Exploration of how and when to optimally take probiotics to maximize the gut healing and digestive benefits.
Our digestive system is home to at least 500 different bacterial strains.
Ideally, 85% of the bacteria in our gut are the “good guys”, in other words, beneficial to our health.
When the vast majority of gut flora is of the friendly variety, the remaining 15% which are pathogenic bacterial strains and yeasts are easily handled and kept under control.
In fact, in a well-balanced gut, the friendly bacterial strains can actually harness some of the pathogenic strains to perform helpful functions!
The problem is that most people today have this proportion reversed with the majority of gut flora of the unfriendly variety.
This tipping of the balance in favor of pathogens occurs due to antibiotic use, the birth control pill and other meds that negatively affect the gut flora.
In addition, the consumption of processed foods and high amounts of sugar feed pathogens and candida.
The health consequences of a pathogen-dominated gut are many.
Diarrhea, constipation, excessive gas, bloating, allergies, eczema, irritable bowel, inflammatory bowel, kidney stones, ear infections, strep throat, colds, vaginal yeast infections, Crohn’s disease, lactose intolerance, thrush, athlete’s foot, cancer, and the list goes on and on.
The good news is that proactive steps can be taken to rectify the situation to tip the balance back in favor of the friendly bacteria and beneficial yeasts.
How?
Homemade fermented foods are one very smart practice, but for many people, the first baby step back to intestinal health involves taking a daily probiotic.
The Benefits of Probiotics
What are probiotics?
They are friendly bacteria, literally thousands of strains, that prevent the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria, yeast, and fungus in the gut.
Here is a laundry list of some of the beneficial functions performed by probiotics in the gut.
- Produce substances that normalize cholesterol
- Enhance the protective barrier of the digestive tract to prevent leaking of gut contents into the bloodstream (which produces an unpredictable mix of autoimmune symptoms).
- Produce Vitamin K1
- Lower blood pressure
- Aid in the digestion of lactose
- Prevent cavities
- Neutralize pre-cancerous compounds
- Lower the pH of the intestines
- Utilize oxalates in foods like spinach to prevent kidney stones
- Detoxify carcinogens that are consumed
- Produce beneficial compounds which inhibit the growth of tumors
- Much much more!
No wonder Hippocrates, the Father of Modern Medicine, famously said:
“All disease begins in the gut”.
The Brand You Choose Matters!
Once the decision to repair the gut is made, the selection of the appropriate probiotic is a must.
This article on the best probiotics outlines the selection process in detail and how to ensure you get all the basic types that perform different functions in the gut.
Note that the probiotic industry has done a bait and switch on consumers in recent years, favoring patented, lab-created strains in their products instead of natural versions.
Buyer beware!
Here is a list of top-quality, vetted brands with only natural strains to consider. This can make the selection task easier given the dozens of brands on the market with many containing undesirable synthetic strains:
- Seed
- Gut Restore (SBOs and candida-busting strains)
- Ultimate SBO (high dose candida busting strains)
- Pure Encapsulations
- Prescript-Assist
- Trenev Trio
- Yeastbiotic (take with antibiotics and for a few weeks after)
- Baby Probiotic Powder (both lactobacillus and bifidobacteria)
- Infant Probiotic Powder (bifidobacteria only for making homemade formula)
- Pediatric Probiotic
Optimal Method for Taking Probiotics
Once you have your chosen brand in hand, how to take the probiotic for maximum effect?
Morning or night?
On an empty stomach or with food?
These are very common questions!
The answer depends on the probiotic manufacturer, according to the staff at Biodynamic Wellness, which specializes in helping people recover their gut health.
Some probiotic brands (such as this one) are packaged in time-release capsules and others are not.
Finding out this information may require a phone call to the manufacturer. When in doubt, assume that they are not time-release.
Since it is possible that the high acid environment of the stomach could destroy some of the probiotic bacteria:
<< It is recommended to take probiotics at the END of a meal >>
Does this mean that it isn’t beneficial to take a probiotic on an empty stomach?
It just means to play it safe to ensure the probiotics are protected from any reduction in potency due to stomach acid by taking them after eating.
If you are using a time-release probiotic, then feel free to take it whenever is most convenient.
Probiotics for Oral Health
The above recommendation does not pertain to the use of probiotics before bed (typically on an empty stomach) to assist with the balancing of probiotics in the ear, nose, and throat.
This is commonly referred to as the oral microbiome.
Beneficial flora seeks to dominate and protect every tissue of your body, not just your gut!
There are plenty of beneficial bacteria in your mouth, throat, nasal passages, and ears too!
When they are dominant over pathogens, healthy gums, teeth, fluid-free/non-itchy ears, and congestion-free sinuses are the result.
To this end, Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD recommends emptying a probiotic capsule into the mouth and swishing it around before swallowing.
Be sure the chosen brand contains strains that thrive in the ear, nose, and throat such as L. salivarius.
Nothing should be consumed (even water) after you do this.
This article on a natural sinus remedy using probiotics explains more about this procedure.
