Clearing the air: A crowd-sourced clinical review on the controversies and evidence regarding probiotics for the treatment of the irritable bowel syndrome

Abstract

There is tremendous interest in the use of probiotics to treat gastrointestinal diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but significant limitations to the research, lack of regulation of the probiotic market, and limited education surrounding probiotics have led to confusion and misinformation. In this article, we summarize our #TuesdayNightIBS discussion on the current state of affairs in probiotics research as it relates to IBS. We include a compilation of evidence based strains and combinations of strains specifically for IBS, and provide suggestions and resources that relate to the prescribing of probiotics for IBS.