anti-inflammatory properties throughout the body.

Butyrate is especially important for brain health.

It reduces brain inflammation, supports the blood-brain barrier, and helps the brain heal itself.

If you want more butyrate, you’ll need to ensure you eat optimal amounts of fiber daily.

Below are some of our favorite foods for boosting butyrate, and you can get our Daily Fiber Food Guide if you need extra support: https://mailchi.mp/778c7808bd6a/8tqnkv5odq

What are your go-to foods for butyrate production? Let me know in the comments.

IHMC Congress Takeaways – Infant Health – Strain Sharing. Several research groups shared findings relating to maternal-...
08/06/2026

IHMC Congress Takeaways – Infant Health – Strain Sharing. Several research groups shared findings relating to maternal-to-infant bacterial strain transmission. Ching Jian from the University of Helsinki shared findings from the HELMi Cohort. They found decreased infantile atopic dermatitis in infants with greater abundance of maternal strains along with a small increased risk of infection. Taken together they suggest this relates to the “immune toning”/tolerogenic effects driven by these maternal origin strains. Greater maternal-to-infant strain transmission occurred with vaginal birth and breastfeeding, unsurprisingly.

Liviana Ricci (University of Trento) presented fascinating findings on daycare environment infant-to-infant strain sharing in a cohort of infants who attended daycare 40hrs each week (starting at age 4-15 months) and followed for 12 months. Between infant strain sharing was common and by the end of the first-year, infants shared more strains with their daycare peers than their own family. Antibiotic exposure was the factor associated with the greatest uptick in acquisition from infant peers. The health implications of baby-to-baby strain sharing enhancement through daycare environment were not explored, however, some infant-specific species were shared as well as some potentially inflammatory species. Breastfeeding was associated with more maternal-to-infant strain sharing during the first six months of the study (potentially relating to breastfeeding intensity).

Other presenters indicated that transmission of maternal strains is enhanced by maternal secretary IgA. Certainly, it appears that biology employs many strategies to enhance maternal-to-infant strain sharing and that acquiring maternal origin strains is important for infant immune development and potentially the development of immune tolerance. We don’t really understand the role of infant-to-infant strain sharing, although others have suggested that from an evolutionary perspective infants may have picked up important infant specific bifidobacteria from older children who were still breastfeeding and hence had greater abundance of these organisms in their ecosystems.

06/06/2026

One of my highlights from Day 2 of the IHMC Congress in Seoul was a lecture by Professor Ruth Ley (Max Planck Institute for Biology; Germany). Her session covered a few topic areas, but the one most important to me fit into one of the key themes that ran through the congress - the Western diet and lifestyle drives changes in not just the composition of the microbiome, but it's behaviours.

You may (or may not) know that Eubacterium and Roseburia are key butyrate-producing genera found in the colon. They also have flagella (little hair-like tails), which means they can "swim" up and down the gut lumen looking for food.

Usually, the immune system gets triggered by flagella found on bacteria, such as in the case of Salmonella. But for these beneficial commensals, the immune system just ignores them. This changes, however, once exposed to low fibre dietary patterns, dietary emulsifiers, and processed foods, which cause these two genera to grow more flagella, and longer flagella.

Unlike their typical flagella, these new ones drive inflammation (via increases in IL-6). Just another illustration of how the typical Western diet drives negative shifts in microbiome functionality, which then drives increases in body-wide inflammation. Just how your body experiences the increase in inflammation will be individual, but gut-microbiome-derived inflammation can contribute to autoimmune diseases, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. So, we now have another reason to eat more plant fibres and avoid processed foods and drinks.

See link below to get our free dietary fibre guide to help you get more fibre into your daily routine.

- Dr Hawrelak & Dawn Whitten

05/06/2026

IHMC Congress day 2 highlights (part 1):

Professor Honda (Keio University, Japan) detailed the actions of a microbial metabolite phenylpropionic acid (PPA) displaying selective antimicrobial activity in the GI tract. PPA was active against pathogens/ pathobionts like Candida, Klebsiella, Escherichia,and other Enterobacteracaea, while sparing beneficial and commensal species. The mechanism works in part through a synergistic relationship with the short chain fatty acid acetate.
Dietary precursors for the production of PPA include foods rich in cinnamic acid such as cinnamon, cacao, green olives, and buckwheat (is also present in smaller amounts in many other plant foods).

To get the full benefits of the synergy with acetate, both the precursors for PPA along with the consumption of a high fibre diet to ensure colonic acetate is in abundance are required.

See link in the comments to get access to our free fibre guide.

We will send more updates soon.

- Dr Hawrelak & Dawn Whitten

04/06/2026

A couple of reflections from IHMC day 1.

Professor Xavier from Harvard Medical School talked about microbes being master chemists capable of creating a huge range of bioactive molecules including some very novel compounds. A concerning example of this he shared was their findings on Morganella, a genus consistently associated with depression. Morganella is gram negative Proteobacteria with very inflammatory LPS - which is one proposed mechanism for being a driver of depression. Professor Xaviers' team discovered that this microbe also creates a unique phopholipid through incorporation of a microplastic moiety (diethanalomine) instead of what it would usually put into that molecule (glycerol). This novel compound further drives systemic inflammation via increased interleukin-6 secretion.

Our second highlight: Dr Kim (Korea University) shared the concept that antibiotics can drive not just species extinction and major microbe population shifts with their use, but also drive the loss of functional capacity in keystone species. The example he gave was the impact of penicillin on Akkermansia. Penicillin (and other closely related antibiotics) caused genetic mutations in the surviving Akkermansia that made them lose key functionality moving forwards. The surviving Akkermansia lost all of their anti-obesity, metabolism-supporting capacity! Yet they will show up on stool tests as per normal, so clinicians wouldn't know about their lack of functionality. You could hypothesise this effect though, in patients that have recently taken penicillin-class antibiotics.

Address

Hobart, TAS
7000

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Probiotic Advisor posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category