Over the last few years, probiotics have become increasingly popular and for good reason. Probiotics, or beneficial bacteria,play a major role in both immune and digestive health.
The problem is with greater awareness has come greater confusion. Walk into any healthfood store today and you are confronted with dozens of choices of confusing terms like lactobacillus and bifidobacteria and odd numbers like 10 billion, 20 billion even 200 billion colony forming units?
In today’s podcast, I want to help clarify many of these issues including why you want a multi-strain product, what’s with all the numbers and the importance whole foods can play in the overall effectiveness of your probiotic supplement. Guest: Jen Luse
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Two questions- if you are planning to go to an underdeveloped nation, what kind of probiotic should you take, just in case? I know there is mention of the whole food sources, but you wouldn’t have access to refrigeration in those circumstances. I like the convenience of the Suprema Dophilis since it’s shelf stable.
Second, what kind of probiotic should you use for certain conditions? Broad spectrum is good, but if you wanted to use it for stomach issues … what probiotic would you want to be sure your supplement contains? I know each one has a special job.
Good questions Laurel. With respect to your first question, I think the most important thing is to take any multi-strain probiotic. There are several products on the market that are shelf-stable but are a single strain. I would probably look to another product in this case. SupremaDophilis is a very good product and yes, it is shelf stable so that should serve nicely. With respect to others, some of my favorite are New Chapter’s All-Flora, MegaFood’s Megaflora and ReNew Life’s Ultimate Flora.
Now, you’ll find most of these in the refrigeration section, but it was explained to me that this is really about long-term shelf life. For example, it was explained to me that on average a probiotic will lose 1% of its bacteria per month in the refrigerator and 2% per month on the shelf. Now, the “shelf” is very different than 100-degree weather, but in general, any probiotic should provide benefit as long as you use it up in a reasonable amount of time.
As for ‘stomach’ issues, do you mean IBS diarrhea, constipation or some other digestive concern? There are numerous studies showing the benefits of many different strains of bacteria so I’m not sure that I’m aware of any single strain that has been proven best for a given condition. I have several friends, family and co-workers who have all experienced different benefits from different products. Two formulas I’ve heard good things about regarding stomach issues are New Chapter’s Probiotic Colon and Renew Life’s Ultimate Flora Critical Colon 80 Billion. But again, with that said, it may be about just finding the right fit for your body. The important thing is to make sure you’re getting both ‘lacto’ and ‘bifido’ bacteria.
I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions.
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