10/09/2026
We get many questions about biofilms, so I want to share our toolkit with the caveat that you must discuss any herbal protocols with a knowledgeable practitioner.
Biofilms are communities of bacteria that stick together and create a protective matrix around themselves. Think of it as bacteria living in an organized group rather than as individual cells floating around.
The bacteria produce a substance that acts like glue, holding them in place. It’s not that they’re actively trying to protect themselves from attack, the way some people talk about biofilms. It’s more that this is just what happens when bacteria cluster together in certain environments.
They secrete extracellular polysaccharides and other compounds, and that becomes their home structure.
The reason biofilms matter clinically is that bacteria inside a biofilm can be harder to reach with antimicrobials. The matrix provides some barrier, so antimicrobial agents don’t pe*****te as easily as they would against isolated cells.
This is a real phenomenon.
But the conversation gets complicated because beneficial bacteria live in biofilms, too.
Faecalibacterium, Bifidobacterium, and Akkermansia, the species you want to increase, also organize in biofilm-like structures. So if you’re using something that broadly breaks down biofilms without selectivity, you’re damaging the good guys alongside the problematic ones.
I’ve looked at a lot of “biofilm-busting” products marketed for gut health, and I haven’t seen evidence that they selectively target pathogenic biofilms while sparing beneficial ones. That kind of specificity would require, at a minimum, in vitro research and, ideally, human clinical trials to demonstrate it, and I have not seen such data for these products.
Here are my favourite herbs to use for biofilms, along with some tips for choosing the right product.
