How To Choose An Effective Probiotic | Poliquin Article

You Need Bacteria That Are Alive 

The most important issue when choosing a probiotic is whether the bacteria are alive when you take them. Unfortunately, many manufacturers don’t invest in the technology to ensure that probiotic bacteria will survive exposure to temperature, humidity, and pH changes. This is the reason some products are only guaranteed to be alive at the time of packaging, but better quality products will be guaranteed through the expiration date. This means the bacteria are packaged in a way that keeps them alive and they have undergone strenuous testing ensuring viability through expiration.  

You Need A Probiotic That Can Survive The Journey Through The  Stomach 

Another key issue is whether the bacteria can survive the low pH of stomach acid and reach the GI tract alive. Fortunately, studies have identified which strains are able to adhere to intestinal cells and repopulate the gut with healthy bacteria. Companies have developed technology that avoids breakdown in the stomach, allowing the bacteria to reach the intestines alive. One research review found that if a company doesn’t have a manufacturing process specifically designed to ensure the bacteria are alive and uncontaminated, they are unlikely to be effective and should be viewed with caution (1).  

You Need Billions of Bacteria  

Also important is the fact that because there are so many bacteria in the gut (trillions!), you need a probiotic that supplies a LOT of live bacteria. Bactria are counted in terms of colony forming units (CFUs). One CFU equals one bacterium capable of dividing and forming colonies. Research shows a minimum of 5 billion CFUs a day is necessary to get any benefit and people who are overcoming an unhealthy gut or want to repopulate their GI tract after antibiotics need significantly more CFUs daily (2).  

You Need A Strain Specific Probiotic 

Figuring out which probiotic to take can be a challenge. There are many different strains of bacteria and studies show that benefits are strain specific meaning that a product that is designed to treat antibiotic-induced diarrhea may not have metabolic or neurological benefits. Likewise, certain strains improve nutrient absorption and regulate gut permeability, whereas others are more geared at raising the number of pathogen–fighting immune cells. Therefore, it’s critical that you get a product that contains a strain that matches with your health situation. What follows is a list of probiotic strains with strong evidence to back up their use (1, 3, 4, 5, 6): 

Use A Multi-Strain Probiotic To Amplify Benefits 

Many products use multiple strains to maximize the therapeutic effect, increasing populations of healthy bacteria and reducing harmful “bugs” that have been linked to health problems (7, 8). For example, we have designed four multi-strain probiotics that can be used in specific situations:  

Proflora Excellence SB (https://main.poliquinstore.com/foundation-21/probiotics/proflora-excellence-sb) provides the therapeutic yeast saccharomyces boulardii that survives antibiotics and has been shown to support immunity and overcome diarrhea making it your go to when on a course of antibiotics (13, 14, 15). S. boulardii may be contraindicated for people with a central venous catheter. If this is you, speak with your doctor before supplementing (14).  

All of our Poliquin Probiotics are guaranteed viable through the date of expiration. They have been specially designed to ensure they are alive when you take them and will survive the digestive tract to reach the intestines where they can have maximum benefit.