A live gut bacterium taken daily, as a capsule or inside fermented dairy. What it does depends on which commercial version a product contains. The strongest signal is on bowel function; findings on gut pain, milk sugar digestion, gum bleeding, nasal allergy, sleep and blood sugar are isolated. Harms are mostly gas and bloating. Much evidence is company-produced. (Full Review)
| Marker | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Complete spontaneous bowel movements per week | 5 to 14 | Primary endpoint; the outcome with the strongest evidence |
| Bristol Stool Form Scale score | Types 3 to 4 | Captures consistency, which moves independently of frequency |
| Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) | Below 80 mg/dL | Catches the unfavourable lipid shift reported in the diabetes trial |
| High-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) | 50 to 80 mg/dL | Fell alongside the LDL-C rise in the same trial |
| Fasting glucose | 75 to 86 mg/dL | Tracks the one metabolic endpoint with a positive signal |
| Glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) | 4.8% to 5.4% | Three-month average blood sugar; less noisy than a single glucose reading |
| High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) | Below 0.8 mg/L | General whole-body inflammation, the proposed downstream of the fermentation products |
| Faecal calprotectin | Below 50 µg/g | Separates functional symptoms from actual gut wall inflammation before the supplement is blamed |
| Hydrogen and methane breath test | Negative by the testing laboratory's own criteria | Screens for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, the setting in which symptoms worsen |
| Waist circumference | Below 94 cm in men, 80 cm in women | The adiposity measure that moved in the body composition trials |
Cadence: Bowel diary run continuously through the first eight weeks; bloodwork repeated at twelve weeks, then every six to twelve months if use continues.