Should I Take Probiotics? Effectiveness of Probiotics
You may be asking yourself, should I take probiotics? Are probiotics effective? Yes they are, but your diet is important too.
Are probiotics effective if you don’t eat the right diet?
Your gut is full of bacteria, protozoa and yeast and the concentrations of these good microbes can be manipulated by your diet, lifestyle, and probiotic supplements. Microorganisms found within the gut create a complex web of interactions that contribute to digestion and absorption of nutrients. Probiotics are live microorganisms found in food or supplements that are intended to support gut microbes to improve health and digestive benefits.
Probiotic Rich Foods
Consuming probiotics regularly can promote digestive and immune health. Maintaining an active and well-functioning gut microbiome can be achieved through certain foods. These live microorganisms can be found in yogurt, sourdough bread, kefir, kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso soup, cottage cheese, tempeh, fermented pickles, and other fermented foods.
Even if you do consume these foods, not all fermented foods contain live and active cultures and/or the probiotics do not contain the minimum 1 billion Colony Forming Units (CFU) to promote a health benefit seen in clinical trials. Also, you might be missing out on beneficial probiotic strains that are not commonly found in fermented foods. For example, many yogurts contain the species Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus but could be missing the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae. All three species can exhibit different therapeutic health effects. Therefore, even if you eat the fermented foods which can make up a “right diet”, probiotic supplements are highly beneficial to make sure you are getting live cultures in correct dosages to exhibit specific therapeutic health effects.
Your Diet and it’s Impact on Gut Health
If you are not targeting a specific health condition, consuming probiotics regularly can prevent pathogens from passing through our protective gut lining barrier and creating disease. Having a diet poor in nutrients and low in fiber can promote an unbalanced gut filled with an overabundance of bad bacteria. Your diet exerts a huge effect on what kinds of microbes your gut is made up of, starting from when you were born. Probiotics can help restore the balance of bacteria in your gut. However, if your diet continues to be poor then the effect of probiotics will not nearly be as great if you curate the right diet along with probiotic supplementation. Consulting a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist is a useful way to combine a balanced diet with proper probiotic supplementation.
In Summary - Should I Take Probiotics?
In summary, probiotics can be effective even if you do not eat the right diet, but in combination with eating the right diet your gut microbiota will be better balanced and therefore prevent disease and other adverse health conditions. A Registered Dietitian Nutritionist can help create your “right diet” that is realistic and sustainable as well as to find the right probiotic supplement for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I take probiotics with antibiotics?
Doctors who recommend probiotics typically suggest that people take them a few hours after their antibiotic. Otherwise, the two medications can cancel each other out.
References:
1. Beck, Leslie. “Not All Probiotic Yogurts Are Created Equal. Does Yours Measure Up?” The Globe and Mail, April 21, 2017. www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/not-all-probiotic-yogurts-are-created-equal-does-yours-measure-up/article34780110/.
2. Heathline.com. “Probiotics 101: A Simple Beginner’s Guide,” 22 2017. www.healthline.com/nutrition/probiotics-101.
3. Cleveland Clinic. “Probiotics: What Is It, Benefits, Side Effects, Food & Types.” Accessed June 19, 2022. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/14598-probiotics.
4. Scarlata, Kate. “The Potential Role of Prebiotics & Probiotics in IBS.” blog.katescarlata.com, October 12, 2017. https://blog.katescarlata.com/2017/10/12/potential-role-prebiotics-probiotics-ibs/.
5. Thursby, Elizabeth, and Nathalie Juge. “Introduction to the Human Gut Microbiota.” Biochemical Journal 474, no. 11 (June 1, 2017): 1823–36. https://doi.org/10.1042/BCJ20160510.
6. Harvard Health. “Should You Take Probiotics?,” May 4, 2015. www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/should-you-take-probiotics.
7. Hawrelak, Jason. “What Are Probiotics?” Probiotic Advisor. Illuminate Natural Medicine, 2015. Accessed June 19, 2022. https://www.probioticadvisor.com/probiotic-essentials-1/what-are-probiotics/.
8. Wang, Yisong, and David Shurtleff. “Probiotics: What You Need To Know.” nccih.nih.gov, August 2019. https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/probiotics-what-you-need-to-know.
