New York Buyers’ Club - The Blog

NYBC stocks the probiotic Florastor, which is Saccharomyces boulardi lyo (lyo = freeze dried, the best means discovered for preserving the effectiveness of this agent). Saccharomyces boulardii, a yeast first investigated by French microbiologist Henri Boulard in Indochina in the 1920s, has been widely researched and distributed over the last fifty years, though it has a longer history of use in Europe than in the US.

We’re glad that Florastor has become available in the United States in the last five years, since before that we were obliged to import this pharmaceutical grade probiotic from Europe; the US versions of Saccharomyces boulardii often seemed quite a bit less effective, perhaps because the European production techniques were more advanced.

Here are the main indications/conditions for which Saccharomyces boulardii has been investigated:

Acute Diarrhea
A controlled study found a significant reduction in symptoms of diarrhea in adults taking 250mg of S. boulardii twice a day for five days or until symptoms were relieved.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome
A placebo-controlled study found that patients with diarrhea due mainly to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) had a significant reduction in number and consistency of bowel movements.
Suggested dosage is 250mg twice daily.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Additional benefits to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients may be found in 1) prevention of relapse in Crohn’s disease patients currently in remission and 2) benefits to ulcerative colitis patients with moderate symptoms. Suggested dosage is three 250mg capsules a day.

Antibiotic-Associated Diarrhea
Some evidence for its use in the prophylaxis (prevention) of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) in adults. Suggested dosage: 250mg twice a day with the standard antibiotic course.

HIV/AIDS-Associated Diarrhea
Saccharomyces boulardii was shown to significantly increase the recovery rate of stage IV AIDS patients suffering from diarrhea versus placebo. On average, patients receiving S. boulardii gained weight while the placebo group lost weight over the 18 month study. There were no reported adverse reaction observed in these immunocompromised patients.

Recurrent Clostridium difficile Infection
Two 500mg doses per day of Saccharomyces boulardii when taken with one of two antibiotics (vancomycin or metronidazole) were found to significantly reduce the rate of recurrent Clostridium difficile (pseudomembranous colitis) infection. However, note that significant benefit was not found for prevention of an initial episode of Clostridium difficile-associated disease.

Some citations (there are many more, since Saccharomyces boulardii is among the most-studied probiotics):

–Höcher W, Chase D, Hagenhoff G (1990). “Saccharomyces boulardii in acute adult diarrhoea. Efficacy and tolerance of treatment”. Münch Med Wochenschr 132: 188–92. 
–McFarland L, Surawicz C, Greenberg R (1994). “A randomised placebo-controlled trial of Saccharomyces boulardii in combination with standard antibiotics for Clostridium difficile disease”. J Am Med Assoc 271: 1913–8. 
–Maupas J, Champemont P, Delforge M (1983). “Treatment of irritable bowel syndrome with Saccharomyces boulardii: a double blind, placebo controlled study”. Medicine Chirurgie Digestives 12(1): 77–9. 
–Guslandi M, Mezzi G, Sorghi M, Testoni PA (2000). “Saccharomyces boulardii in maintenance treatment of Crohn’s disease”. Dig. Dis. Sci. 45 (7): 1462–4. PMID 10961730. 
–Guslandi M, Giollo P, Testoni PA (2003). “A pilot trial of Saccharomyces boulardii in ulcerative colitis”. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol 15 (6): 697–8. doi:10.1097/01.meg.0000059138.68845.06. PMID 12840682. 
–Saint-Marc T, Blehaut H, Musial C, Touraine J (1995). “AIDS related diarrhea: a double-blind trial of Saccharomyces boulardii”. Sem Hôsp Paris 71: 735–41. 

Here is information on the use of Glutamine for Inflammatory Bowel Disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease) and for HIV/AIDS. These excerpts are from the University of Maryland Medical Center’s Complementary Medicine web resource, which provides an extensive and generally up-to-date database on nutritional supplements and their applications.

NYBC stocks:

 Glutamine as a bulk powder (1 kilogram)

and

Glutamine capsules 500mg/100.

Note: Glutamine is one of the main components of Juven, a patented blend that also includes L-arginine and HMB. Unfortunately “patented” = much more expensive. It’s a lot cheaper to purchase Glutamine in bulk than to buy it in the form of Juven!
—

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid (building block of protein) in the bloodstream. It is considered a “conditionally essential amino acid” because it can be manufactured in the body, but under extreme physical stress the demand for glutamine exceeds the body’s ability to synthesize it.
…
Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
Glutamine helps to protect the lining of the gastrointestinal tract known as the mucosa. Because of this, some experts speculate that glutamine deficiency may play a role in the development of IBD, namely ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. These conditions are characterized by damage to the mucosal lining of the small and/or large intestines, which leads to inflammation, infection, and ulcerations (holes). In fact, some preliminary research suggests that glutamine may be a valuable supplement during treatment of IBD because it promotes healing of the cells in the intestines and improves diarrhea associated with IBD. Not all studies have found this positive benefit, however. For this reason, more research is needed before conclusions can be drawn. In the meantime, follow the advice of your healthcare provider when deciding whether to use glutamine for IBD.

HIV/AIDS
Individuals with advanced stages of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) often experience severe weight loss (particularly loss of muscle mass). A few studies of individuals with HIV have demonstrated that glutamine supplementation, along with other important nutrients including vitamins C and E, beta-carotene, selenium, and N-acetylcysteine, may reduce the severe weight loss associated with this condition.