NOTE: Probiotics are measured by their potency (CFU per gram or number of probiotic cells per gram), not just by how much powder there is. Probiotic powders can be manufactured in different potencies (10 Billion CFU per gram, 100 Billion CFU per gram, 500 Billion CFU per gram, etc). The higher the potency per gram, the less powder you need to take. For example, you would need to take 5 grams of 100 Billion CFU per gram to equal 1 gram of 500 Billion CFU per gram.

L. Paracasei 500 billion CFUs/gram (Live Probiotic, No Fillers)

Ingredients: Lactobacillus Paracasei (L. Paracasei)

NOTE: Keep refrigerated upon arrival. 

The probiotics are freeze dried so no ice packs, etc are needed during shipment. 

DO NOT purchase no filler probiotic powder if it is NOT refrigerated. Fillers like maltodextrin, etc keep probiotics stable outside of the refrigerator but cause a lot of digestive problems so we don't use them. The CFU count will be much lower than advertised for no filler powders that are not refrigerated.

We keep all our powders in the refrigerator before shipment.

FREE US SHIPPING. 

*Free international shipping over $100 USD (use code FREESHIPPING at checkout). 

How do I measure this? 

Two measuring spoons are included. The small spoon is 50 Billion CFU (0.1g) and the big spoon is 400 Billion CFU (0.8g). 

Why powder and not capsules?

Our probiotic powder has no additives. Many people don't realize that a lot of additives worsen their symptoms. Additionally, the microbiome in your mouth, esophagus, and stomach are incredibly important to your health. Taking our flavorless probiotic powder keeps those areas healthy. 

Why High Potency? How much should I take? 

Using a dose less than 25 Billion per day will have limited health benefits -- you will need a higher potency to get desirable results. Many people have used other probiotic brands with minimal results because of their low potency. 

It depends on the person and the issue that is being addressed. You’ll start to see results at a minimum of 25 Billion CFUs per day. The average daily dose by our customers is between 200-400 Billion CFUs per day. Some people see significant results with dosages as high as 800 Billion CFUs per day.  

15g Size ($1.97 per gram):

150 servings if using 50 Billion CFU serving size  (~1/32 teaspoon or 125mg)

50g Size ($2.40 per gram)

6,000 servings if using 5 Billion CFU serving size (~1/256 teaspoon or 15.625mg)

3,000 servings if using 10 Billion CFU serving size (~1/128 teaspoon or 31.25mg)

1,500 servings if using 20 Billion CFU serving size (~1/64 teaspoon or 62.5mg)

600 servings if using 50 Billion CFU serving size (~1/32 teaspoon or 125mg)

300 servings if using 100 Billion CFU serving size (1/16 teaspoon or 0.25g)

150 servings if using 200 Billion CFU serving size (1/8 teaspoon or 0.5g)

75 servings if using 400 Billion CFU serving size (1/4 teaspoon or 1g)

100g Size ($1.96 per gram): 

12,000 servings if using 5 Billion CFU serving size (~1/256 teaspoon or 15.625mg)

6,000 servings if using 10 Billion CFU serving size (~1/128 teaspoon or 31.25mg)

3,000 servings if using 20 Billion CFU serving size (~1/64 teaspoon or 62.5mg)

1,200 servings if using 50 Billion CFU serving size (~1/32 teaspoon or 125mg)

600 servings if using 100 Billion CFU serving size (1/16 teaspoon or 0.25g)

300 servings if using 200 Billion CFU serving size (1/8 teaspoon or 0.5g)

150 servings if using 400 Billion CFU serving size (1/4 teaspoon or 1g)

Statement on Allergens

Dairy Free

Sugar Free

Gluten Free

Preservative Free

Soy Free

GMO Free

Yeast Free

Casein Free

Free of Artificial Colors or Flavors

Prebiotic Free

How long will a 50 gram or 100 gram powder last? 

50 grams will last about 2 months if you take 200 Billion CFUs per day or 8 months if you take 50 Billion CFUs per day. 100 grams will last about 4 months if you take 200 Billion CFUs per day. 

Can infants and children take probiotics? 

Based on existing research, infants can start taking probiotics at 6 months of age. 

How much probiotics can an infant take? 

Infants can take up to 50 Billion CFU per day. 

What are CFUs?

CFU stands for Colony Forming Unit. This is the bacterial count of probiotics. 

Why aren’t BulkProbiotics enteric coated? 

Enteric coated probiotics are mainly a marketing gimmick. The strains that are used at BulkProbiotics are vetted to have excellent acid and bile tolerance as well as the capacity to survive intestinal transit. 

What happens if I leave the probiotics outside of the refrigerator for a couple of days? 

2 year temperature stability testing has been performed on our probiotics and the loss would be negligible. Our probiotics can remain at room temperature (or travel) for 5 weeks with limited loss, however, it is best to store the probiotics in the refrigerator for optimum potency. 

Why do some individuals get a “die-off” reaction? 

This is due to a ‘war’ that occurs between the probiotics and the bad bacteria in your body. If there is a large imbalance in your gut bacteria, the die-off reaction will be higher. To avoid this we recommend that you gradually increase your dosage starting with about 25 Billion CFU per day and increase every few days over a couple of weeks. 

