When you hear the word bacteria, you probably think of these harmful little friggers that can really mess up your day. From causing the stomach virus, salmonella, to E. coli, and even the black plague!
When we hear about bacteria, we gravitate towards the thought of infections, illnesses, sickness, and even death. We regularly go see our health care providers to combat our illnesses. As such, the rate of antibiotic consumption to ward off these bacterial infections is higher than ever. We even use antibacterial soaps and lotions often and has even led to the adaptation of stronger germs!
But did you know that there are good bacteria as well?
These awesome little guys are called probiotics, and they are here to help you to the best of their abilities. It’s practically in their names!
The root of the word probiotic comes from the Greek word pro, meaning “promoting,” and biotic, meaning “life.” Essentially, probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are good for your health, especially your digestive system.
Your body is filled with bacteria and probiotics try to balance your body and help it to maintain optimal health. Promoting a healthy digestive tract and a healthy immune system are their most widely studied benefits at this time.
Probiotics are also very important after you take antibiotics as both the good and bad germs in your gut have been eliminated. It is vital for you to reintroduce beneficial gut bacteria in order to maintain your digestive health.
You may even be surprised to hear that probiotics are commonly found in foods such as yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and pickles. This article is to help you find the best probiotic supplements of 2019, and ultimately to help you lead a healthier lifestyle!
Top Probiotic Supplement Products of 2019
Garden of Life Primal Defense Ultra
The Garden of Life Primal Defense Ultra is one of the most potent probiotic nutritional supplement out on the market. It has a nice 5 Billion CFU per capsule, and the recommended dose is taking anywhere from 1 to 3 capsules a day.
This probiotic supplement incorporates a wide variety of different probiotic strains that all aim to help you with your digestion and stomach concerns. Some of the strains that this product contains are Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacteria, and other strains which are known to assist with digestive bodily functions.
Another great thing about this product is that it doesn’t have to be refrigerated to maintain the live cultures. Also, the “added” ingredients are pure, gluten-free and vegetarian. The manufacturer even boasts how their product is a soil based probiotic, meaning that is is natural and healthy.
The Garden of Life Primal Defense Ultra is a highly recommended probiotic gives its use many different health benefits, boosts digestive functions, and provides relief to various stomach ailments.
Dr. Natura Flora Protect Probiotic
Dr. Natura Flora Protect Probiotic is a product to be used to help soothe your digestive issues. This probiotic uses natural and minimally processed ingredients whenever possible, which leaves you with a higher quality product.
This supplement contains 8 billion CFUs per capsule that include 8 different resilient probiotic strains. It also lists all of the strains that it incorporates into its ingredient list. It uses some commonly known probiotic strains which are known to be beneficial to the human gut.
The supplement is also free of dairy, gluten, wheat, egg, and fish, so this has great potential for those of us with food intolerances and allergies. This probiotic is also vegetarian which further increases its value.
You don’t have to refrigerate this supplement which makes it very convenient to use. In fact, it comes in a stable freeze-dried form and has high potency.
Align Probiotic
The Align Probiotic supplement is one of the best “daily” probiotics out on the market. This is an unusual probiotic that I recommend as it only contains one probiotic strain! However, this patented pure-strain probiotic is entirely unique to Align and no other probiotic offers it.
According to Align, this probiotic strain was actually created by gastroenterologists to help the body create and maintain a healthy digestive system. This product contains a probiotic strain that no other manufacturer has!
A great plus to this probiotic supplement is its packaging idea that makes it convenient to use! The blister pack has 7 capsules for each day of the week to help you remember to take your supplement and to keep track of it. Also, another convenient perk is that these capsules don’t need to be refrigerated.
Renew Life Ultimate Flora Probiotic
Renew Life Ultimate Flora Probiotic is an excellent choice for a probiotic supplement as it contains natural ingredients. This probiotic is allergy friendly making it usable by many people.
It comes in an easy to swallow capsule that utilizes a delayed release formula. This product promotes a healthy digestive balance and helps to relieve digestive discomfort. I must note that each capsule has whopping 50 billion CFU which is great but could be way too much to take for extended periods of time.
The capsules are made without the use of any fillers or unnecessary ingredients which makes it a great choice for those looking for a healthy product. The use of natural ingredients also makes this probiotic allergy friendly.
It’s dairy free, gluten free, nut free, wheat free, and egg free. This probiotic utilizes a special delayed-release formula that is designed to help the capsules withstand your stomach acid and make it all the way to your digestive tract. This allows the good bacteria to make its way into your intestinal tract so it can go to work. If the capsule were to be destroyed by the harsh stomach acids, the probiotic bacteria inside will be easily destroyed and digested.
Jarrow Formulas Jarro-Dophilus EPS Probiotic Supplement
The Jarrow Formulas Jarro-Dophilus EPS (Enhanced Probiotic System) is an above-average probiotic supplement.
One of the best qualities about this particular supplement is how it offers flexibility; each capsule has 5 billion cells so it can be used daily (around 1 or 2 capsules) or for a specific ailment (3 or 4 capsules daily). This supplement gives you the freedom to increase or decrease the capsules based on your specific needs.
You also don’t have to refrigerate this product which makes it very convenient to use. The capsules incorporate a special EnteroGuard coating that improves the probiotics chances of surviving through the stomach acid in order to reach their destination. These capsules will have to go all the way to the small intestines where they will provide the most benefit. This probiotic is vegetarian, gluten-free, wheat-free, nut-free and non-GMO.
