Gut Balance, a synbiotic supplement, increases fecal Lactobacillus paracasei but has little effect on immunity in healthy physically active individuals.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at the intervention named in the title.

A double blind active controlled parallel trial over a 21 d exercise training period was conducted to evaluate the effect of Gut Balance™, which contains Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei (L. casei 431®), Bifidobacterium animalis ssp. lactis (BB-12®), Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA-5®), Lactobacillus rhamnosus (LGG®), two prebiotics (raftiline and raftilose) and bovine whey derived lactoferrin and immunoglobulins with acacia gum on fecal microbiota, short chain fatty acids (SCFA), gut permeability, salivary lactoferrin and serum cytokines.

Why It Was Studied

Synbiotic supplements, which contain multiple functional ingredients, may enhance the immune system more than the use of individual ingredients alone.

No substantial effects of either supplement were evident in fecal SCFA concentrations, measures of mucosal immunity or GI permeability.

Who Took Part

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, men only.

All subjects randomized were included in the analysis.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and parallel-group study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got the intervention named in the title and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Neither the participants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on the intervention named in the title, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Groups ran in parallel: each of the participants stayed in one arm throughout.

What Was Measured

No substantial effects of either supplement were evident in fecal SCFA concentrations, measures of mucosal immunity or GI permeability.

PubMed files the paper under topics including Bacterial Load, Cytokines, Diet, Fatty Acids, Feces, Gastrointestinal Tract and Lactobacillus.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and parallel-group study.

The publication is from 2013 (Gut microbes), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.