Data published in Beneficial Microbes indicated that four weeks of supplementation with Heyndrickxia coagulans (formerly known as Bacillus coagulans) Unique IS2 (2 billion CFUs) significantly increased the frequency of bowel movements, compared to values at the start of the study.
Stool consistency also significantly improved over the month-long intervention, compared to placebo.
“Unique IS2 has been shown to improve [bowel movement] frequency and stool consistency in individuals with functional constipation and individuals with IBS,” the researchers wrote. “To our knowledge, this is the first RCT to assess Unique IS2 in a healthy population.”
Digestive health
According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, digestive issues are reported to affect 60 to 70 million Americans every year, most linked to conditions such as bowel movement frequency, stool consistency and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.
The Nutrition Business Journal pegs gastrointestinal health as almost 6% of the U.S. dietary supplements market, or about $4.2 billion in 2024, with year-on-year growth from 2023 of 5.8%. That growth rate is predicted to increase over the next few years by nearly 7.2% to reach $5 billion by 2027.
“A recent survey-based study reported that infrequent, soft stools at 4 times per week were found to be associated with 1.78-, 2.42-, and 2.27-times higher risks of all-cause, cancer and cardiovascular disease mortality, respectively, compared to 7 times per week of normal stool,” the new study noted. “Given the associated high risk of infrequent [bowel movements] with various diseases, it is crucial to investigate strategies to mitigate these risks and improve quality of life.”
Study details
The new study included 144 health adults with three to seven bowel movements per week. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either H. coagulans Unique IS2 supplements or placebo for four weeks.
“Unique IS2 is a specific strain of H. coagulans that has been shown to improve GI health in different populations, such as people with constipation, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and diarrhea,” the researchers wrote.
The data indicated that the strain was safe and well tolerated by the study participants. A significant increase in bowel movement frequency was observed in the probiotic group, compared to baseline values, but these values did not reach statistical significance compared to placebo.
Four weeks of supplementation were associated with improvements in stool consistency, according to the Bristol Stool Scale, with improvements noted for the incidence of hard stools. On the other hand, a decrease in stool quality was reported in the placebo group.
No improvements were noted for gastrointestinal symptoms or quality of life, the researchers reported. In addition, no differences in the composition of the gut microbiota were detected between the groups.
“Our results suggest that B. coagulans Unique IS2 is a promising strategy to improve stool characteristics of individuals with hard stools and poor stool quality,” they wrote.
The researchers called for future trials to focus on “populations with defined irregular bowel movements over a longer intervention period to confirm the impact of Unique IS2 on bowel movement characteristics,” as well as studies that can “establish the probiotic potential of Unique IS2 in healthy adults.”
Source: Beneficial Microbes. doi: 10.1163/18762891-bja00072. “Bacillus coagulans Unique IS2 improves stool characteristics in healthy adults with infrequent bowel movements: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial”. Authors: A. LeMoire
