The short answer he gives
Most women over 60 ask this the same way. No bloating, no gas, nothing obviously wrong, so is a probiotic really for me. He answered it years ago, sitting with Tony Jr. and talking through what they were seeing in the clinic.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925We need to start recommending probiotics to everyone.
Notice what is not in that sentence. No age, no symptom, no condition. He is blunt that you can have a leaky gut with no digestive symptoms at all, so a comfortable stomach was never the test he used.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925My friend, it's important to take probiotics. It's essential in my opinion, in the world, in which we live.
What your gut does for your immune system
This is the line the whole argument hangs on, and he says it plainly.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925The health of our gut affects our immune system.
He brought two studies to this episode. The first was about antibiotic resistant E coli found in chicken, and how fast it can transfer to a human gut and set up shop there. Women know E coli from the other end of it, because he says roughly 99 percent of bladder infections are an E coli bacteria.
The part that interested him was not the bug. It was what the study said about the ground it lands on.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925And this was what the study was talking about in the presence of a healthy microbiome, E coli cannot flourish in the presence of a healthy microbiome.
So the question stops being how to avoid every bug, which he says you cannot do, and starts being what shape your own bacteria are in when one arrives.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925How do you have a healthy microbiome? You gotta have more good guys than bad guys.
He also points out that a healthy gut is what lets you absorb what you take. Vitamin D was his example, and vitamin D is what charges up the T cells he calls your navy seals.
Antibiotics, and what they leave behind
He has no argument with antibiotics themselves. He says he never wants to get rid of them and that they save lives. His argument is with how freely they get handed out.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925We give out antibiotics like candies
His examples are the ones most of us have lived through. Antibiotics for a virus. Antibiotics for a cold. Antibiotics from a dentist to a patient with no infection at all, to prevent one. He told those dentists to use a probiotic instead, because handing them out that way is what breeds the resistant bacteria.
What it leaves behind is an imbalance, more bad than good, and he says that is when yeast and fungus move in. Dandruff on the scalp and fungus in a toenail are what you see on the outside. Recurring sinus infections, he says, are usually fungal, and an antibiotic will not touch that.
"You better be taking a broad spectrum, probiotic I'm telling you."
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925Nothing here is a reason to start or stop anything a doctor has prescribed. Talk to your doctor first.
Twice a year, and why he changed it
This is the part worth knowing if you were ever a patient of his, or read his older material, because the advice changed. For years he told people to do it seasonally.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925Get ready for the winter with probiotics because it was so good for your immune system.
Spring cleaning and a fall preparation, is how he put it to patients. Then he and Tony Jr. changed it, and he dates that conversation to more than ten years ago.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925And on a daily basis, we went from at least two times a year, take some probiotics.
Two things moved him. Study after study was coming in on the microbiome, from your head to your toes as he puts it. And the world got harder on your bacteria, with chemicals, heavy metals and bugs that no longer answer to antibiotics. He is not optimistic that improves, so his position is to prepare you for the world as it is.
The gut and your mood
The second study he brought was on a bacterial strain and the neurotransmitter it carries, and it took him straight to the gut brain connection.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925Now 95% of your serotonin is found in your gut, not your brain.
Serotonin, dopamine and oxytocin are the feel good hormones, and the one people know best from medication is serotonin.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925Your feel good hormone is primarily found in your gut, not your brain, but they communicate.
He was always a history taker in clinic. He saw plenty of people with severe digestive trouble who had been on antibiotics as children, and he thinks that history can still matter to mood years later. His complaint about medicine is that nobody joins those two things up.
Who he had in mind after 60
He never sorts this by age, so neither does this page. What he sorts by is history, and by 60 most of us have one.
- Anyone who has taken antibiotics over the years, which is nearly everyone
- Anyone with recurring infections that keep coming back
- Anyone with a bladder or urinary tract infection history
- Anyone carrying yeast or fungal signs, from dandruff to a toenail
- Anyone eating sugar and crappy carbs, which he says feeds the wrong side
Being older does not put you in a separate category in his thinking. It usually just means a longer list.
What feeds the good bacteria
He goes out of his way to flag this one as the unpopular answer, and he does not soften it.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925How do you feed your good bacteria? Well, first of all, don't feed the bad guys, sugar and crappy carbs
Then the part he calls controversial. Where most advice sends you to fiber, he sends you to eggs, meat and cheese, and says the good bacteria thrive on it.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925The best prebiotic is a steak.
Fermented food is not the enemy here either, and he eats it.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925And I love fermented foods. So don't get me wrong.
Pickles and sauerkraut are food he enjoys. What he will not do is count them as the probiotic, and his reasoning on that is here: soil-based vs refrigerated probiotics.
What to look for on the label
If the answer is yes, the next question is which one, and he gives a standard rather than a brand.
Dr. Martin, The Doctor Is In, Episode 925the broad spectrum, probiotic in my opinion, needs to be therapeutic. And you need all the different bacteria.
Broad spectrum means many strains rather than one famous one, because different strains do different jobs. Therapeutic means the count in the capsule is high enough to matter. The two he singles out here are rhamnosus and reuteri, which he likes in combination because they go after yeast.
The storage line is the other thing he reads: are your probiotics soil-based.
Common questions
Do seniors need probiotics?
Dr. Martin says yes, and so does everyone else. He and Tony Jr. moved to recommending a probiotic to everyone, daily, more than ten years ago. His reason is antibiotic resistant bacteria and the state of the world we eat and live in, not your age.
Do I need one if my digestion is fine?
He says you can have a leaky gut with no digestive symptoms at all, so a comfortable stomach is not proof. His case is about immunity and the balance of good bacteria to bad, which you cannot feel either way.
Is twice a year enough?
That was his old advice, spring and fall. He changed it to daily because the research kept coming and because the losses are constant in a world full of chemicals and resistant bacteria.
Which probiotic does he look for?
A broad spectrum one with many strains, at a count high enough to be therapeutic. He names rhamnosus and reuteri as two he likes together because they go after yeast.
Read next: Probiotics And IBS After 60 and What Is Really Behind Bloating After 60.
Decide if you need one
Probiotic Complex is the broad spectrum formula Dr. Martin built in clinic, with 50 billion CFU and 11 strains in every capsule.
60-day money-back guarantee.These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult your healthcare practitioner before starting a new supplement, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition.
