---
title: 'If YOU Have Probiotics, You NEED To Stop!'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=YKSR4TRLd70'
video_id: 'YKSR4TRLd70'
date: 2026-06-30
duration_sec: 674
---

# If YOU Have Probiotics, You NEED To Stop!

> Source: [If YOU Have Probiotics, You NEED To Stop!](https://youtube.com/watch?v=YKSR4TRLd70)

## Summary

A doctor and scientist explains why probiotic supplements are often overhyped and may not benefit most people. The video covers the lack of regulation, microbe sensitivity, and oversimplification of gut biology, and highlights when probiotics can actually cause harm. It concludes by recommending fermented foods as a better alternative for gut health.

### Key Points

- **Probiotic Hype** [0:00] — The supplement industry has turned probiotics into a marketing gimmick; your gut is more complex than a few bacterial species in a pill.
- **Lack of Regulation** [1:24] — There is almost no regulation; studies show contents often don't match labels. Always choose third-party certified brands.
- **Microbe Sensitivity** [2:05] — Microbes are sensitive to heat, oxygen, and stomach acid; up to two-thirds of people show no evidence of colonization or benefit.
- **Oversimplification** [2:44] — Your gut contains hundreds of strains in equilibrium; adding a few random ones can be counterproductive.
- **Probiotics Can Harm** [3:51] — A study found that probiotics after antibiotics delayed gut recovery compared to placebo.
- **Specific Cases Where Probiotics Help** [5:25] — Saccharomyces boulardii may help prevent C. diff infection in antibiotic users; probiotics are also used for pouchitis and pre-term infants.
- **Fermented Foods Are Better** [6:30] — Fermented foods like kefir contain diverse ecosystems, prebiotics, and postbiotics, and improve microbiome diversity and reduce inflammation.
- **Actionable Advice** [10:16] — Healthy individuals should choose fermented foods; those with specific conditions should research strains and consult a doctor.

