Probiotic 25 Billion CFU, 10 Strains

What Is a Ten-Strain Probiotic?

Probiotics are live bacteria of the same kinds that already live in a healthy gut. This one carries ten of them, dried into a powder so they stay dormant until they are swallowed: six lactobacilli, three bifidobacteria and one Streptococcus thermophilus. Each name ends in a code, such as La-14, naming the exact strain.

How It Works in the Body

Swallowed bacteria are passing residents, not permanent ones. Different species are at home in different stretches of the gut. Lactobacilli work mainly in the small intestine, fermenting sugars into lactic acid. Bifidobacteria settle in the colon and break down plant fibers your own enzymes cannot. While they pass, they take up attachment sites and nutrients other microbes would otherwise use.

What It Supports

• Everyday digestion: Lactic acid bacteria ferment sugars and fibers that reach the gut, which supports normal digestion.
• A varied gut community: Ten strains from three genera add breadth to the mix of organisms already living there.
• Normal immune function: Much of the body immune tissue lines the intestinal wall, and bacteria passing through are in constant contact with it, which supports normal immune function.
• Prebiotic fiber in the base: FOS, or fructooligosaccharides, are short fructose chains that lactobacilli and bifidobacteria can ferment.

Who It May Suit

People whose week holds little live-culture food, with no yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut or miso in it, and who would rather take a wide roster than a single strain. The capsule is hypromellose, a plant cellulose, rather than gelatin, so it fits a vegetarian diet.

Good To Know

Live cultures are sensitive to heat and moisture, which is why they are supplied dry. Talk with your healthcare provider before use if illness or medicine has weakened your immune system, or if you have a central venous catheter, since live bacteria have caused bloodstream infections in those situations.