As a naturopath, I see countless patients taking probiotics; generally self-prescribed or sometimes recommended by a friend or health food store employee. Many times the patient will report probiotics didn't help, not realizing there is an art to probiotic selection.

Popularity of Probiotics

Probiotics are "live organisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host" [1]. However, in order to confer a health benefit, one must know which specific probiotic to take.

Probiotic use has become increasingly popular across the world [2]. This has led to somewhat misleading industry marketing; people may not realize probiotics must be taken with purpose and intention. If you're goal is to "maintain" digestive health it's a much different course of action than treating a particular digestive complaint.

Not all Probiotics are Equally Effective

It starts in how they are made. They have different mechanisms-of-action, different manufacturing process, quality control of the product and efficacy by different strains [1].

How probiotics work in our system determines a lot of how they will affect a particular disease. Some work to kill other bacteria while others simply inhibit growth of others [1]. The aim of some is to reinforce the integrity of host cells or restore a normal microflora environment [1]. Since many probiotics elicit an immune response, we must know the current state of the immune system before taking a probiotic.

Strain Specificity and Disease Specificity

Probiotic Nomenclature

When describing a probiotic, it must state three pieces of information. As you'll see in the image below, we include Genus, species and are specific term called strain. For a probiotic manufacturer to state any health benefit it must be known what strain is being used.