How to read a probiotic label to make sure you get the best

Not all probiotics are created equal. The right probiotic should meet pharmaceutical grade standards, offer clinically proven relief and deliver the promised benefits right to your gut.

Here are four key criteria to look for when reading a probiotic label:

1. Make sure you are getting a strain and not a species

A species is like a family - Lactobacillus acidophilus. But within that family, each strain is a different family member with its own skills and personalities. For example, La-14 and NCFM are just two of the 261 Lactobacillus acidophilus strains, but they work differently within the gut and have different indications.

Think of it like the Bolt family. Usain is the fastest, but his siblings are not as quick. If you want speed, you need Usain, not just anyone with the same surname. It’s the same with probiotics. If a label only lists the species, you’re likely only getting an ingredient that you can’t know the benefits of and is much cheaper than a strain because it is unproven with no clinical evidence for any symptoms.

Take away: Ensure your probiotic uses a strain – indicated by the designation after the name of the species; such as Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14

2. Make sure your strain has specific clinical proof for significantly improving your symptoms

Each strain should be backed by real science. Just having lots of strains in a product doesn’t mean it works. What matters is what each strain has been proven to do, like easing IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), boosting immunity, or reducing infections. Most brands can’t say what symptoms their strains help unless they’ve funded full clinical trials themselves, but you can still research the strain names online to find out.

Just listing lots of strains means nothing if they don’t work or aren’t at the right dose level. So don’t get distracted by how many strains a product has, because what really matters is what each strain does. It’s the quality of each strain, what clinical evidence they have that shows significant improvement for your symptoms and how much of that strain (the dose amount) is safely delivered to the intestine.

Take away: Do your research to ensure the strain meets your symptoms needs, rather than thinking the more the merrier. And ensure that the probiotic strain is protected, viable and able to reach the intestine.

3. Make sure your formula shows the dose per strain and delivers at least 10 Billion CFU

To meet pharmaceutical grade standards, it’s important for a probiotic to provide a dose breakdown per strain, because if they don’t, then you don’t know what you are getting and would need to question why this isn’t being provided.

By listing the dose breakdown per strain, a brand is being transparent and accountable for their formulation. Different strains have different benefits, different amounts of clinical research and therefore different costs.

This also stops formulas from being loaded with the cheapest and least effective strain with very low insignificant amounts of the more reputable and expensive strains - giving the healthcare practitioner or consumer the impression it’s a strong formula, when in reality, it's actually just one strain with a sprinkling of others.

The globally accepted dose benchmark for a probiotic, where clinical research indicates the best health outcomes, is 10 billion CFUs per dose.

Take away: Ensure your probiotic has at least 10 Billion CFU’s per dose and provides a breakdown of the dose per strain (and importantly not per species).

4. Make sure your probiotic protects its bacteria and can deliver the full dose to the Intestine

Bacteria are highly fragile living organisms and die very easily. Heat, moisture and especially oxygen can destroy them which is why if unprotected, a probiotic can lose its full dose of bacteria after 9 to 12 months – just while sitting on the shelf.

Even worse, if exposed to stomach acid and other gastric juices in your gut, up to 90% can be wiped out, before they even reach your intestine (where they need to get to).

Take away: Ensure your probiotic has full bacteria protection through the following:

1. Shelf stability (no degradation over time whilst they wait for you to buy them)
2. Stomach acid protection (so it survives the journey through the stomach)
3. Targeted intestinal delivery (where the action happens)

Probitec’s DuoCap technology is the most advanced probiotic capsule in the world, protecting the full dose for 2-years on the shelf and ensuring full stomach acid protection so that the bacteria reaches your intestine alive and intact.

Probitec uses clinically validated strains, like 15 Billion CFU’s of Lactobacillus acidophilus La-14, proven to reduce multiple GI symptoms.

Probitec’s newly launched Probitec IBS (Intrinsic Bowel Support), has been developed specifically for severe GI Disorders, containing 8 strains and 20 Billion CFU’s. Each strain simultaneously showed significant improvement on multiple symptoms, from multiple modes of action for; improving stomach pain, the gut-brain axis, immunity, intestinal integrity, diarrhea, constipation, bowel regularity, whilst reducing gut inflammation and pathogenic infections.

Information provided by Probitec.