Summary
In conclusion, when consuming a probiotic to improve gut health, it is best to take them after a meal. This minimizes the effects of stomach acid.
If you are using a time-release probiotic (brand I use), feel free to take it on an empty stomach as well.
Whether you take a probiotic in the morning or evening does not really matter.
Emptying a probiotic capsule in the mouth before bed that contains strains found in the oral microbiome can be helpful for improving the health of the teeth, gums, ears, sinuses, and throat.
Traveling soon? This article on how to take probiotics while away from home provides additional insights for keeping you well on the road.
More Information
How to Repair Your Gut During and After a Round of Antibiotics
Are Antibiotics Always Necessary for Strep Throat?
Why Fermented Foods are Not Enough to Heal the Gut (and the Probiotic Boost they Need)
The Benefits of Prebiotic Foods
How to Choose the Best Probiotic for Your Family
Why Antibiotics Today Could Threaten Your Life Tomorrow
How the Pill Can Harm Your Future Child’s Health
How to Kick Strep Throat Fast
My regimen for a couple of months, on the advice of a knowledgeable friend who does the same thing, is to empty a probiotic capsule into a bowl, and mix it with 4 T of potato starch and 1-2 tsp of psyllium. Then, add water and down it, or mix it into a smoothie, or whatever. His explanation is that the potato starch is a prebiotic which feeds the probiotic; resistant starches are also the only fibre which have been shown to help prevent colon cancer. Mixing it with the psyllium also ensures that the pro and prebiotics get deeper into the intestine, where they can reproduce. You don’t want to take this the same time as beneficial oils or other EFA as they need to be processed in the stomach, not the intestine. Has anyone else ever heard of this? I’ve never thought I had a gut problem, but my poops have been GREAT since I started this — they just seem so healthy 😉
This is an amazing post on how prebiotics help probiotics:
http://freetheanimal.com/2014/02/probiotics-component-obesity.html#comment-636303
hello Sarah
can i give a bio-kult capsul to my 9 years old boy and then give him another in his mouth?
isnt too much for him,2 capsules a day?
thank you,i learn soo much with you
love you, god bless
milena
Garden of Life, inc. by Jordan Rubin has a raw probiotic. What is your opinion of this brand?
Stay away from all Garden of Life products. Their rice protein powders have super high levels of heavy metals in them and the company tried to hide it and threatened Mike Adams after exposing him. The company has no integrity anymore. I would go with Innate Response.
LC, I think you need to research this further. The Garden of Life products DO NOT have “super high” levels of heavy metals in them, as outlined here:
Furthermore, contrary to your statement, Garden of Life and Mike Adams (naturalnewsnow.com) are working together to get the levels even lower.
What would you suggest for a 5 year old to take, which brand of probiotics?
What is your opinion about taking probiotics during a course of antibiotics, or while taking other antibiotic supplements?
This article outlines what to do. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/protocol-for-gut-support-during-and-after-a-round-of-antibiotics/
I noticed Custom Probiotics also list their as a proprietary blend on the Amazon picture label. Does that make it a bad choice too?
Email them and ask. Online info can sometimes be outdated. International Nutrition was not forthcoming during recent email and phone requests for information about Nutrivene.
My confusion has always lain around the issue of whether fermented foods (esp sauerkraut) in some way adversely affect the beneficial bacteria in probiotics. I try always to have some form of fermented food with each meal, whether it’s kombucha or sauerkraut, but worry that if I’m also having my pro-biotics at the same time, that I’m cancelling out the benefits of the probes.
Probiotics and fermented foods can be used together. I would suggest reading the book on the GAPS Diet which describes healing the gut using both.
How does the birth control pill negatively affect gut flora?
Here’s an article on this. https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/how-the-pill-can-harm-your-future-childs-health/
What about water Kefir? Are these two different things? If so how does Kefir and something like whey differ, should one do both? Thanks!
Water kefir has probiotics in it … it is a fermented food. But, many folks trying to recover their gut health need a therapeutic strength probiotic supplement for a time to get the gut seeded properly and to help overcome pathogen dominance. Fermented foods are wonderful and great for maintenance once gut health has been reestablished and/or in addition to probiotics.
I think you have it backward. Fermented foods have billions more good bacteria than any pill does. There is nothing that beats consuming homemade cultured products. No pill on the market can beat that.
That’s what I heard from Dr Mercola, that fermented foods are way better than any pill!
I agree. See this article
http://nourishingplot.com/2014/06/21/sauerkraut-test-divulges-shocking-probiotic-count/
This is true and I’ve seen it before, but you can’t get the aggressive strains (soil based) that kill off pathogens and re-establish dominance in the gut with strong strains of probiotics from fermented foods. It’s not just about the bacterial count, it’s about the strains and how aggressive they are. This is why a therapeutic strength probiotic like Biokult is necessary for a time to kickstart the process back to gut health.
I wonder if you use homegrown garden produce, especially root veggies like beets and carrots, without washing thoroughly (just brush off visible dirt), to ferment… would you get some soil strains in your cultured foods?