Diarrhoea is characterised by loose, watery stools or frequent bowel movements (three or more times in one day). This digestive symptom can be acute or chronic. Acute diarrhoea means diarrhoea that lasts from one to two days. This might be caused by a viral or bacterial infection or due to food poisoning.

There’s even a condition known as ‘traveller’s diarrhoea,’ which comes from being exposed to bacteria or parasites while on vacation in areas with poor public hygiene. Chronic diarrhoea is when the condition doesn’t go away for at least four weeks. This is usually because of an intestinal disease or disorder.

Grouping of food bacteria, probiotics can be used to re-establish a healthy microbiome to combat diarrhoea. No matter what the cause of diarrhoea, the digestive system is likely going to be off-balance because of bowel irregularities. Probiotics are able to support optimal digestion and return the gut to balanced colonies of microbes. However, not all probiotics are equally effective. The best probiotics for maintaining regular bowel habits are  Bacillus species. Being spore-forming bacteria, the advantage of them over non-spore formers such as Lactobacillus is that they are heat stable and can be stored at room temperature without any loss of viability. Those spore-forming bacteria are also resistant to acidic conditions of the stomach and hence can survive the transit to reach the intestine. Experimental data suggest that Bacillus probiotics can adhere to the bowel wall and colonise the mucosa. As B. clausii is extremely stable to acidic conditions, the entire dose of ingested bacteria reaches the small intestine intact.