Researcher and author Konstantin Monastyrsky did a lot of interesting work. Like most of the independent researchers, Monastyrsky occasionally makes errors or questionable recommendations. His work, however, is of interest.
Below, there is a list of ingredients of Konstantin Monastyrsky’s probiotic supplement. The list may give you some additional ideas for your experiments with probiotics.
Monastyrsky’s probiotic supplement.
| Lactobacillus acidophilus (DDS-1) | 4.3 Billion CFU |
| Lactobacillus rhamnosus (Lr-32) | 4.3 Billion CFU |
| Bifidobacterium lactis (HN019) | 1.9 Billion CFU |
| Lactococcus lactis (Ll-23) | 1.0 Billion CFU |
| Bifidobacterium longum (Bl-05) | 1.0 Billion CFU |
| Bifidobacterium bifidum/lactis (Bb-02) | 1.0 Billion CFU |
| Lactobacillus gasserri (Lg-36) | 1.0 Billion CFU |
| Streptococcus thermophilus (St-21) | 0.5 Billion CFU |
| Digestive and Prebiotic Blend FOS (fructooligosaccharides) and Ulmus fulva (bark). | 210 mg |
Deconstruction of Monastyrsky’s recommendations.
Konstantin Monastyrsky:
How to take Enterophilus
The rules are reasonable, based on the “nature of the beasts” and common sense:
Take probiotic formulas in the morning, on an empty stomach, so they are exposed to the least amount of acidity and enzymes in the stomach and upper intestines. You can take Enterophilus with Hydro-C and GI Recovery.
Don’t take bacterial supplements while taking antibiotics because the latter will kill them anyway, and they may render antibiotics somewhat less efficient against its intended target.
Stomach pH and probiotics.
Monastyrsky recommends taking his probiotic supplement early in the morning on an empty stomach. Many other practitioners and researchers recommend the same. There is, however, a problem with this recommendation. Indeed, if we look at the table from a 2019 study by Surofchy, we can see that about half of the subjects have a stomach pH of less than 1. The mean pH for all the subjects was 0.75, that is, very low.
The lowest pH observed among the 9 subjects in the study by Surfochy (the table above) was 0.5. This pH is very low and will be challenging for any acid-resistant probiotic. But even the mean pH of 0.75 is quite challenging for many probiotics. In the graph from a 2008 study by Graff et al., we can see how the viability of a probiotic yeast Saccharomyces boulardii drops at a pH of 1.
The probiotic supplement of Monastyrsky does not contain yeasts. But it may still be challenging for some probiotic bacteria to withstand very low pH that is quite apparently common.
Should probiotics and antibiotics be taken at the same time?
Monastyrsky recommends against taking probiotics and antibiotics at the same time. This recommendation is questionable. In the published literature, there are studies that showed that simultaneous intake of probiotics and antibiotics can produce better results than antibiotics alone. The figure below shows how simultaneous treatment with both antibiotics and a probiotic yeast protected microbial population in the intestine.
Conclusions:
Consider strains from the product designed by researcher Konstantin Monastyrsky for your experiments with probiotics. Remain critical and cautious to recommendations of different researchers and health educators.
If you need help with using probiotics to improve your gut health, do not hesitate to get in contact with us. After a lot of trials and errors, we have developed some “protocols” that may work for you.