Probiotic Supplements
Probiotic supplements should include several different types of bacteria (at least eight different strains), and should list each of the individual microflora found in the supplement by their Latin name with a count of how many of these live cultures are found in each capsule or serving.
The count should read as million CFU or billion CFU. (i.e. Lactobacillus acidophilus 1 billion CFU, Lactobacillus bulgaricus 200 million CFU).
Probiotic supplements should also include a whole food FOS (fructooligosaccharide) such as Jerusalem Artichoke, onion, or banana to “feed” the bacteria. Look for these ingredients on the label.
It is also important to find probiotics in a capsule rather than a tablet. The manufacturing processes required to make a tablet use high heat and/or high pressure and a variety of binding agents which destroy the bacteria.
When reading Labels:
- Avoid synthetic Vitamins (e.g. beta-carotene, pyridoxine hydrochloride, retinol, palmitate, pteroylglutamic acid, thiamin mononitrate, thiamin hydrochloride, ascorbic acid).
Vitamins
- Look for amino acid chelated minerals (e.g. chromium chelavite, magnesium chelazome) that are easily identifiable by their suffix of chelavite, chelate or chelazome.
Chelated Minerals
- Many herbal supplements have begun to use “standardized extracts”. A standardized extract simply means that the manufacturer has extracted the portion of the herb that is believed to be the active ingredient.
Herbs
- Look for a plant enzyme supplement and avoid pancreatic or animal enzymes. Be sure that the supplement label uses FCC units, such as LU, DU, CU rather than milligrams on the label.
Enzymes
- Probiotics should include several different types of bacteria (at least eight different strains), and should list each of the individual microflora found in the supplement by their Latin name with a count of how many of these live cultures are found in each capsule or serving. (This Page)
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How to Read Supplement Labels.
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Probiotic Supplements
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