DoctorOz: Why Probiotics Might Make You Feel Worse

Bloat and brain fog. The two things you dread the most. There's hammering on you. Now, new headlines raise the question, could probiotics actually be the blame? Is this a tough one for me because my favorite probiotic of all is that. It's Greek yogurt, and I have it every day. Now, I know you take your probiotics a number of ways throughout your day. Some of you take pills or yogurt, kefir smoothie, kombucha, right? Is it adding up to be too much of a good thing? That's why a new report raising questions over whether probiotics may be doing more harm than good caught my attention. Can you overdose on probiotics? Take a look. We are in the midst of a probiotic craze, with consumers everywhere turning to them to solve their digestion dilemmas. When we started the show a decade ago, one of the most popular probiotic sources, Greek yogurt, had only 1% of the market. But now it has skyrocketed to 52% of all yogurt sales. And that's a good thing. But could we be overdoing it? Recent findings suggest we might be. The study out of Augusta University in Georgia found that some adults taking probiotic supplements and eating probiotic-rich foods were experiencing negative side effects, feelings of confusion and difficulty concentrating, and issues with gas and bloating. Some reported that their episodes of brain fog were so bad that they had to call out sick from work. Today, we're busting open the lid and revealing what this news means for you. So I've assembled a probiotic power team to help us break this down. Max Lugavere wrote the book on the brain-gut connection. He's here in our gut lab with women who suffer from bloat and brain fog. They've agreed to stop their probiotic intake for a week as a social experiment. In just a few minutes, Max will reveal if it made a difference. And Dr. Raj is here to help us take a deep dive into this new study. She's a gut health expert and author of What the Yuck. Nice picture, by the way. So you looked at the study. Is this hype? Or do we need to be worried about this stuff? Well, this is a very remarkable study because we've been talking about probiotics for years now and how great they are, but this raises the question, can you get too much of a good thing? So this study looked at 30 people who had brain fog and then eight people who did not. They all had abdominal pain, bloating, distension, gas, and they actually told them to stop taking probiotics and see what happens. Many of them actually felt better. So the question is, were the probiotics causing the problem? However, I have to say, some issues with this study. It was a very small sample size. There were a lot of other factors involved. Many of these people actually took antibiotics as well. So is that what actually made them feel better? We're not sure, but it certainly raises a lot of questions and patients are gonna definitely start asking me about it also. So I got curious about this because I wanted to understand what the thought process was. So let me explain it all to you. So we set up some surveillance cameras inside the gut, right, inside the gut. To show you what's supposed to happen when you take a probiotic. Now, normally you take the probiotic up in your mouth, right? It comes down through the swallowing tube, the esophagus into the stomach, right? And it's supposed to pass right through your small intestine and set up shop in your colon, right? Where they work really hard, right? To digest your food. Now, according to researchers, in some people, those bacteria don't make it to your colon. Instead, they get stuck way up high in the small intestine, right? And they camp out there. But they still want to eat what we're eating, which is a problem because they're doing it way ahead of when they're supposed to and they eat more than they could ever get to in your colon, which leads them to create basically a waste environment that ferments and builds up with gas and a substance called D-lactic acid. And that's putting a target for bloat on your belly. That's the theory. So, Dr. Raj, what happens when there's a buildup of gas and D-lactic acid in your small intestine? We'll pretend this is a small intestine. Exactly. So, imagine this is your small intestine. Your small intestine is not used to having a lot of gas in it. It feels very uncomfortable that bacteria is being fermented. It's actually going to produce gas. You feel like you can't button those pants, that awful feeling like you're absolutely going to pop. Oh, no. Oh. Some people hate that sound. I'm going to check this out. But yeah, I mean, it can be very uncomfortable. So here's the big question, right? Do probiotics seem to actually cause bloat and brain fog? If they do, why does it happen in everybody? Why do some people take probiotics to get better from bloat and brain fog and others get worse with it? Well, we are all different. Our bodies are all different, including our guts. Not everyone reacts the same to a certain probiotic. If you're not feeling great on this one, let's take a break and try a different one. Dr. Rush, thank you very much. Thank you. Okay, now we understand how probiotics can cause some bloat in folks, but what about the brain and gut connection? So let's talk to Max about this. Some of you studied quite a bit. You asked viewers suffering from bloat, but also this brain-gut connection to go on a probiotic elimination diet. It would be hard, I think, for a lot of us to do that, right? But you wanted to see if their symptoms would be reversed, right? Were you happy with it? Yeah, I mean, I think that the results that you're going to find are very interesting, to say the least. But, you know, Dr. Oz, what's so fascinating is that the gut influences the brain in such an interesting number of ways. In fact, the gut is often referred to as the second brain. Let's see what actually happens in