Charlee Singleton sits down with Dr Megan Rossi, founder of The Gut Health Doctor® and Bio&Me, to discuss the best ways to support your microbiome and the launch of her ground-breaking new range of four live bacteria supplements, SMART STRAINS®.
Let’s begin with the inspiration behind SMART STRAINS®, and the gaps it fills in the current probiotic market.
The inspiration for SMART STRAINS® goes back to my PhD, where I discovered [along with many other researchers] that each type of bacteria known as a ‘strain’ does different things, and the idea that a generalised probiotic would support general gut health became an outdated concept. Probiotics are indication specific, and we need to take the right strain, at the right time, in the right way to harness the health benefits proven in clinical trials.
Yet the proven discovery of strain specificity just wasn’t translated in the market, with 51% of consumers today still unaware that different probiotic strains are needed to support or prevent different symptoms/conditions. In fact, there are international health guidelines that say, as clinicians, we should be advising that when someone is on antibiotics, they should be taking Lactobacillus rhamnosus, LGG®, in tandem with their antibiotics, at a 10 billion dose (CFU) twice a day throughout the antibiotic period. And yet, this science isn’t being translated to the everyday consumer, despite people spending an average £130 annually on these supplements.
There was a clear disconnect between the scientific advice around probiotics and what people could actually get their hands on, as well as generalised education about probiotics and how they work. Surprisingly, many leading brands also include additives like emulsifiers and added sugars – even those targeted at babies and infants – which go against fundamental gut health principles. This is what led me to create SMART STRAINS.
Can you walk us through the science behind strain-specific probiotics and why that specificity is so important?
Essentially, there are no clinical trials out there that show that probiotics can help with your overall gut health, despite most consumers reporting that they take them ‘just in case’ in the name of good gut health. People are simply being misled by clever marketing tactics. But that’s not to say probiotics don’t work, we just need to get specific. Just like you wouldn’t take an iron supplement to treat a vitamin D deficiency, we need to get very specific with bacterial strains for our specific needs.
For example, we know that to support your immune system, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, LGG® combined with Bifidobacterium lactis, BB-12® has been clinically proven to help reduce the risk of recurrent respiratory tract infections by around 50% and reduce cold and flu symptoms by two days and around 30% severity, compare to placebo.
There are four conditions where there is convincing clinical evidence for supplementing with a probiotic. These include:
For when you’re on antibiotics: supplementing with live Lactobacillus rhamnosus, LGG® during antibiotic treatment has been shown to reduce the incidence of antibiotic associated diarrhoea (AAD) by around 70% compared to placebo, and reduce the symptoms of treatment-induced bloating by around 60%.
For your immune system: the combination of Lactobacillus rhamnosus, LGG® – the world’s most documented bacterial strain – and Bifidobacterium lactis, BB-12® has been shown to reduce recurrent respiratory tract infections by up to 50% and reduces days of discomfort by around two days and overall severity by around 30% compared to placebo.
For Fussy babies: Bifidobacterium lactis, BB-12® has been shown to reduce crying and fussiness in babies with colic by nearly threefold compared to placebo and increase daily sleep by 60 minutes compared to baseline and parent emotional wellbeing was improved by over 100% compared to placebo.
For your vaginal microbiome: the coadministration of Lactobacillus bacterial strains La-14® and HN001™, in combination with lactoferrin, has been shown to reduce recurrence of bacterial vaginosis by around 50% compared to placebo and also reduced thrush by three times.
The range includes four targeted products—why did you choose these specific areas of gut health to focus on first?
These were the indications where there was the most convincing scientific as well as size of effect shown in systematic reviews and international health guidelines. I wanted to ensure we were leading with credibility whilst also tackling some of the day-to-day issues and concerns patients commonly present with. We will continue to follow the latest scientific research.
There has been an increased awareness in gut health over the past couple of years, what do you think is driving this?
Gut health really is a landmark scientific discovery that is changing what we understand about health, wellbeing and what it means to be human. Most research groups – whether they’re looking at mental health, sports performance or researching cancer – are now starting to look at the gut microbiome as an outcome measure and the role in relation to all our other organs thanks to the gut’s clever connections. This is leading to ongoing interesting and exciting research being published and being shared by the mainstream media who continue to shine a light on all the ways the gut microbiome can support the everyday person.
Consumers are spending billions on probiotics, yet 77% report no noticeable benefits. What are they getting wrong, and how does SMART STRAINS® address these issues?
Most consumers are not experiencing the benefits probiotics can offer because they’re not being used in the right way. The messaging around probiotics has been misleading and we know there’s a disconnect between the latest science and consumer understanding. Scientific research shows that if you are healthy, there is no evidence to support the use of a daily probiotic for your gut bacteria. It’s like a drop in the ocean. So, while the idea of a ‘one-size-fits-all’ supplement for gut health sounds appealing, the science has moved on. Plus, the right strains and formulations just weren’t available on the market, until now. Disappointingly, even those probiotics available today that claim to be ‘condition-specific’ tend to either throw too many strains in the mix (which then compete against each other and prove ineffective), or don’t use the right strain for the condition. But none of this is spoken about, which makes navigating probiotics a minefield for consumers.
What do the latest international guidelines recommend when it comes to live bacteria supplements, and how have these recommendations evolved in recent years?
Over a century ago, Elie Metchnikoff, was the first scientist to bring the concept of taking probiotics to life. That was at the stage where science was just starting out in this area, but fast forward over a century, and there have been over 50,000 papers published on this fascinating topic.
In line with the research, the guidelines have actually been recommending strain specificity for some time now yet products on the market were adding to consumer confusion. That’s ultimately what led to my frustration, and creating SMART STRAINS. Creating a high-quality, evidence backed range takes time, as I found out – SMART STRAINS has been two years of hard work. It wasn’t straightforward either – I faced 11 rejections before finally getting this project off the ground as the industry was overly keen to embrace the science, unfortunately. But we got there in the end.
Looking ahead, how do you envision the future of probiotic science, and in what ways do you see the industry evolving based on the latest research?
It will all come down to getting the right strain for different indications. There is some exciting and promising early research around mental health, but I would like to see more convincing evidence to help us feel confident in embracing a particular strain for this. We’re backed by science, so SMART STRAINS will certainly evolve when the scientific evidence allows.
About The Gut Health Doctor®
Dr Megan Rossi, founder of The Gut Health Doctor®, is one of the most influential gut health specialists internationally, and a leading Research Fellow at King’s College London. A registered dietitian and nutritionist for fifteen years, Dr Megan has an award-winning PhD in Probiotics, which was recognised for its contribution to science, receiving the Dean’s Award for outstanding research.
Dr Megan Rossi established the Gut Health Clinic in 2019, where she leads a team of gut-specialist dietitians, working directly with clients in their face-to-face clinics in London and Manchester, alongside delivering virtual consultations to an international clientele.
In addition, Dr Megan Rossi is the founder of the multi-award-winning gut health food brand, Bio&Me, which aims to bridge the gap between science and the food industry. She is also the author of multiple Sunday Times bestselling books, including her most recent, Eat More, Live Well (UK, Aus & Europe) and How To Eat More Plants (US & Canada).
