Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria that do more than help you digest your food. These beneficial bacteria can support every aspect of health, from digestion to immune health to mood. But everything—from processed-food diets, stress, and antibacterial products to antibiotics both as medicine and in the food supply—can leave your gut extremely depleted in probiotics.
If you’ve made popping a daily probiotic as much of your routine as your morning coffee run but don’t feel much different from before you started the ritual, you may start to wonder: How can you tell whether the supplement you’re taking is actually getting to work within your system? Here are five reasons your probiotics aren’t working (and what to do about it):
1. The strains are dead
Did you know some supplements are allowed by law to label their probiotics with the number of living strains they contained at the time of manufacture? So a bottle may at one time have had 50 billion colony-forming units (CFU, the number of living organisms in your probiotic), but it may be nothing more than an expensive placebo by the time it gets to you.
Many probiotic brands stress the number of CFUs, rather than the specific strains. But higher CFUs don’t necessarily mean it works better; CFU activity is based on minimal clinical efficacy of each strain. Look for strains that have been clinically studied to ensure they’re doing what you want in your gut.
Probiotics are sensitive organisms that need to be handled and manufactured differently from standard vitamins, minerals, and other supplements. Some brands need to be refrigerated from manufacture through transit to you to keep the beneficial organisms alive.
This also comes in handy while traveling (when your gut is extra likely to get thrown out of whack). The unique synbiotic Hyperbiotics formulations also include phytonutrients to enhance and strengthen the activation and benefit of each probiotic. Hyperbiotics probiotics can survive without refrigeration entirely, thanks to our proprietary BIO-tract delivery technology, which preserves the probiotics’ activity level; we also include overages to ensure activity at the end of shelf life.
2. The strains don’t survive in your digestive tract
Different probiotic strains take effect in different areas of the digestive tract, so it’s important to ensure the organisms are still alive when they get where they need to be to be most effective. Vegetable-based capsules likely aren’t strong enough to protect the bacteria from your stomach acid.
Look for a probiotic delivered in an acid-resistant capsule or one with a longer delayed delivery mechanism. Most Hyperbiotics probiotics use a special, patented technology to release bacteria throughout your gut over about eight hours—and still is made up of 100-percent vegetarian ingredients.
3. Lack of routine
Getting into the habit of taking a daily probiotic (or any nutritional supplement) can be difficult. But repeated use is key to ensuring a populate your intestinal tract with good bacteria so you can reap the benefits like better digestion and a better supported immune system.
Luckily, studies suggest it takes just 21 days to establish a habit, so if you set reminders for yourself every day for three weeks, taking your probiotic should become second nature in no time. Not great with phone reminders? Try putting the bottle where you eat breakfast or dinner or on your bedside table to take first thing in the morning.
4. The strains aren’t right for you
Because there are so many factors that can disrupt our gut flora—from stress to toxins in the air—you need to make sure your probiotic is covering all the bases if you really want to feel the effects. Taking a probiotic like Hyperbiotics Pro-15® Pre + Probiotic, which includes as many as 15 different strains, rather than a singular one, can help ensure you’re addressing the issue from all angles.
Probiotics can also provide condition-specific support throughout the body. For instance, there are probiotics that support kids’ health, women’s urinary tract and vaginal health, men’s prostate health, dental health, healthy weight, and more. There are even probiotics for your pets!
5. Unrealistic expectations
For all their powerful benefits, probiotics have effects that are often cumulative and require patience as they support the foundation of overall health.
If you are a generally healthy person without digestive issues, you may notice improvements in your immune system and overall health over the long term. People who take targeted probiotics for specific health conditions should begin seeing a shift in a healthier direction within a matter of weeks.
Not sure where to start? Take this quiz!
