Welcome to the ProbioticsDB.com. We’ve dedicated ourselves to providing you, the consumer, with the most up-to-date information regarding probiotics.  Many people today suffer from irritable bowel syndrome, diarrhea, constipation and other GI problems. Probiotics may be beneficial for these GI problems and for overall gastrointestinal health.

What’s the Best Probiotic?

Probiotics come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, colors and doses. There is a lot of information out on the internet. Based on our research there are a number of criteria that your probiotic should fulfill. We analyzed probiotics according to the three following criteria.

How many CFUs? (How Much Probiotic?

Most studies have shown that doses above 10 (Colony Forming Units) to be effective. Lower doses may not be as effective as higher doses. One meta-study (a study of studies) found that a dose of 10 billion CFUs was helpful in reducing the duration and amount of diarrhea in children.^[1]

Probiotics are measured by CFUs (Colony Forming Units), not weight!

Based on this finding we commonly recommend probiotcs that have a dose >10,000,000 CFUs (10 billion). There are some probiotics with hundreds of billions of CFUs.

How many strains of probiotics? (How Many Probiotics?)

Most probiotics have just 1 probiotic in their formula. However,  scientists and doctors are now starting to believe that each probiotic has different beneficial properties when studied individually. When these probiotics are combined to form a multi-probiotic they tend to have even greater beneficial effects. For example, one study found that multi probiotics were able to inhibit the growth of bad bacteria more than single probiotics.^[2]

Multi probiotics have the benefit of competition against bad bacteria via multiple mechanisms. Since each individual probiotic has specific defense mechanisms, having more beneficial competing against each other and against bad microbes is ultimately better.

The human gut is home to not just one probiotic but trillions of probiotics. The following is a chart of all the microbial families commonly found in the human gut:

Each is slightly different and is a member of different microbial family. When you take a multi probiotic it helps to restore this normal balance of microbes in your gut. Most probiotics we’ve analyzed contain only lactobacillus which is a normal gut inhabitant. A few contain Enterococcus probiotics. Only two had Lactobacillus and Enterococcus together. None had any of the other species.

Is there protection from stomach acid?

Anything you eat goes down your throat and into your stomach. The stomach is the place in your gastrointestinal tract which physically breaks down food using mechanical motion and stomach acid. Probiotics you consume are also exposed to this digestive process.

Ideally the probiotic you should take would utilize some kind of delayed release or enteric coating to protect the probiotics inside from stomach acid. However, even though a product might not have a protective mechanism there are some strains of probiotics that are acid resistant such as Saccharomyces boulardii, Bacillus, and some lactobacillus species. They are able to resist stomach acid by hibernating in spore form. These are called spore-forming probiotics and they are a lot hardier than some of the other probiotics.

Enteric Coatings

An enteric coating is an acid-resistant material that is put onto capsules and pills to prevent them from being broken down by stomach acid. It delays the breakdown of pills until the pills get the the small intestine where stomach acid is neutralized.

Be careful though. Enteric coatings come in all sorts of types. Most pharmaceutical companies choose some kind of enteric coating as they can be applied to both capsules and tablets. There are concerns that some coatings are made out of pthalates or plastics that have effects on the endocrine system. Make sure the enteric coating on your probiotic is pthalate-free.

Probiotic Tablets/Probiotic Pearls

Tablets and pearls are produced by blending all the components of the probiotic together and then compressing them under enormous pressures. The compression process may damage probiotics so make sure that they are still viable. One other downside is that typical tablets do not protect the probiotics inside from stomach acid. There are several mechanisms by which companies use to protect the probiotics inside. Some utilize a gelling compound to help prevent stomach acid from dissolving the tablet too quickly.