The field of probiotics is developing rapidly as evidenced by expansion of research and increased familiarity to the general public. What is a probiotic?Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization (WHO) defines probiotics as beneficial live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit to humans; it was initially intended for benefits onthe human digestive process.The use of probiotics has most likely been around for hundreds of years in the form of fermented food products in several cultures and cuisines. Yogurts, Kampuchea, Kefir, Sauerkraut are some well-known examples. These are mainly composed of microbial growth and fermentation of beneficial bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium –mainly milk fermenting group of bacteria. For the last few decades the use of probiotic as a dietary supplement in the form of capsules and powder has also become widespread.

Most of the probiotics available in the market place are over-hyped and focused on cashing in on to the consumer perceptions on “more is good” (i.e. 10billion and 50billion bacteria per capsule!). Most of the probiotic bacteria are dead while sitting on the retail shelf space. Probiotics bacteria like any other bacteria are hard to keep viable under room temperature. The better it is stored and shipped under refrigerated conditions; thereby thepercentage of viability is much higher.

In 2013, The National Institute of Health (NIH) conducted an in-depth study on beneficial flora on human body in a multimillion project called “Human Microbiome Project”. The report from the study and the ensuing research have shown that the gut flora in the body is not just a passiveelement butis also a vital organ, which is now referred as a 2nd braindeciding your long-term health and longevity. The gut flora is almost two kilogram (4.4lbs)with 4million genes. The beneficial flora and its metabolites are key in deciding your digestive, cardiac and even your brain health. A balanced beneficial flora is also vital for maintaining a good skin and urogenital tissue environment-especially on ladies.

This newfound information was profound and revealing. Taking probiotics can not only help in the digestive process but also help with your mood, cognition and sleep.
Studies have found that there is serious gut-brain axis and the imbalanced gut flora can lead to compromised gut lining leading to bad metabolites such as endotoxins seeping into the blood stream- what we call as “leaky gut”. The refined sugars and ultra processed foods can also lead to an imbalanced gut flora composition, leading to more sugar cravings and weight gain. All these information essentials tell that maintaining a good gut flora is pivotal for human health. So what can you do about it?A fiber-rich healthy diet complemented with good probiotics may be the answer. Then the obvious question was raised, Is your daily yogurt consumption good enough benefits of a probiotics? Most likely not. Yogurt can have incremental benefits to your gut flora.

Antibiotics, chemotherapy, less-fiber diet, high sugar diets, medications (e.g. NSIADs, statins and some other drug therapies) can all alter beneficial flora in your gut. Based on this new medical research, GI doctors, primary care doctors, neurologists and psychiatrists are recommendingprobiotics for their patients. That being said, working in pharmaceutical sector for over twenty-fiveyears, I myself wanted to do some research on different types of probiotics in the market and stumbled across a local Indo-American biotechnology company in Sarasota, Florida that manufactures high-quality probiotics under a brand namecalled Biom Probiotics.

Biom Probiotics is a 2nd generation probiotic which is developed with the new research on the human microbiome. Ituses probiotics, prebiotics, and immunobiotics put together in one capsule that works together to balance and nurture the beneficial flora. It uses fifteen different probiotic strains of beneficial bacteria mix in this product. That means one dose contains around fifty-five billion bacteria.Prebiotics are the good fiber that your probiotics and the beneficial gut flora need togrow and flourish. Prebiotics set a favorableenvironment for beneficial flora by reinforcing an enhanced viability of beneficial flora. From the gut microbiome research, physicians have realized the importance of prebiotics and now recommend probiotic brands with prebiotics especially along with an antibiotic script.Biom probiotics uses proprietary mix of plant fibers that supports the growth and diversity of a wide range of beneficial flora.

Immunobiotics are a clinically-proven immune-activating probiotic-componentsthat helps with respiratory infections (eg cold and influenza) especially in elderly. This immunobiotics are very popular supplements among Japanese consumers. Biom Probiotic’s combination of probiotics, prebiotics and immunobiotics is a synergistic mix to properly balance your gut flora. Furthermore, these ingredients are packaged as acid resistant capsules to specifically target the intestine without the adverse effects from the stomach acid. The standard dose is 2 capsules per day.Biom Probiotics products are packaged in special cold packs for a two-day shipping to safeguard the maximum potency of the probiotics.Biom Pharmaceuticals also manufactures prebiotic turmeric food bars (Non-GMO), probiotic suppositories, and probiotic-based cosmetics. Biom Products are currently available in local pharmacies, Amazon and ecommerce site ,www.biomprobiotics.com

The company, Biom Pharmaceutical which makes this brand is started by a young entrepreneur, Dr. Bobban Subhadra, who has extensive experience in microbiome research and product development. He has completed his doctoral degree in Microbiology & Immunology at the School of Medicine, University of New Mexico several years ago and has been contributing to science publications suchas Science and Natureand other prestigious journals. He left large corporations to pursue his passion in this field and started Biom Pharmaceutical with a focus on optimal health and longevity.

Talking to him, I found out that the key in maintaining your gut flora is to have diversified or different varieties of flora. The western diet is not the best in helping to have different varieties of flora, but cuisines like Mediterranean, Japanese where there are different plant fibers in the diet can really complement to a diversified flora. The more diversified your flora it is, the better your overall health.A narrow diversity in flora may give a bad signal to your brain leading to metabolic conditions such as obesity and weight gain.

While doing my own research on this matter, I have found the use of microbiome therapy is getting very popular in clinical settings. Now a days gastroenterologists are administering healthy humans’ fecal matter as an alternative treatmentregimen for nasty opportunistic pathogens like Clostridium difficile.Chances are there after an antibiotic regimen on elderly population,their beneficial gut bacteria are significantly depleted therebythe opportunistic bacteria like C.difficile can thrive to a very dangerous level. Very recently, a study published from Arizona State University found out that using fecal transplants, the autistic kids had 50% better clinical benefits. I think this approach is remarkable because up until now, there is no real treatment of Autism.

Dr. Bobban Subhadra has secured several intellectual patent rights on microbiome therapy to prevent and treat various disease conditions. His focus area is how gut flora changes can have memory and cognition issues and how can you restore a good flora pattern to help with disease conditions such as Alzheimer’s Disease, a debilitating condition. Now, he is reaching to the second phase of the business expansion with additional investments and collaborations. He is eager to talk more about his research and products to new investors or collaborators. Biom pharmaceutical (www.biompharma.com) can also sponsor US green card residency applications (EB-5 investor visa) from qualified overseas investors. If anybody is interested in investmentswith Biom, please feel free to reachout to him directly at bobban@biompharma.com. Phone: 505-220-4145.

Human microbiome and healthy living (Varughese Abraham Denver)