When do you take probiotics?

Firstly probiotics are living organisms.  They are (mostly) gram positive bacteria that are looking for a home!

So when you take them remember some of them may not be in your body.  As your body is not used to this living organism  it is registered as new information and as such they can suddenly cause your stomach to turn or feel queasy! 

The trick is generally to start slowly.  This can be even a tiny amount on your finger or spoon from a broken capsule.

Secondly ensure you have eaten something first.  Probiotics feed off food called prebiotics. 

The acidic environment of the stomach can also kill probiotics gained from food, which can reduce the number of good bacteria available to inhabit the intestinal tract – and small colonies of bacteria produce relatively weak health benefits as compared with large, robust colonies – so having food as a substrate or providing something for it to ‘hang off’ off will ensure more gets to the small intestine.

Unfortunately, there has been very little research comparing the benefits of taking probiotics with or without meals, or at different times of day. The lack of studies could be because people have traditionally consumed probiotics during meals, through foods like yogurt and kefir.

So my advice is generally – start slow – small amounts at a time generally works and after a meal – breakfast and dinner for example will yield better results.

If you are after further probiotic advice, please do not hesitate to contact me – ingrid@ingridmasi.com.