Scientific studies, regulation, and potency of probiotics

Though some still believe there are no scientific studies proving the benefit of probiotics, this is simply not true. The effectiveness of probiotics have become well recognized, studied, and reported upon.

About 20 years ago there really weren’t any research studies published on probiotics. More recently, this number has worked itself up to almost 3,000 scientific papers looking at the validity of probiotics.

Included in this number are papers that question the use of probiotics, and some even report they could be harmful. But the overwhelming consensus is that probiotics are effective in meaningful ways.

According to the National Institute of Health, probiotics can be helpful in preventing diarrhea caused by antibiotics or infections. They also state that there is evidence probiotics can improve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. They do make it clear, though, that the FDA has not approved any probiotics for the treatment of any disease.

It might be thought that probiotics are not regulated. This is simply not true either. This may be because probiotics are sold as a dietary supplement and not as a pharmaceutical. The FDA still regulates these products. They just do it under a different set of regulations.

The FDA also strictly regulates claims manufacturers make. This is all done under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, otherwise known as DSHEA. This holds manufacturers responsible for the safety and ingredients in their products. They also have strict guidelines for ingredients that cannot be used.

There are companies that have skirted these regulations. They make the industry look bad, and rightfully so. That’s why some companies have begun using third party certification to validate their products.

The most credible of these certifications are the standards coming from Good Manufacturing Practices, or GMP. They assure that the identify, strength, composition, quality, and purity of the product is just as it appears on the label. NSF International independently certifies that a company has implemented the GMP standards.

Probiotics have been receiving a lot of attention in the marketplace. You can find them in traditional sources like yogurt, cottage cheese, and other fermented dairy products. You will also find probiotics in kombucha, sauerkraut, tempeh, and kimchi. I usually buy these at the store, but you can certainly make all these at home.

It seems to me, though, that the world has gone overboard with introducing probiotics into juices, protein bars, cereals, and chocolate. I’ve even seen coffee, chips, and ice cream touting probiotic content.

While probiotics can be effective, dosage, species, and viability are important. Think about it. A live beneficial bacteria cannot typically survive in hot coffee or miso soup. The heat would destroy them.

The amount of probiotics being placed into most of these snacks, bars, and cereals seem too low to be effective. 1 million probiotics in a serving is nothing compared to the billions in our gut. I question whether the variety of species is therapeutic.

Everyone has a different gut microbiome, and so knowing which strains are going to be most effective can be a guessing game. The variety of strains commercially available is quite limited compared to the number strains we actually have in our gut.

On average we each have about 500 to 2,000 different species in our digestive tract. By comparison, yogurt is typically made from two species. Most of our gut bacteria are in the colon and about 99% of these come from 30 to 40 different species.

Bottom line is it’s worth considering probiotics, but make sure it is at an effective dose and contains strains that have been well studied and manufactured to high standards.

Come on down if you’d like to talk more.

Scott Porter, a functional medicine pharmacist, is the director of the Center for Functional Nutrition at Sandpoint Super Drug.