Mindy from Too Many Jars In My Kitchen! is back, talking about the importance of introducing probiotics watchfully and slowly. She shares excellent advice for anyone new to probiotic foods or supplements, and especially those on the GAPS diet. Please feel free to ask questions or share your own experiences in the comments. Mindy is so helpful, warm, and encouraging; I’ve enjoyed sharing this space with her! –Wardee
Sometimes we have to learn things the hard way. Sometimes it takes us more than one time. At least that’s how it was for me when adding in probiotics while on the GAPS diet!
Probiotics are an essential part of the GAPS diet (a gut-healing protocol). This is how we repopulate our guts with all of the good stuff that we’ve been missing. However, as we introduce them, our bodies can experience difficulty. I hope that by sharing my story, you’ll avoid making the same mistakes I did!
Making Up for Lost Time
Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride recommends getting to a therapeutic dose of probiotics (15 to 20 billion bacterial cells/day for an adult) and then holding there for about 6 months. With this in mind, I slowly started adding probiotic supplements after a first round of the Intro diet. I started with a quarter of a capsule and increased up to 2 capsules per day without too much of an issue.
After that, I forgot about continuing to increase the amount I was taking. A few months later, it dawned on me that I should have been increasing this whole time. I realized I needed to make up for lost time, and I was determined to do it quickly!
Within a few weeks I was up to 3-1/2 capsules per day. That would not have been so bad if my body wasn’t so sensitive to increases and I hadn’t also been increasing the probiotics in my food at the same time.
Probiotics in Food
It seems obvious to mention that there are probiotics in food! I actually knew this at the time. What I didn’t think about is how the quick increase in probiotic supplements, combined with the highly probiotic foods I was beginning to eat, would cause such strong die-off reactions.
Take kefir, for instance. Kefir is highly detoxifying, especially if you let your rapidly growing kefir grains stay in your milk. Ask me how I know!
I had never made kefir before starting GAPS and didn’t know that I should get rid of my extra kefir grains. I just let them keep growing and growing, which made the kefir even stronger, which caused even more die-off symptoms.
Gradually, throughout the month or so that I was increasing my probiotic supplements while also consuming my super strong kefir, I felt worse and worse. I started getting severe headaches every day, I felt extremely exhausted, and had a rash that was spreading all over.
That’s when the dots were all connected and I realized I was going much too fast for my body and needed to slow down.
My Tips for Introducing Probiotics
After my experiences with increasing too quickly, I put together these tips for introducing probiotics. Please remember that I’m not a doctor and these are just my personal opinions.
Increase Slowly: It can be tempting to hurry up the process. I’ve found that a quarter capsule increase per week is a very manageable amount. If you aren’t as sensitive, you may be able to increase by a half capsule at a time.
Take Breaks: I found that my body did better if I didn’t continually increase. If you’re now at one capsule per day, take a few days to a week before starting to work up to 2 per day.
Watch Your Food Sources: Make sure you’re not increasing the amount of probiotics from your food too quickly, if you’re also increasing your supplements at the same time.
Pay Attention: Look for signals that you are going too quickly for your body. You might have headaches, rashes, exhaustion, or other signs. These will be unique to your own body.
So Slowly?
Not everyone is going to react the same way to increases in probiotics. Some of you are going to be able to increase much faster than I can, and will get up to your therapeutic dose in no time.
I would caution you, though, to start slow and pay attention to your body’s signals. I ignored mine and ended up feeling miserable. Oh, and I did mention at the beginning of this post that it took me two times to learn this. After a break, I started increasing my probiotics again. Even though I went slower that time, it still wasn’t slow enough for my body. Paying attention really is important!
I wanted to quickly get to my therapeutic dose, but it took some painful lessons to realize that this healing journey isn’t a sprint, but a marathon. I’ll still get there eventually, but my body will be happier and better able to handle it if I take my time.
Thanks, Mindy! Great advice. Everyone — please leave comments with your questions or to share your own experiences!
New to our GAPS series? Get up to speed by browsing past posts in this series or reading what the GAPS diet is.
New: 
Two hard 'g's and stress the middle syllable. 
We only use probiotics to help stabilize upset G.I. symptoms, as a replacement for pepto. If someone gets an upset stomach, one pill a day for two to three days usually controls symptoms and clears everything up. Usually use full strength Culturelle, even for the kids. We found that the children’s strength was ineffective and after consulting with the doctor we switched to the adult strength and they respond well to that dose with no side effects.
