6 Essential Ingredient Criteria to a Quality Probiotic

6 Essential Ingredient Criteria to a Quality Probiotic

Probiotics are live microorganisms if taken in the correct amounts can help re-culture your gut
by building up the “good gut bacteria” yielding a wide array of health benefits. But, our research and analysis has shown that for a probiotic supplement to be effective, it must have meet these 5 key ingredient criteria:

1. Number of CFUs: 
   Colony-Forming Units (CFUs) indicate
   how dense or potent the bacteria in the probiotic is.
   
   The higher number of CFUs in a probiotic
   can mean it has a higher impact on the growth of “good bacteria” within your gut flora. Our research indicated that although many companies try to sell you on simply the number of CFUs they have, the critical number to have in a good probiotic supplement is 40 Billion CFUs. Anything above that and you are just paying for marketing hype as it has not been shown to be more effective.

2. Multiple Strains: A recent study by Stanford University’s Dr. David Relman discovered that the gut contains thousands of unique strains of bacteria. A probiotic brand that has at least 12 different strains is optimal. Keep in mind that if you have a specific digestive issue, there may be certain strains that are more recognized for their ability to fight the bad bacteria that are causing your issues.

3. Substrains: One of the signs of a quality probiotic brand is if the company lists the specific substrain for each probiotic strain noted on their label. A substrain is an indication that the specific probiotic strain being used in the formula has gone through clinical studies to insure its quality. Avoid brands that do not list the substrain. It is usually an indication that a generic lower quality strains are being used. To find the substrain, examine the supplement facts portion of a brands label. As shown in the example below, the substrain will be located to the right of each strain, followed by a trademark symbol: Bifidobacterium lactis BI-04™

4. Prebiotics: Since probiotics are living microorganisms, they need food to stay alive and to grow in your gut. A “prebiotic” is a soluble fiber which probiotics feed upon to stimulate their growth in your gut. Prebiotics are like the gas you put in your car, without it, you won’t go far for long. A good probiotic brand needs to contain prebiotics, such as the popular NutraFlora™ fiber, for it be most effective at re-culturing your gut with good bacteria.

5. Dark Amber Glass Bottle: Probiotics are extremely sensitive to light, moisture, and oxygen. These harmful elements can easily leak through plastic bottles during storage and shipping and cause the living probiotic microorganisms to die. only a dark amber glass bottle can keep out harmful moisture and light.  Plastic bottles can render probiotics useless as they are permeable to varying degrees of moisture. Don’t waste your hard-earned money by taking the risk with a plastic bottle. Your safest choice is a brand which uses a dark amber glass bottle.

6. Non-Refrigeration: It is important to take a probiotic “each day with consistency” to maintain optimal gut flora. We have heard from many of our readers about the challenges with probiotics which require refrigeration. Today, technology has advanced the ability to freeze dry probioticsand allowing them to be stable at room temperature. A good quality probiotic which does not require refrigeration can be effective and will increase the likelihood you will take it each day like any of your other vitamins.