Do your probiotics contain any dairy or gluten? 

Our probiotics are dairy and gluten free. They do not utilize milk, milk derivatives, GOS, or Inulin as additional ingredients in the fermentation media. 

When should I take probiotics? Is it ok to take probiotics with drugs, vitamins, or antibiotics? 

As a digestive aid, it is best to take 30 minutes before a meal; otherwise, it is also ok to take on an empty stomach in the morning or at bedtime (at least 2 hours after eating). Probiotics should not be taken with antibiotics (take 2 hours before or after taking antibiotics). 

What is the return policy?

We accept returns within 30 days for all 10g probiotic powders that are unopened. We do not accept returns for any other sizes. The 10g size is available to experiment to help you find the right probiotic strains for you. 

L. paracasei is a beneficial probiotic species of bacteria that may benefit the immune system and gut microbiota and reduce allergic symptoms and skin sensitivity. What other potential health benefits could it have? Read on to find out.

What is Lactobacillus paracasei?

Lactobacillus paracasei is a gram-positive lactic acid bacterium, commonly used in dairy products and probiotics. Both L. paracasei and its fermented products are effective immunomodulators, they alleviate allergies, prevent gastric mucosal lesions and inhibit fat tissue accumulation [1].

Possibly Effective For

1) Allergies

A significant reduction of nasal symptoms and improved quality of life were achieved in patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis, who received L. paracasei when pollen scattering was low. However, the effects were limited during the peak period [2].

1. paracasei has allergy reducing effects in mice, by balancing the Th1/Th2 responses [3].
2. paracasei induces Th1 and regulatory responses in mice, suppresses airway inflammation, and down-regulates allergen-specific immune responses [4, 5].
3. paracasei administration to mothers during gestation/lactation protects against airway inflammation in offspring in mice [4].

Allergic Rhinitis

At least five clinical studies with L. paracasei demonstrated clinically significant improvements in allergic rhinitis [6], one did not [7].

Subjects with a medical history of allergic rhinitis to grass pollen that received L. paracasei -fermented milk had lower nasal congestion and nasal itching [8].

In children with perennial allergic rhinitis, L. paracasei improved symptoms of sneezing, itchy nose, and swollen eyes [9].

1. paracasei improves the quality of life of subjects with persistent allergic rhinitis who are being treated with an oral H1-antihistamine. In this study, nasal symptoms had not changed, but ocular symptoms had consistently improved [10].

Heat-killed L. paracasei can effectively improve the overall quality of life for patients with allergic rhinitis induced by house dust mite in human subjects [11].

2) Skin Health

Heat-killed L. paracasei improved atopic dermatitis (AD) in adult patients [12].

According to some researchers, L. paracasei may help reinforce skin barrier function, inhibit water loss, decrease skin sensitivity and modulate the skin immune system leading to the preservation of skin homeostasis [13].

1. paracasei decreased skin sensitivity and increases barrier function recovery (water retention) in women [14].

3) Gut Health

Intestinal Microflora

1. paracasei increased the number of beneficial Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli in human subjects [15, 16].

Oral intake of L. paracasei by mice increased intestinal Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli [17, 18], and decreased the content of Clostridium perfringens [18].

1. paracasei antagonized Escherichia coli and Clostridium species [19, 16].
2. paracasei further increased acetic acid and butyric acid, while it decreases ammonia [16].

IBS

1. paracasei supplementation prevented bowel symptom onset in patients on long-term proton pump inhibitors [20].
2. paracasei normalized muscular activity and energy metabolism and elevates lipid breakdown in mice with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) [21].
3. paracasei attenuated muscle hypercontractility and Th-2 levels in mice with post-infective irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) [22].

Diverticular Disease

1. paracasei, in association with a high-fiber diet, reduced abdominal bloating and prolonged abdominal pain in patients with symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease [23].

Diarrhea

1. paracasei resolved acute diarrhea [24] and ameliorated non-rotavirus-induced diarrhea in children [25].

Constipation

1. paracasei-enriched artichokes relieved constipation in 20 patients [26].

Intestinal Barrier

1. paracasei modulated intestinal digestion, absorption of nutrients, energy metabolism, lipid synthesis and intestinal protective functions in mice [27].

Fermented milk with L. paracasei promoted intestinal epithelial cell growth and intestinal epithelial integrity to strengthen the intestinal barrier against chemical and inflammatory stimuli-induced damage [28].

1. paracasei synbiotic therapy prevented or repaired colon damage in mice with acute colitis, where this bacterium completely restored epithelial barrier integrity and gut protection [29, 30].
2. paracasei therapy prevents antibiotic induced visceral hypersensitivity and restores normal gut permeability in rats [31].

GI Inflammation

1. paracasei prevented intestinal inflammation in mice with colitis [32].

Oral supplementation of L. paracasei reduced the clinical progression of necrotizing enterocolitis in infants [33].

4) Immunity

Dietary supplementation with cow’s milk or rice fermented with L. paracasei prevented common infectious disease (CIDs) in children attending daycare [34].