Probiotic Pearls Acidophilus Nutritional Supplement
The Probiotic Pearls Acidophilus Nutritional Supplement is a great daily probiotic that helps to promote your digestive balance and colon health. This supplement also aims to support your body’s immune defense.
An added bonus is how this probiotic supplement gives you a ton of flexibility and is convenient since it doesn’t need to be refrigerated and can be taken with or without food!
One of the greatest features of this particular probiotic supplement is that uses what the manufacturer calls “True Delivery Technology.” This supposedly allows the probiotic to be protected enough to successfully deliver the probiotic bacteria to your digestive tract. These capsules are designed to withstand the harsh stomach acids and ensure that the probiotics you are taking make it all the way to where they are needed most. This is an amazing feature as there are many other gelatin capsules that simply cannot stand against the acidity of your stomach acids. Most capsules are disintegrated and digested long before they even may it to the latter stages of the digestive system.
Just Potent Probiotic Supplement
Just Potent Probiotic is an above average supplement that contains 8 powerful and essential strains that improve your immune and digestive system. With a CFU count of 35 billion, this probiotic supplement is a force to be reckoned with.
This probiotic helps you in many ways such as helps you become lactose tolerant and regular again, helps you fight against stomach upsets, helps you digest food better, experience less gas and bloating, helps with occasional diarrhea, greatly improves your bowel movement.
Just Potent Probiotic is also shelf stable and doesn’t need to be refrigerated. The stability of these capsules also helps them survive stomach acid. This probiotic is very allergy friendly and the capsules are also veggie caps.
How To Choose The Right Probiotic Nutritional Supplement
When you are looking for an exceptional probiotic supplement, there are two things that you should keep in mind:
1. High CFU Count
CFU stands for a colony-forming unit, which is a measurement of how much viable cells there are to grow and prosper. Since our own microbiome is composed of about 100-trillion good and bad bacteria, a high number of CFUs will have a greater impact on the growth of beneficial bacteria within your digestive system.
Look for a formula with a minimum of a billion CFUs. Everyone’s body reacts differently, so be sure to ask your health care provider to inquire exactly how much CFU count you will need if uncertain. Some people need more, some people need less.
By investing in a probiotic supplement that has more CFUs, you are increasing the chances of these good bacteria to make it through your digestive system and find its place in your gut. Ingesting probiotics with high CFUs may make your stomach upset, so be sure to experiment and find that sweet spot that your body is able to tolerate and thrive in.
2. Multiple Strains
Taking a probiotic with many different types of good bacteria strains can help balance the bacteria living inside of your gut. There are many probiotic supplements out in the market that only provide one type of strain. That’s why it’s crucial to find probiotics that use a comprehensive approach to promoting balance in your gut bacteria.
You also have to be wary of a probiotic supplement of containing too many strains. When there are many probiotic strains competing against each other, they tend to cancel each other out or does not work as effectively. From my own experience, probiotics containing two to fifteen strains seem to be the most effective.
Be sure to check the list of ingredients to see how many different strains there are in the probiotic product. Again, you may need to experiment a little and find a supplement that best suits your lifestyle.
The Three Characteristics Of A High-Quality Probiotic
To help you further choose the best kind of probiotic for yourself, there are three characteristics of a high quality probiotic nutritional supplement.
1. It Lists Its Substrains
There are many shady products so you must do yourself the due diligence to research various probiotic nutritional supplements. Many probiotic formulations do not list their specific substrains. This is a huge red flag that suggests they may be using generic (and cheaper) substrains that have not been clinically studied. The substrains listed next to each strain indicates that a specific probiotic strain has undergone clinical studies. It’s always nice to know what you are eating!
2. It Synergizes With Prebiotics
In short, Prebiotics are specialized plant fiber that acts as food for Probiotics. Prebiotics help Probiotics grow and develop in your gastrointestinal tract. The latest research shows using fiber-based prebiotics will help the probiotics populate and flourish in your gut. This will significantly increase the overall effectiveness of the probiotic. Not all probiotics work well with prebiotics as the probiotic may not have been clinically studied or tested enough.
3. It Doesn’t Require Refrigeration
I personally recommend probiotics that require no refrigeration as to give you the convenience of being able to take it anywhere at any time. You may not always have access to a refrigerator or other cooling device, so choosing a probiotic that is specifically formulated to stay at room temperature is highly recommended.
Refrigerated products can also be damaged during shipping. There are some good ones out there that do not fit this criterion but I get concerned if the probiotics are properly handled during the delivery process. You simply must do some research and find what is best for you.
Final Thoughts
There are many different probiotic supplements out on the market and they all range in their quality and overall satisfaction levels. There are many excellent choices that are sure to fit your health and dietary needs. However, there are also many supplements out there that are filled with fillers and other questionable ingredients.
Be sure to do yourself the due diligence and research before purchasing a product. Also, note that it might take you some experimenting to find the right probiotic. As there are many different strains, each one affects a person differently. For example, some people will experience bloating while others will not.
Probiotics are an excellent way for you to manage your digestive health and to promote colon functions. Probiotics are especially important after you take antibiotics in order to balance out the bacteria in your gut. As always, I wish you all the best! Be safe!
Sincerely,
James Kim
