There are so many probiotics on the market. How do I know which to choose?

The health benefits of taking a probiotic supplement are well documented and you can read all about them in our previous “ask the expert” here, but with so many probiotic formulas available, it can be difficult to know which is right for you.

Probiotics are some of the safest natural supplements available and have very few contraindications, but it is important to make sure that the probiotic strains used meet some basic criteria:

The strains should:

• Survive the stress of the stomach acid, pancreatic juices and bile salts to reach the gut alive. You could buy a supplement that has billions of live bacteria, but if 99% die in the stomach, the remaining 1% is highly unlikely to provide the wonderful health benefits
• Be backed by research showing a beneficial effect. So ideally you should be looking for a probiotic with names you could find in a science database. Look for strains with several studies on humans with similar issues to those you are experiencing, e.g., bloating, loose stools, constipation, etc.
• Stimulate immunity – different strains of bacteria will stimulate different aspects of the immune system. No single strain can do it all, so it is important to consider the blend of strains as opposed to taking several billion CFUs of an individual strain
• Must also remain stable throughout the manufacturing process, and through their shelf-lif

Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium are the most commonly used strains in supplements for humans. They are known as lactic acid bacteria, because they convert sugars in food into lactic acid, which lowers the pH of the gut, and an acidic gut is more hostile to pathogenic bacteria. These strains have a long history of safe usage and form part of the commensal microbiota in humans, so will be compatible with the natural lactic acid bacteria of the digestive tract.

We include a small amount of the prebiotics FOS and/or inulin to our probiotic formulas, at levels sufficient to act as nourishment for the probiotic strains to allow them to thrive in the gut, but not at levels to exert a prebiotic effect in the body.

Saccharoymces Boulardii is a unique probiotic yeast that has been safely used to support gastrointestinal health for centuries. It does not colonise in the digestive tract but can modulate the microbiome to provide support against a number of pathogenic bacterial and yeast infections (such as Candida albicans). S.Boulardii is ideal for use following antibiotic therapy, particularly in the case of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, and can be supportive when taken before international travel, to prevent travellers’ diarrhoea.