## Transcript

I don't take probiotic supplements as a
doctor and a scientist and if you take
them daily, the latest science is
telling us they're probably not doing
much and they might even cause harm.
I've been interested in gut health for
many years, both during and after
medical school, and I've recommended
probiotic supplements in some very
specific cases, but the supplement
industry has turned this into a complete
marketing gimmick. and your gut's much
more complex than a couple bacterial
species crammed into a pill. So, today I
want to show you when probiotic
supplements actually make sense versus
when they're just a waste of money and
when they can actually backfire. And
we'll also talk about a much better
option for most people. For more
breakdowns of science and popular trends
and different supplements with no sales,
subscribe. When we hear probiotic, we
usually associate that with a healthy
gut. And there's some truth to that.
Your gut contains trillions of microbes
that help break down food. They talk to
your immune system and they also nourish
your gut wall. But the supplement
industry wants you to make this logical
leap that if gut bacteria are a good
thing, then adding more bacteria in a
pill must be good for you. And the
scientific evidence is showing us this
is a big mistake because probiotic
supplements have a number of problems.
Number one, there's almost no
regulation. The seller doesn't need to
show that the product works or even that
it contains what's advertised on the
bottle. Studies have shown that it's
quite common for the content of these
pills to not match what's advertised.
Sometimes the concentration is wrong.
Sometimes the species don't match. So,
for anyone going for a probiotic
supplement, it's always better to go
with a third-party certified brand. That
way, you know what's on the bottle is
what's in the pill. Also, you want to
get used to the fact that all of these
claims on the bottles gut health, immune
support, immune boost, that's marketing.
It's not science. Okay. The second
problem with probiotic pills is that a
lot of these microorganisms are actually
very sensitive to heat, to oxygen, and
to the acid in your stomach. So, even if
the pill does contain what the
manufacturer says, by the time it's been
stored in a warehouse and shipped and
sits in a shelf and you take it and it
crosses your stomach, there might be
very little or nothing left to get to
where it needs to be. Studies have found
that up to twothirds of people show no
evidence of probiotic supplements
actually working, actually colonizing
their gut, or reported any digestive
benefits. And finally, these pills
hugely oversimplify gut biology. Your
gut contains hundreds up to a thousand
different strains of microorganisms, all
interacting in an equilibrium with each
other, all with individual different
roles. And so picking two or three or
five random ones and cramming them into
a pill, that might not be what you need.
Could even be counterproductive. A
famous study from a couple years ago
found that the effect of probiotics
varies enormously from one person to the
next. Some people show colonization by
these microbes. Other people are really
resistant. The microbes just don't take
hold. So you want to be careful with a
friend or a neighbor saying, "Hey,
probiotics worked really well for me.
the same pill might not do anything for
you. But the most surprising part is
that in some contexts, probiotic pills
can actually harm you. They can actually
work against you. So when we take an
antibiotic for some infection, it's very
common for the antibiotic to wipe out
some of our gut microbiome and then that
will recover gradually over time
depending on diet and other factors. But
in a fascinating study, scientists found
that when they gave the participants a
probiotic, a pill containing 11 species
of microbes that they selected, it
actually delayed their recovery. So they
did worse. They recovered slower than
the folks who got nothing, who just got
a placebo. So this was a shocking
finding because this is exactly the
context where you'll assume that it
makes sense to take a probiotic. you
just took an antibiotic, your gut
doesn't feel right. And so you buy a
probiotic that says gut health on it
because you're trying to rebuild your
gut, right? But like we said, our gut
microbiome, it's a living organism in a
balance. And so throwing in the wrong
microorganism,
can actually mess up that balance, can
actually be worse. We're going to talk
about which probiotic strains can help
in that situation in specific cases.
Just want to point out that probiotics
can also cause some side effects. Gas,
bloating, discomfort, although usually
it's mild and temporary. Now, everything
we're saying doesn't mean that
probiotics are poison for everyone at
all times. I'm not anti-supplements. I'm
anti-arketing
that's taking advantage of you. So, you
want to take the right thing for you at
the right time. Medicine isn't cookie
cutter. This is why it's good that I
reject all sponsors and I don't sell
anything on the channel because when
something like this comes up, I don't
care. I can just tell you the truth,
what works, what doesn't work. There's
no financial pressure. So, for example,
in people taking antibiotics, this
specific strain of probiotic sacroyces
bulardi, it's a type of yeast, and
there's some evidence that that can help
prevent cadiff infection. It's not the
highest level evidence, but it's
defensible. Someone in that situation to
give that specific probiotic to prevent
CIFF infection. That's a defensible
medical decision. There's also some
specific GI conditions. There's
something called pouchitis if you have
that. Pre-term infants sometimes are
given probiotics as well. So, very
specific situations. Notice how
different that is from everybody go take
this random probiotic pill. Healthy,
unhealthy, doesn't matter. Also, if you
have specific conditions, if you're
immuno compromised, for example, if you
have cancer and you're going through
treatment through chemotherapy, you want
to be especially careful with
probiotics. In some cases, they can
actually cause infections if the immune
system is weakened. Okay, so we've
covered a lot of the myths and the facts
around probiotics, but here's a twist.
If probiotic pills are overhyped and
they're not needed by most healthy
people, what about probiotic foods?
Kafir, yogurt, kombucha. You've heard me
talk about these foods in many videos in
the past. I've told you that I eat them
on a regular basis. So, am I just a
hypocrite? So, there's a number of
fundamental differences between a
probiotic pill and a probiotic food like
some fermented foods. Fermented foods
contain an entire ecosystem of
microorganisms. Kafir, for example, has
been shown to contain dozens of
bacterial strains and yeast strains. And
we know that one key feature of a
healthy microbiome is diversity. So
these fermented foods already come with
that diversity built in that natural
ecosystem. You can't get that. You can't
replicate that with a pill that has
three or four strains in it. But also
the types of strains that you're getting
in the fermented food are the ones that
survived and that evolved in that
ecosystem, right? interacting with each
other. Not a couple strains that were
artificially chosen because they're
easier to manufacture at scale or to
ship or something like that. But also
the concentration and the proportion of
the microbes to each other that's
already built in because a fermented
food is a living organism. It's
literally fermenting all the way up and
growing all the way up to you consuming
it. That's assuming it's not killed by
heat, right? That's a common question
and that can happen if it's heated then
the microbes are killed. So this depends
on the food. Kafir for example it's done
from pasteurized milk but the
pasteurization happens before the
fermentation process. So it doesn't kill
the bunks. Make sense? And one last
point I want to make with the fermented
food with the probiotic food you're also
getting the entire food matrix. It's not
just the microbes by themselves. You're
also getting in addition to the
probiotics, you're getting the
prebiotics. So that's specific types of
fiber and specific types of starch that
the microbes consume. Those come in
there as well. You're also getting the
postbiotics. So those are fermentation
products, metabolites of the microbes
that are in there as well that have all
kinds of physiological effects on your
body and many other compounds like fatty
acids and amino acids. So they're
fundamentally different products. A pill
with two or three species crammed in,
concentrated, isolated versus this
complex ecosystem of the fermented food.
So this goes back to a principle we've
talked about in many previous videos,
which is we don't just want to get
microbes in there. We also want to feed
them properly. It's like planting a
seed, but then you got to water it and
give it light. Otherwise, it doesn't
sprout. It's useless. So, if you're new
to the channel, we have a lot of content
covering all of this, all the
actionables, how to maintain a healthy
microbiome. Also, notice that the this
matrix, this food matrix wraps the
microbes so that they're not directly
exposed to the acidity of the stomach,
not as much as they are in a pill where
they're isolated. And so, there's a
landmark trial that showed that
generally healthy people given fermented
foods, their microbiome diversity
improved and their inflammation came
down as well. So, this is the twist.
People get these probiotic pills to have
a healthier gut, a healthier microbiome.
But for most people, there are actual
foods that are much more likely to
deliver that result. Now, bear in mind,
fermented foods also have some caveats.
So, for example, people with a weakened
immune system, people with specific
sensitivities like histamine
intolerance, talk to your doctor before
you start fermented foods. Okay, so
let's make this actionable. How do you
actually make that decision? You're
standing in the store. Look at the shelf
with all the probiotics. This is what I
tell a friend of mine if they ask me
about this. If you're healthy
individual, you just heard the
probiotics are good for your gut. Save
your money. Spend it on some yogurt with
probiotic cultures or some kafir or some
kombucha or something like that. If you
have a specific health condition or a
gut issue, then it's possible that
probiotics might be right for you. But
don't grab a random strain. You want to
look up the exact strain and the dose
that was shown to help your situation
and ideally talk to a
gastroenterenterologist. And remember,
for specific medical issues, weakened
immune system, cancer, going through
treatment, talk to your doctor before
you start probiotics. For more
evidence-based breakdowns of common
questions with no sponsors and no sales,
subscribe and I'll see you on the next
video. Actually, I'll link one right
here.