What is the survival of HMF probiotics through the stomach?
With over 90% survival in the full stomach (when taken right after a meal) and over 50% survival in the harshest environment of the empty stomach, the HMF organisms proved particularly robust and well adapted to the human stomach. This was in contrast to other probiotic organisms, which showed great sensitivity to gastric conditions and poor adaptation to the human host. This study also demonstrated that probiotics should be taken in association with a meal to ensure maximum survival. The pH of the empty stomach is between 1.5 and 1.9 whereas, due to the buffering capacity of food, the pH is raised to between 3.8 and 4.3 in the full stomach. The aggressive nature of the stomach acts as an excellent barrier to invasion by potentially pathogenic microbes. So, for probiotics to be effective, they must survive in high numbers under the same environmental stresses as would severely inhibit or eradicate other bacteria. The HMF organisms were compared with other probiotic strains for their ab
