(I'm new here, just joined, and don't have a strong science background so have difficulty understanding some of the science)
I was just watching NOVA on PBS, the episode Secrets of the Forest, which mentioned that the four primary bacteria in the soil are the four primary healthy bacteria in the human gut. That struck me on several levels.
1) I have severe colon problems (IBS, rectocele, methane-based SIBO and about six other symptoms - and in fact I can rarely leave the house or be more than a minute from the bathroom)...I take Walgreen ultrastrength probiotic (100 billion CFUs, and including five lactobacillus strains), which has helped over time at least in regard to decreasing pain. But now I've been thinking that I should take soil/root probiotics - especially since I haven't been able to digest salads or most vegetables in years (the only I can digest is peas) and only take a multivitamin to compensate. But given all the scientific names, I am confused about what to look for.
For example I don't know how to translate this into probiotic choices:
The gut and soil microbiomes are connected in that they share similar bacterial phyla (Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria), and we ingest microbes from fruits and vegetables grown in soil.
The four dominant bacterial phyla in the human gut are Bacillota (Firmicutes), Bacteroidota, Actinomycetota, and Pseudomonadota. Most bacteria belong to the genera Bacteroides, Clostridium, Faecalibacterium, Eubacterium, Ruminococcus, Peptococcus, Peptostreptococcus, and Bifidobacterium
(Sorry I never recorded the source of this; I saved it to some notes I took about a year ago)
Supposedly some of the privately sold capsules that claim to have many soil-related probiotics has mostly ones ending with coagulans, but these proprietary blends are far more expensive than some of the ones such as Physicians Choice Digestive Enzymes and Probiotics as sold on Amazon. (That one is very affordable and contains Bacillus Subtillis, Bacillus Coagulans, and much more Bacillus Clausii)
Is anyone here knowledgeable about which soil/root probiotics survive stomach acid etc. and make it to the colon? About what in the soil microbiome is most helpful to the gut microbiome?
2) Several decades ago (suffering from painful endometriosis and GI pain) I had a dream about covering my tummy etc. area with soil. I thought this was very wierd, but I did go outside to a nature spot, dug up some soil and put in a bag. And the next time I was in pain, I put the bag over my stomach and colon. It helped. It felt like there was sucking motion going on between my body and the soil, as if the soil was actually soaking up and absorbing the pain.
I only did this half a dozen times but then I stopped because it seemed like too wierd a thing to do. But could it be possible that my body was wanting me to get closer to some of the microbiomes, enzymes etc. in the soil? (I'm feeling inclined to try this again).
Sorry for the long post and thank you for your patience if you have read this. I am really having difficulty understanding what supplements might help my microbiome (as it is, I can only digest about a dozen foods, and definitely do not get much in regard to plant and soil-based foods. Tracy
