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Probiotics & Your Dog's Health



Probiotics:

The probiotics supplement industry is an unregulated industry, so you must be careful about the probiotics you buy for your dog. I have a study done by the University of WA about several well-known nutritional supplement companies selling their probiotic products in health food stores. The study's purpose was to investigate the concentration and viability of the friendly bacteria and determine the claims and advertising on the labels whether they are true or not. All the companies' probiotic products contained contaminants and didn't offer in the capsules what they claimed on the bottle. When your dog is suffering from a health problem along with some digestive system dysfunction, their gut is prone to infections so a product like probiotics must be GMP certified which is an FDA certification that guarantees a purity of a product. The same goes for all food-based supplements.

I'm not an expert in this field so I rely on the experts. The number one expert in this field is the late Dr. Khem Shahani who patented the DDS strain. All probiotic books I read recommended the DDS strain of friendly bacteria so that is what I use for myself and recommend for others. Also, the acidophilus and bifidus I recommend have organic micro algae in them, so they make the DDS bacteria work even better in the gut since such friendly bacteria requires organic minerals to repopulate in the gut.


Know What You Buy

Most Lactobacilli products do not contain the

amounts & Lactobacillus species advertised

A study conducted at the University of Washington and published in the medical journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 75:244(1990) is summarized below. The study investigated the concentration and viability of the Lactobacillus bacteria and determined the veracity of the claims and advertising. Ten commercial powder and capsule preparations were included in the study.

Findings of Study

Brand Name:

Megadophilus by Natran

Claims & Advertisement:

L. acidophilus

Species Detected:

L. casei

Quantity detected per gram:

106 (one million)

Other Contaminants:

Clostridium sporogenes

Enterococci faecium

Contaminants Quantity/gram:

100/100,000

Brand Name:

Vegetarian by Natures Life

Claims & Advertisement:

L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus,

B. bifidus, L. thermophiles

Species Detected:

L. casei

Quantity detected per gram:

104 (ten thousand)

Other Contaminants:

E. faecium

Contaminants Quantity/gram:

100,000

Brand Name:

Prim Life. Prim Plex

by Klaire Laboratories

Claims & Advertisement:

L. acidophilus, B. bifidus, Strep faecium

Species Detected:

L. casei

Quantity detected per gram:

106 (one million)

Other Contaminants:

E. faecium

Contaminants Quantity/gram:

100,000

Brand Name:

Richidophilus

by Rich Life Inc.

Claims & Advertisement:

L. acidophilus

Species Detected:

L. casei

Quantity detected per gram:

106 (one million)

Other Contaminants:

E. faecium

Contaminants Quantity/gram:

10

••••••••••••••••

Brand Name:

Schiff

by Schiff Bio-food

Claims & Advertisement:

L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus,

S. thermophilus

Species Detected:

L. acidophilus

Quantity detected per gram:

100 (one hundred)

Other Contaminants:

None

Contaminants Quantity/gram:

None

Brand Name:

Great Earth Acidophilus

by Great Earth Int’l

Claims & Advertisement:

L. acidophilus

Species Detected:

L. casei

Quantity detected per gram:

104 (ten thousand)

Other Contaminants:

E. faecium

Contaminants Quantity/gram:

1,000

Brand Name:

Mega Potency Acidophilus

by Solary Inc.

Claims & Advertisement:

L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus,

S. thermophilus

Species Detected:

L. casei

Quantity detected per gram:

106 (one million)

Other Contaminants:

E. faecium

Contaminants Quantity/gram:

10

Brand Name:

Pilgrim’s

by Pigrim’s

Claims & Advertisement:

L. acidophilus, L. bulgaricus,

B. bifidus, S. thermophilus

Species Detected:

L. casei

Quantity detected per gram:

103 (one thousand)

Other Contaminants:

E. faecium

Contaminants Quantity/gram:

100

Brand Name:

Ailerdophilus

by Twin Laboratories

Claims & Advertisement:

L. acidophilus

Species Detected:

L. Casei

Quantity detected per gram:

107 (one million)

Other Contaminants:

E. faecium

Contaminants Quantity/gram: 100

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Brand Name:

Sensidophilus

by Natures Plus

Claims & Advertisement:

L. acidophilus

Species Detected:

L. casei

Quantity detected per gram:

107 (one million)

Other Contaminants:

E. faecium

Contaminants Quantity/gram:

10

Adapted from Hughes. V.L. & Hillier, S. Obstetrics & Gynocology 75:244 (1990)

Please note: some of the brand names have been changed since the study was published.


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