Should you buy products with added probiotics?

Probiotics are tiny little organisms (including bacteria and yeasts) that when consumed in adequate amounts provide health benefits. They can support our gut health, strengthen our immunity and even help us manage digestive conditions. In the past if you were looking for a probiotic you’d probably pop an Inner Health Plus or scull a Yakult. Now, they’re widespread in the supermarket in all kinds of foods. So, are these products worth their price tag and how do they stack up against traditional sources of probiotics? Read on for the full rundown.

Should I be taking probiotics?

There are a couple of instances where probiotics may come in handy.

GASTRO: If you’ve had a nasty case of gastro, it’s definitely worth looking into taking some.
ANTIBIOTICS: If you’ve been given a course of antibiotics, probiotics will be your best mate and it’s worth taking the two at the same time. This is because antibiotics wipe both the good and bad bacteria out of your gut so it’s important to get the good stuff back in as soon as possible.
IBS: If you have IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) or IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease) you may also benefit from probiotics.
DIGESTIVE HEALTH: There are other digestive conditions that may benefit, but this is worth discussing one on one with your dietitian.

How effective are probiotics?

If only I could give you a simple answer. The truth is, the scientific evidence base for probiotics is constantly evolving. In saying this, some factors that we know impact effectiveness include:

The type of strain chosen
The amount taken
The diversity of strains, as multiple strains may be more beneficial
What you feed your probiotics (prebiotics – more on this later)

What is exciting when it comes to gut heath is that we all have our own unique microbiome. It’s like a special fingerprint, only it’s one that we can manipulate and strengthen through our diet. The beauty of this is through a personalised nutrition approach you can optimise your gut microbiome. Of course, if you’re relatively fit and healthy, you might not see as greater benefit as someone with an unhealthy diet, but there are always times when our diet may be a little off-kilter and a probiotic could be helpful.

Will added probiotics in foods improve my gut health?

Scouring the supermarket I discovered many products which were labelled as containing probiotics.

You’ll notice a trend that most of the products contain Bacillus coagulans, a probiotic which food manufacturers love to use because it’s a spore-forming bacterium and highly resilient. You see, probiotics work their magic in the colon at the end of the digestive tract. They must sprint like a Gladiator contestant through the gastrointestinal gauntlet, down the oesophagus, past the stomach’s highly acidic chamber and through the small intestine to reach their happy place. Some probiotics aren’t heat resistant enough to make it through and will die off, so we don’t get to experience their benefits.

Bacillus coagulans has been assessed by the scientific community as ‘possibly effective’ for supporting IBS and IBD, but there’s insufficient evidence for its role in supporting immunity or conditions like diarrhoea, constipation, flatulence or rheumatoid arthritis. This doesn’t mean that it won’t offer any benefits, it just means we need more research to demonstrate that it is helpful.

Should I be eating foods with added probiotics?

Overall, whilst commercial food products with probiotics may provide some added goodness, most of the time they have a ‘health halo’ effect, which is where processed foods are perceived to be healthy (or healthier), which justifies the choice in a person’s mind to eat them. What I would suggest is to not buy ultra-processed foods like ice cream or chips for probiotics. We all know these are sometimes foods, so you’re much better off enjoying your absolute favourite ice cream on a special occasion and loading your daily diet up with probiotics through whole and fermented foods. A plant-rich, unprocessed, Mediterranean dietary pattern is a great step forwards. Fermented foods that are good to load up on include yoghurt, fresh sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, kombucha, miso and tempeh. Foods made using traditional fermentation methods are the best and keep in mind that high heat processing of commercial products can kill off good bacteria.

It’s also thought that probiotic levels may reduce (potentially halve) from when a product is first manufactured to when it reaches its best before date. What you read on the label should be the amount that will be present at time of the best before date, but you can always check in with the manufacturer and request more information about their verification processes.

Go whole foods for the best bang for your buck

Another benefit to choosing whole foods over ultra-processed products is that you get the best bang for your buck. Take yoghurt for example. You get over 10 essential nutrients in just one serve, including protein for muscle growth and recovery and B vitamins to boost your mood. Whole foods contain a matrix of nutrients that supersede any ultra-processed product with added probiotics.

Are huge doses of probiotics better?

Not necessarily. Aim for at least 100 Million CFUs or colony-forming units (the number of viable bacteria in a serve) each day, which sounds like a lot but it can be easily achieved with the help of a dietitian. Just like you don’t need to run a marathon daily to be fit, when it comes to probiotic intake, regularity and consistency is more important than having excess amounts.

How do prebiotics help?

Prebiotics are the food for probiotics, and together they are the yin and the yang. Foods rich in prebiotics include onions, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, chicory root, bananas, legumes, asparagus, leeks, barley and oats. Inulin, which features in some of the products listed is a prebiotic. Generally, if your diet is rich in plant foods, you’ll tend to meet these needs. 10g prebiotics is roughly what you should be aiming for each day and your dietitian can help you achieve this.

What else can I do to get an iron stomach (in a non-six pack way)?

The 5 areas to focus on for a healthy gut are:

EAT WHOLE FOODS: Fill your diet with whole, plant-rich and fermented foods.
EXERCISE: Thank goodness we don’t have to spell out the benefits of this one to Fitness First members!
DON’T SMOKE: A no brainer. Ditch the cigarette, even those cheeky ones on the weekend.
LIMIT ALCOHOL: Alcohol has a nasty effect on our gut, so keep alcohol to a minimum.
MANAGE STRESS: Be sure to keep a check on this as the brain and gut are closely connected. Conditions in the gut like IBS can be triggered from intense stress.

Overall Verdict

Probiotics are no silver bullet to good health, but they may provide some benefits depending on individual health conditions. Foods with added probiotics may be a choice you wish to make on a special occasion if you can afford them, but the truth is that a diet rich in whole foods is brimming with all the good stuff you need.

This article was first published in Fitness First Magazine and has been reproduced with permission. The products and nutrition information analysed are correct at time of publication (March 2021).