Here’s the last in our 4-part series about Probiotic Myths you need to know!
Myth #7: You should take your probiotic on an empty stomach.
False. An effective probiotic will want to feed as soon as it arrives in the large intestine. Taking your probiotic with meals can provide immediate carbon sources (food) for your probiotics, allowing them to jump into action as soon as they arrive in the gut. Many probiotic suggest taking it on an empty stomach so that the pH of the stomach is higher which would increase the likelihood of survival through the gastric system. A probiotic with an endospore shell around it can survive the low pH and will then use the food to germinate throughout the intestines. In addition, an effective probiotic will help you digest your food so you can gain the nutrition from your meal.
Our ancestors got loads of natural bacteria with their food as they ate unsterilized, natural food that was teaming with microbes. They counted on the microbes to actually help them break down the food and increase absorption of nutrients. A good probiotic will also reduce gas with the break down of food and help the bowels move along to maintain regularity. Keep in mind that our ancestors did not go and look for little clumps of bacteria consume in between their meals.
Myth #8: A probiotic with 50 billion cells is better than 4 billion cells.
FALSE. Though our society is conditioned to think that MORE is always better, this is not necessarily true. Having 50 billion CFUs in your probiotic is only helpful if you can confirm that 50 billion CFUs are surviving your digestive tract. Unfortunately, survivability studies with some of the leading probiotics (as high as 250 billion CFUs) indicate that 99% of the strains cannot survive digestion. This shocking finding suggests that most people are paying for products with less than 1% survivability. It’s no wonder that many people find common probiotics ineffective!
Most probiotics that you’ll find in the store contain some combination of Lactobacillus or Bifidobacter. While these are some of the good bacteria that reside in our gut, they are very poor stomach survivors and gut colonizers. Companies have tried increasing their dosages 10-fold, protecting them in enteric-coated capsules, and storing them in cooler temperatures to improve survivability, but the end result is the same: dead probiotics.
The Good News About Probiotics
There’s another group of probiotics, known as Bacillus spore formers. This group of bacteria also naturally resides in the gut and protects us from disease, but we can no longer get them from our food supply because our food supply is now sterilized. Bacillus probiotics have the ability to form protective outer shells, known as endospores, that can shield them from high temperatures, pressure, UV light, acid, dehydration, and lack of oxygen. Because of this feature, Bacillus probiotics are uniquely designed to withstand the harsh conditions of the digestive tract, but that’s not all!
Bacillus probiotics have also been shown to control unwanted gut infections, heal leaky gut (yes, that’s a thing!), tutor the immune system, and increase microbial diversity in the gut by producing their own prebiotics. If you’re tired of taking a probiotic that doesn’t work, give Bacillus probiotics a shot! They will keep working for a month after you stop taking them, so if you forget a couple doses or run out prematurely, there’s no need to panic. Bacillus probiotics will keep working because they are true and effective probiotics.
Just Thrive Probiotic is the only 100% spore forming bacillus probiotic and antioxidant available in the retail market. Just Thrive is pharmaceutical grade and DNA verified by an independent 3rd party lab. After testing out this product for several months, I feel confident to recommend it to your family as well. Right now it’s my favorite probiotic.
Read ALL Probiotic Myths #1 – #8 on the Just Thrive Probiotic blog here.
Read the original full article on Mamavation’s blog here.
The post BUSTED! Probiotic Myths #7 and #8 appeared first on Thrive Probiotic.