practice. So we've got each member of our social experiment standing behind their traditional source of probiotics. Thank you all for being here. Thank you. So I guess, Ariel, we'll start with you. I'm really impressed. I even saw across the studio how much variety you have. I love you have sauerkraut in there, not just Greek yogurt. We've got a lot of sources. That's good. What was hard to give up? Was it more difficult than you thought? Yeah, it was actually difficult to give it up, but it actually helped me. though, because I actually was less bloated and I had less fogginess. And Arianna, you also have a couple of different sources. How was it for you? I was actually the opposite of her. Like, I missed this. This was like the hardest thing I've had to do because like, I got all the symptoms back. So like, that's not a good thing. So I got a surprise for everybody. I actually took the probiotic elimination challenge myself. I was curious because I eat lots of probiotics and it's it's not that easy for a Turkish kid to give up Greek yogurt. Take a look. I'm going to miss you, my friend. So it's the afternoon. I usually have lots of energy, but I can really tell the difference I didn't have yogurt this morning. It's like all the little embers in my body have gone out. It's worth it. I failed. It was a massive fail. Actually, Dr. Raj, you say maybe it's a good thing that I failed, that I kept eating my probiotics. I do, and I don't want people out there to run to their fridges and throw out their Greek yogurt. That's not what we're saying here. Actually, if you were feeling well on your probiotic regimen, then we say if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You keep doing what you're doing. I like it. And most people out there will benefit from probiotics. You hear everybody? Everyone out there, most of you are probably like me. We can still eat our Greek yogurt and all the other probiotics we're talking about. God bless you. Max. For the folks out there, and I don't think there are many, but there are probably some, who should think about an elimination. How do you identify them? As a first line of defense, I would say removing the probiotics is worth a shot. You know, if your probiotics are not working for you, then try eliminating them from your diet. It's a very simple elimination-style approach. One week? One week. Try it for a week. Try it for a week. And if your symptoms don't clear up and resolve, go see your doctor. All right, when we come back, are you taking probiotics all wrong? It's a whole different issue. Are you taking them with the wrong stuff? And what's the right amount for you? We'll tell you after the break. We're back asking, are you taking probiotics all wrong? Our experts, Dr. Raj and Max Lugavere, are here with probiotic mistakes you could be making. These are going to surprise you. The first probiotic mistake you may be making is you're getting your probiotics from only one source. Why is that a problem, Max? Well, Dr. Oz, you see, your gut, like any healthy society, benefits from a broad range of voices. Diversity is key, right? So the same thing goes for probiotic bacteria. If you're getting your probiotic bacteria from only one source, that's not going to lead to the best scenario in the gut. You want to make sure that you're getting your probiotics from a broad array of sources. So here we have kombucha. We have Greek yogurt. We have a probiotic-containing supplement. All right, next probiotic mistake that many of you guys are making is you're not pairing your prebiotics and your probiotics. So probiotics, you know what those are, right? Those little bacteria that they're in your gut. Prebiotics, what are they and why are they so critical? Right, so prebiotic is anything that promotes the growth of probiotics. So, of course, why wouldn't you want to enhance those probiotics that you're already taking by pairing it with a prebiotic? It's a power duo. You can get prebiotics from anything that really contains fiber, blueberries, which I know you love, bananas, and really you want to get those both into your diet every day, pro and pre. Max calls these brain berries. You know I love my blueberries. He does. Here, have another one. It's a present from the show. Thank you. The next probiotic mistake that a lot of you guys are making is you're taking your probiotic with heartburn medicine. Let me take a step here. Heartburn medicine, I get why so many folks take it, but it does cause a lot of interactions, and it's particularly a problem with probiotics. Right, so there is a concern that if you're reducing the acid, which is what these medicines do, you're going to have an overgrowth of bacteria in your small intestine. Now, does that mean when you take a probiotic, you're even adding to that problem? Maybe for some people. I would say if you're already taking your antacids and your probiotics and you feel fine, keep doing what you're doing. All right, and the final one's going to really surprise you. There's a big mistake that a lot of us are making because... Done right, it's not a mistake. Done wrong, it's a big problem. You're taking your probiotic with hot coffee or tea. Now, Max, hot coffee and tea, generally, I thought were good for the gut. Yeah, so absolutely. Independently, coffee and tea are very good for the gut. Most people are surprised to hear that coffee is actually beneficial, but I've looked into the research, you know, and I'm definitely a fan of coffee. The issue is that these scalding beverages can, the same way they can burn our skin, can also burn these delicate probiotic bacteria that we want. So my recommendation is to separate your consumption of hot beverages and when you take your probiotics by a half an hour. I'll toast to that. Hey. Raj, this is to you. Thank you so much. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss out on new videos to live the good life.