Thanks for the tip about using probiotics for upset G.I. symptoms!
Mindy recently posted… The Reading Corner: August 21, 2012
What do you mean die-off symptoms when you describe the strong kefir?
Die-off symptoms are when the body is strongly reacting to all of the good probiotics eliminating the bad bacteria in your gut. I had severe headaches most days, extreme exhaustion, and a rash that was spreading all over my body.
I think it took place because of the combination of my very strong kefir while also increasing my probiotic supplements.
Mindy recently posted… The Reading Corner: August 21, 2012
You say you started adding probiotic supplements after a first round of the intro diet. I thought probiotics are started right from the beginning of gaps. Are you supposed to wait or something?
Loren, I’m not completely sure whether they’re supposed to be started right away or not. I chose to not take any supplements at all when first starting GAPS intro so that I had as little possibilities for die-off as possible. Once I was done with intro, then I started adding them in. Now when I did intro a second time this past spring, I just stayed at my current level of probiotics and waited until I finished intro the second time to begin increasing again.
Mindy recently posted… The Reading Corner: August 21, 2012
I made the mistake of forgetting to stop my probiotics during the Intro diet (I believe they are re-introduced slowly in stage 3 or 4? can’t remember). I’m convinced that’s what caused my “GAPS flu,” where I had chills, fever, nausea, and a horrible headache for about 48 hours about 2 days into the Intro diet. It was awful!
I had been using Garden of Life Primal Defense Ultra, but then read conflicting info on whether the HSO (soil organisms) that Dr. C-M recommends are good for you, or horrible for you! I panicked, and stopped taking them altogether. Have you done any research on the pos/neg of HSOs?
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How miserable, Katy!
I haven’t looked into the HSO and conflicting info at all. I’ve just been sticking with the Bio-Kult brand that she recommends. It would be interesting to find out more about what’s been said in relation to HSOs.
Mindy recently posted… The Reading Corner: August 21, 2012
I have tried both the Primal Defense Ultra and the Bio-kult.
My experience on the Bio-Kult has been easy, smooth and soothing.
I was on Primal Defense Ultra for six weeks. I experienced die-off that never really subsided. It was not a comfortable experience. My sense is that is is not the right probiotic for me and my system.
When I went back onto the Biol-Kult after being on the PD Ultra, it was a relief. My emotional peace returned.
We have tried them, and like the previous commenter, are great for urgent needs. We otherwise use fermented veges, no whey added, for daily use. Adding whey just makes for a lactose (read dairy) fermented food, and they have a very minimal affect on the gut.
Are you suggesting that because of the whey included in fermented veggies, the veggies are not as effective as a probiotic?
Actually, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride recommends adding whey as an option for fermented veggies (see p. 197 in Gut & Psychology Syndrome). Now if you have a sensitivity to whey, you’re not going to want to add that in.
I’ve found that even with my dairy issues, I was able to add in whey fairly early on. I also like to add it to slightly cooled soups for additional probiotics.
Mindy recently posted… The Reading Corner: August 21, 2012
I use my homemade raw kefir internally (protien shakes, ice cream…)and externally (cuts, inflamation, soars, open wounds…). I give 2 tablespoons to each of my dogs daily and they LOVE it!
I never thought of using externally, but what a great idea! It makes sense that it would help our bodies heal on the outside too.
I bet my dogs would love it if I shared some with them, too.
Mindy recently posted… The Reading Corner: August 21, 2012
My daughter started some probiotics due to her stomach not feeling well after she was sick a little while back. After a few days she started to break out in a rash on her stomach and on her hand. I thought it may be related, and after reading your experience I think she took too many to quick.
I was wondering how fast the rash went away for you and if there was anything that helped it. I am not big on prescription meds so I have been trying to take care of it at home instead of taking her to the Drs.
Thanks, Angela
I bet you’re right, Angela. My rash took a few weeks to go away completely. However, it had been there for several weeks before I figured out what was happening.
I took a break from kefir, and decreased the amount of probiotics I was taking. I also tried to do detox baths fairly regularly. It was much better, but not completely gone About a month later, I did intro again and that is finally what cleared it completely.
Has she had it for very long?
Mindy recently posted… The Reading Corner: August 21, 2012
I think my comment was not all that clear. Dairy ferments are very good, but inoculating veges with lactose, allows the basics of the dairy to take over, but there is much lost in translation, so to speak.
