Written by Jordyn King BS, MS

Why do we need probiotics? 

Probiotics are the healthy, live bacteria that are similar to organisms that occur naturally in the digestive tract of your stomach. In general, you will constantly have both “good” and “bad” bacteria in your body. Many strains of probiotics have held up lots of benefits from improving irritable bowel syndrome and traveler’s diarrhea to boosting your immune system and reducing the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes or cancer. For example, if you get an infection or virus there’s more bad bacteria knocking your immune system out of balance and your gut microbiome goes out of balance as well. Good bacteria (like probiotics) help eliminate the extra bad bacteria bringing it back to a balanced environment. Remember, everyone’s microbiome in their body is unique and different. Good bacteria will help you keep improving your immune system and controlling inflammation. Other good bacteria types can also help the body just digest food faster, keep the bad bacteria from getting out of control, supporting the cells that line your gut and breaking down and absorbing certain medications. 

Probiotic Pills and/or Supplements 

Probiotic pills or supplements are a  way to add good bacteria to your body. Adding good bacteria or increasing your gut microbiome into your body can be through foods, drinks and supplements. Apart from food, you can always add probiotics to your diet through dietary supplements. However, since these drugs are not FDA approved it is important to always talk to your healthcare provider or doctor before starting any kind of supplement or making a major change to your diet. Probiotic pills and supplements are generally considered safe; However, they could always have that potential to have allergic reactions or some sort of side effect. Be careful and cautious to follow the storage instructions with probiotics since you are dealing with live bacteria. Again, use caution when taking probiotics because the risk could increase medical conditions and that could lean towards weakening your immune system. 

Can you get probiotics from food? 

You do not have to take a daily supplement to get your probiotics in your system. Certain foods have probiotics in them and can benefit your health and microbiome. Did you know that you are able to increase your microbiome in your body from just the food that you consume? A few suggestions that can increase your probiotics throughout your days and some new foods that you can add to your diet include: For breakfast you can include yogurt, buttermilk or sourdough bread, Lunch you can include cottage cheese, kombucha or tempeh. For dinner you can try fermented sauerkraut, kimchi, or miso soup as well. This is a great recipe to combine your favorite fermented homemade vegetable (https://helloglow.co/make-homemade-fermented-vegetables/). It’s important to create a balanced and healthy meal with a range of foods throughout your diet. Adding probiotic-rich foods will create beneficial gut microbiomes to your diet. However, adding too much probiotic-rich food could reduce the benefits of other food groups by decreasing consumption of daily vitamins and minerals. 

So, do Probiotic pills actually work?

Again, probiotics are live organisms that are intended to have health benefits when consumed or applied to the body. These probiotic companies claim that their probiotic supplements can improve your health and immunity or help you to lose weight however, research is still testing these theories out and not yet proven. Thus, there is no proof that these claims are true. Here, are a few reasons why probiotics don’t always work:

1. The dosage could be not correct and you’re taking too little CFU’s. For example, an average dosage of 5 billion CFU‘s or higher could be more effective than a lower dose for treating gastrointestinal issues. 

2. The individual could be taking the probiotic pill incorrectly such as consuming it with food or on an empty stomach. Make sure to read all supplements before taking.

3. The probiotic could be the wrong strain for the symptom that the individual is trying to treat. Remember, everyone may not be taking the probiotic the same way and everyone is different on how we may react to different supplements. Thus, one probiotic pill may work for one individual with food intolerance issues but may not work for another who has IBS issues. Everyone is different!

4. The product quality could be poor due to the live cultures in microbe and the probiotic pill, this could be possibly due to manufacturing or storage qualities. Remember, probiotics must survive in the process of manufacturing, storage and in your stomach acid through digestion in order to be effective in your intestines.

   Again, the successes to determining the right probiotics include the right condition, the right microbes and the right dosage (CFU). However, in my professional opinion, I would advise individuals NOT to take probiotic pills due to the rich beneficial probiotics properties that are found in food. 

In Conclusion… 

If you are interested in adding probiotics to your daily diet, it is best to speak with your healthcare provider. Keep in mind, not all probiotic pills or supplements behave the same way as others and they do not have the same effects. Make sure to read the nutrition label on the back of your probiotic supplement or pill bottle. As a nutritional professional, I would recommend looking into your diet more about more probiotics and getting those probiotic rich foods into your diet instead of taking the supplemental probiotic pills. If you do not like or consume the foods that have probiotics in them then I would suggest taking probiotics and reading the label before you consume.  

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