Different strains of probiotics will have different effects and there's no specific probiotic that will be useful in all cases. They're only recently testing specific strains for major gut diseases like colitis and Crohn's. For minor issues, you could try a series of different ones until you find one that works.
You can encourage natural growth of healthy bacteria by eating a variety of good foods. Prebiotics, which are food for healthy bacteria, are found in raw garlic, onions, bananas and a few other less common foods like chicory root and Jerusalem artichoke. Prebiotic supplements are probably a better idea since it's hard to get the volume to make a difference if you have a problem. 3 types of prebiotics ate Inulin, FOS and GOS. Each may help in different cases. Healthy people will see no benefit.
Here's an example:
http://www.amazon.com/Prebiotic-Fiber-S ... _sim_hpc_1Probiotics are bacteria that will populate the gut and provide health benefits. They can also drive out bad bacteria. The problem is that the strains you need may not be that which is easily available. The product you quoted has: L.acidophilus, L.rhamnosus, L.paracasei, B.lactis and S.thermophilus
This one
http://www.amazon.com/Natures-Way-Prima ... _sim_hpc_1 has B. longum, B. bifidum, B. breve, and B. infantis.
You have to try one or both and and see what works. They may or may not provide strains that your missing or that work in your specific population of bacteria already present.
The volume of live bacteria in a particular product is important but in both these examples that information is absent. As well, these are both non-refrigerated products. Refrigerated products tend to be higher in potency and they have a longer shelf life. Non-refrigerated products will lose their potency at higher temperatures and may be useless after a few months on the shelf. Check the due date on the bottle and be prepared that the bottle could contain dead bacteria or in some cases, strains different than what's in the bottle and may even make your issue worse.
Naturally fermented foods like real yogurt, sauerkraut and kefir contain live prebiotics that you know will still be active, assuming of course that you're buying refrigerated product that is withing it's due date. It's usually obvious once they've gone bad.
You could also try a fecal transplant assuming you can find a healthy donor.
Summary: What I'm recommending is eat real food including fermented food, supplement with prebiotics, and if you have a specific clinical disease, consider with your doctor, probiotics specifically tested for that disease. You can experiment with probiotic supplements but they may or may not do what you need. If you have recently taken antibiotics, take probiotics of any type you can get as fast as you can to prevent re-population with undesirable strains.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
