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Probiotics 101More on Probiotics 101
Curious about probiotics? This article explains what probiotics are, how probiotics work, what specific strains of probiotics have been studied for, and how you can choose the right probiotic.
10 minutes
12 Citations
CONTENTS
IntroductionWhat are probiotics?
How do probiotics work?What are probiotics good for?Choosing a ProbioticQ&AFurther ReadingCitations
IntroductionWhat are probiotics?
How do probiotics work?
What are probiotics good for?
Choosing a ProbioticQ&AFurther ReadingCitations
Every day, people send us photos of the probiotics they’re taking and the labels of microbe-packed kimchi they’re eating. They text us with Amazon links before they place an order and with recommendations from their chiropractor. We hear dozens of well-meaning questions and misconceptions about probiotics before we arrive at the office (or the lab bench, depending on the day).
As scientists committed to improving human health with microbes, we appreciate all the thoughtful inquiry. There’s so much to consider when getting started with a probiotic, from understanding how scientists define the term “probiotic,” to how probiotics work inside your gastrointestinal tract, to what benefits you can expect and when you might see and feel them.
We’re here to clarify the FAQs and debunk some common myths around what probiotics are, what they do, and why you may want to give them a try.
Definitions
Common terms you’ll encounter while choosing a probiotic.
IntroductionWhat are probiotics?How do probiotics work?What are probiotics good for?Choosing a ProbioticQ&AFurther ReadingCitations
How does science define a ‘probiotic’?
The term “probiotic” is used loosely by marketers, media, and even some scientists, often applied to anything with the presence of a microbe. This is only part of the picture — and it’s important that we get it right. Why? Because the potential for beneficial microbes to improve health and even the environment is substantial.
The scientific field is growing, with only 760 papers about probiotics prior to 2001 and over 36,000 studies with “probiotic” in the title as of early 2022.1 The commercial market is growing, too, with sales of probiotics over $40 billion and projected to reach over $64 billion by 2023.2 Being clear about what probiotics are helps the field maintain scientific credibility and helps customers find trustworthy products with proven benefits.
Fortunately, we have an official definition of “probiotics,” which was first authored by a 2001 UN/WHO expert panel (chaired by our Chief Scientist, Dr. Gregor Reid) and then revised in 2014.3 It defines probiotics as follows: “Live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.” Let’s break that down into its component parts using the help of a review that our former Director of Research + Development, Dr. Azza Gadir, and Co-Founder Raja Dhir co-authored, along with Dr. Gregor Reid in the scientific journal Frontiers in Microbiology.4
Live microorganisms
The microbes in your probiotic must be alive in the stated quantities (AFU or CFU) at the time you consume them. That means they have to survive through processing, shipping, and the time they sit in their packaging before they are taken by you. This in mind, we engineered our ViaCap™️ 2-in-1 capsule delivery technology—which nests our probiotic inner capsule inside a prebiotic outer capsule, protecting the bacteria from oxygen, moisture, heat, light, and even stomach acid.
We’ve done extensive testing to confirm the bacteria in the DS-01™ Daily Synbiotic stay alive throughout their journey—ensuring viability at room temperatures for 18 months past manufacturing, over 10 days at constant 100°F exposure, and even 2 days at continuous 120°F.
Bonus: we take it one step further and verify that our probiotics survive digestive conditions as well. We test using a Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME®)—a model of human digestion that recreates the physiological conditions and biological processes (food uptake, peristalsis, digestive enzymes, pancreatic and bile acids, and time spent in each stage of digestion) representative of the human gastrointestinal tract. This technology shows that our ViaCap™️ delivers our probiotic strains—100% alive and well—through the end of the small intestine for delivery into the colon, where their real work begins.
Delivered in adequate amounts
The microbes in a probiotic must be alive, yes, but also in an adequate number when administered. The number of the microbes in a probiotic dose will be listed on the label, measured in either CFU (colony forming units) or, our preferred method, AFU (active fluorescent units). This amount should match the dosage used in the corresponding clinical trial demonstrating the benefit of the particular bacterial strain.
Strain specificity
Bacterial strains must be identified genetically, classified using the latest terminology, and designated by numbers, letters, or names. On the Seed label, that looks like this: Bifidobacterium breve SD-BR3-IT. With at least 254 different Bifidobacteria, identifying the correct one is important.5
Proven health benefits
Appropriately sized and designed studies must be performed to evaluate the effect of the specific strain(s) on the host (that’s you) for which the probiotics are intended. Only once a bacteria has demonstrated a concrete health benefit in a given host, may it then be designated a “probiotic.”
Dedicated clinical studies
Strains shown to be beneficial for one condition in a given host may not be helpful for another application or a different species of host. For example, a probiotic shown to have a benefit for irritable bowel syndrome in humans may not address antibiotic-associated diarrhea, and likewise can’t be assumed to help with your dog’s GI problems. In other words, we can’t make any assumptions about translatability of benefits until they are shown in a dedicated clinical study, in the target host population, horse, human, or hound.
IntroductionWhat are probiotics?How do probiotics work?What are probiotics good for?Choosing a ProbioticQ&AFurther ReadingCitations
How do probiotics work?
Okay, so let’s say you’ve got your hands on a probiotic that meets all the relevant scientific criteria. You take it. What happens next? How does a capsule full of living microorganisms set in motion a process that benefits your health?
We first need to clear up a common misconception: that probiotics have to colonize your gut and alter the composition of your microbiome to be effective. That’s not true. Probiotics typically don’t take up residence in your gut. Compared to the tens of trillions of microbes already rooted in your intestinal tract, most probiotics don’t contain enough new bacteria to make a significant difference in the composition of your microbiota.
Even if they did, we don’t know enough about the safety of introducing colonizing microbes. Large numbers of newcomers moving in and displacing your existing bacteria could alter the unique balance of your ecosystem within and trigger unintended consequences.
What scientists do know is that, as transient microbes, probiotics travel through your intestines, interacting with your immune cells, gut cells, dietary nutrients, and existing bacteria to, directly and indirectly, deliver benefits like these:
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