1. paracasei enhanced systemic immunity in mice [35]. This bacterium skewed the Th1/Th2 balance toward Th1 through the elevation of Th1 cytokine production [36, 17].
2. paracasei enhances natural killer (NK) cell activity, lymphocyte proliferation and antibody production in mice [37, 18, 38].
3. paracasei strongly induces IL-12, increases the proportion of natural killer (NK) cells in the spleen, and ameliorates the symptoms of influenza virus infection in mice [39, 40].
4. paracasei increases E. coli infection survival in mice [38].

Both L. paracasei and its supernatant enhance innate immunity through the activation of Toll-like receptor (TLR) signaling [41].

Inflammation

1. paracasei significantly increases the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines and stimulates the innate immune system in human enterocytes and dendritic cells (DCs) [42].
2. paracasei decreases pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines in human intestinal DCs challenged with Salmonella [41, 43].

5) Dental Health

Oral L. paracasei significantly reduced salivary S. mutans [44, 45, 46], and increased Lactobacilli in adults [46].

However, L. paracasei was not found efficient in 9-year-old children [47].

1. paracasei, even if heat-killed, inhibits S. mutans and decreases caries lesions in rats [48].

6) Fat Metabolism

1. paracasei decreased triacylglycerol in human subjects [49].
2. paracasei decreased energy/food intake in both human and animal subjects [50].

Water extract of L. paracasei reduced body weight in obese rats. It decreased the formation of lipid plaques in the aorta, reduced fat cell size and inhibits fat absorption, thereby reducing fat production (lipogenesis) [51].

In another study, the long-term ingestion of L. paracasei reduced body weight and abdominal fat weight in rats [52].

1. paracasei decreased body fat in mice [53].

7) Liver Function

1. paracasei lowered liver fat deposition and serum ALT levels in mice with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) [54].
2. paracasei reduced total blood and liver cholesterol in rats and decreased liver damage due to alcohol intake [55].
3. paracasei restored gut microbiota and attenuated ischemia/reperfusion-related liver injury in rats [56].
4. paracasei synbiotic (containing arabinogalactan, fructooligosaccharides) lessened NAFLD progression, lowered inflammatory markers, and reduced the severity of liver injury and insulin resistance in rats [57].

8) Insulin Resistance

1. paracasei synbiotic improved many aspects of insulin resistance, such as fasting response, hormonal homeostasis, and glycemic control in rats [57].

9) Detox

1. paracasei reduced the adverse effects of Zearalenone (ZEN), an estrogenic toxin produced by numerous Fusarium fungi species in pre- or post-harvest cereals in mice [58].

10) Urogenital Infections

1. paracasei prevented urogenital infections by inhibiting Staphylococcus aureus in mice [59].

11) Antibacterial Activity

1. paracasei inhibited common pathogens including Shigella dysenteriae, Staphylococcus aureus, Cronobacter sakazakii, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans in the laboratory [60, 61].

Fermented milk with L. paracasei significantly improved gut microbiota, increased Lactobacilli, and inhibited the colonization of C. albicans to the intestines of mice [60].

A bacteriocin produced by L. paracasei inhibited P. gingivalis, a species of bacteria associated with periodontal disease [62].

Mechanism of Effect

Researchers have conducted a number of cell and animal studies to investigate the effect of L. paracasei on a biochemical level. Here are some of their findings:

• Depending on the experimental setting, L. paracasei had different effects on cytokines.
• It both elevated and suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-α [28, 29, 30, 36, 65], decreased [30, 32] or increased IL-1β [36, 65], and inhibited [28] or elevated IFN-γ [36, 65].
• L. paracasei mostly induced IL-12 [40, 66, 36, 39] [in some studies decreased: 42, 32], and increased the proportion of NK cells [39], while reducing the Th-2 response [22, 67].
• L. paracasei mostly increased IL-10 [29, 36, 65, 68] [a study where IL-10 is decreased: 42].
• L. paracasei decreased TGF-β1 [42, 22], and increased TGF-β2 [42].
• L. paracasei increased IL-8 [42], decreased IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 [36, 4, 8, 54]. and both decreased and increased IL-6 [32, 42].
• L. paracasei increased IgA [65, 68], and decreased IgG4 [8] and IgE [67].
• L. paracasei stimulated iNOS and NO [36].
• L. paracasei increased RANTES, IP-10 [42] and ANGPTL4 [53].
• L. paracasei lowered PPAR-γ [54, 51].
• It decreased MIP-1α [42], CCL-20 [28], PTGS2 [29], COX-2, PGE2 [22], TLR-4, NOX-4, MCP-1, PPAR-δ [54], CCAAT/ C/EBPβ, C/EBPα and HR-LPL [51].
• L. paracasei increased CD4+ T cell and B cell proliferation [65] and upregulated the CD4+CD25+Foxp3+Treg cell responses [3].
• It reduced neutrophil infiltration [32] and attenuated eosinophil influx in the lungs [67, 4, 8].
• L. paracasei increased the expression of almost all TLR signaling genes [42].

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.

*These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.