How do you know when you have reached a therapeutic dose?
Mel, it’s when you reach 15-20 bacterial cells per day for an adult. The number of capsules will depend on the brand you’re using and how many bacterial cells are in each capsule. If you’re using Bio-Kult, that should be 8-10 capsules per day.
After working my GAPS practitioner, Monica Corrado, we’ve decided my goal is to get to 6 per day since I seem to react so strongly to them. Once I hit that, I will hold it for approximately 6 months before slowly decreasing to a maintenance dose.
Hope that helps!
Mindy recently posted… Fill Those Jars Friday: August 24, 2012
My son is on antibiotics long term for acne. I am concerned about this. I had a chiropractor once that says it doesn’t do any good to be on probiotics until after a person is off of the meds. Is this true?
Hi, My son had a raging case of acne and now it’s almost gone! He’s been taking Pantothen for a month and it dissolves oil before it gets to your skin. It’s an over-the-ounter supplement. He has one shrinking zit left and some fading red blotches. These blotches can take up to 2 months to fade away. So I’m thinking he’ll be acne-free with no sign of redness within the next month.
I ordered a three month supply with no shipping and a coupon it came to $60. Well worth it! Google Pantothen if you are interested!
hope this helps,
Tammy
Where did you find it for that price?
I would think it would still be beneficial to at least include lots of probiotic foods while he’s on the antibiotics. Whether it’s worth paying for probiotics, your chiropractor may be right. I’m not really completely clear on that point.
I’d also recommend looking into natural ways to heal acne rather than with antibiotics. I think being on so many antibiotics as a child, both for sickness and then as a teen for acne, contributed to a lot of my gut issues that I’m working to heal now.
I hope you’re able to figure out a good solution, Fay!
Mindy recently posted… Fill Those Jars Friday: August 24, 2012
Thanks , Mindy!!!!!
Thanks for the die-off warning. I gave my 3 year old son Soil Based (SBO) probiotics for the last 3-4 weeks hoping to resolve his IBS symptom and behavioral issues due to bad bacteria and candida. I started on 1 capsule per day, he practically acted as if he had alcohol and were very active. Needless to say, I was so scared to see the reactions from SBO. I backed down the dose to only 1/2 capsule per day for a few weeks but his bowel movement has been loose and runny. I’ve been maintaining 1/2 capsule for a while and am afraid to increase his dose. How do you know when you are ready to increase the dose? should I maintain at 1/2 capsule until his loose/diarrhea stop or continue to increase after a period of time?
Have you ever heard of SBO probiotics by Bodybiotics? Both my son and I are extremely sensitive to this probiotics. Not sure if it means that the probiotics are actually working or that I am not tolerating the probiotics. For me I developed depression, brain fog, and extreme fatigue while on the Bodybiotics SBO. I ended up stopping the probiotics all together due to my sensitivity to SBO.
Hi Cece,
It’s amazing how quickly we can react to probiotics! It can be hard to know when it’s time to move on with the probiotics. For me, I’ve found it’s better for me to wait until my die-off symptoms have gone away before increasing again. That’s a hard one as far as knowing when to increase with your son. My guess (and I’m not a doctor!) would be to hold off until his die-off symptoms have disappeared. When I tried to push through my symptoms at first, they ened up much worse. I found that increasing by a 1/4 capsule was the best for me.
I haven’t heard of those probiotics. Have you tried any others and still have the same reactions? I’ve only used Bio-Kult so far. I have similar die-off reactions if I increase my probiotic foods too quickly.
I hope you have success with this!
Mindy recently posted… Fill Those Jars Friday is Now a Monthly Link Up
Sweet blog! I found it while browsing on Yahoo News. Do you have any
tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Cheers
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Thanks so much for this article! I just started GAPS yesterday. I bought a great ebook on how to do the intro part, but I haven’t seen anything on the probiotics yet so I am happy to find some good info here. I am a homeschooling, stay at home mamma, so I can’t afford to be out of commission. Trying to do this as carefully as possible! Thanks again:)
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I have been taking the Lady Soma Probiotics for about 1 year now and I can’t belive the difference it makes in my digestive health! My OB/GYM reccomended Lady Soma. I have had stomach/instestinal problems my whole life and I have diagnosed with IBS. since taking the probiotics I have seen alot of improvement.