L Reuteri For Great Hair and Skin

Tonicquest has reported on how mice eating yogurt had increased testosterone levels and great shiny hair. You can read about it here.

The early reports that came out simply mentioned probiotics in yogurt as if any yogurt could have this effect. However, it’s become clear that not all yogurts are created equal. If you read the fine print, you’ll see that most yogurts list the probiotics in them. Unfortunately, the specific strain that was used in the studies, L Reuteri, is really hard to find!! I can’t find one single commercially available yogurt that has this strain. Stonyfield yogurt used to have it, buy they stopped using it for some time now.

I did find L Reuteri in Lifeway Kefir. You can get it here:

Frustratingly, the Lifeway Kefir does not mention what strain is included. The strain you want is ATCC 6475 Lactobacillus reuteri. It’s a challenge to find it anywhere. Until then, you can try to get L Reuteri in supplement form.
You can try this one:

Read this study here.:

Radiant skin and hair are universally recognized as indications of good health. However, this ‘glow of health’ display remains poorly understood. We found that feeding of probiotic bacteria to aged mice induced integumentary changes mimicking peak health and reproductive fitness characteristic of much younger animals. Eating probiotic yogurt triggered epithelial follicular anagen-phase shift with sebocytogenesis resulting in thick lustrous fur due to a bacteria-triggered interleukin-10-dependent mechanism. Aged male animals eating probiotics exhibited increased subcuticular folliculogenesis, when compared with matched controls, yielding luxuriant fur only in probiotic-fed subjects. Female animals displayed probiotic-induced hyperacidity coinciding with shinier hair, a feature that also aligns with fertility in human females. Together these data provide insights into mammalian evolution and novel strategies for integumentary health.