Probiotics are a class of live microorganisms whose consumption in adequate amounts has been associated with potential specific health benefits. Products containing live microorganisms must have demonstrable, strain-specific clinical effects at documented CFU levels to be called probiotics. Specific strains of probiotics have been linked to health benefits such as immune function, gastrointestinal health, women's health, and oral health.
Various probiotic strains have different properties. Some strains have significant effects while others have little effect. In addition, clinical studies have shown that the benefits of probiotics on human health are related to their specific potency. Therefore, when taking probiotics, you must ensure that they are alive and at a specific potency.
Higher colony-forming units (CFU) do not mean better results. The correct approach is to choose probiotic products that contain CFU levels that have been clinically proven to correlate with the desired efficacy. For example, clinical studies have shown that BB-12™ Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis strain is associated with increased bowel movements in adults at doses of 1 billion CFU/day, so its recommended dose is 1 billion CFU/day.
The number of strains contained in a probiotic product does not determine its function, and attention should be paid to the clinical evidence of specific strains and combinations because many multi-strain products neither contain a single strain to support the clinical effectiveness nor a combination of strains, so there is a lack of clinical evidence. Strain category, strain combination patterns, and clinical evidence are what we should consider.
Probiotics generally take 1-2 weeks to take effect, but how long it takes to see the effect needs to be considered based on the patient's situation, the type of probiotics selected, the number of viable bacteria, the type of strains, and the combination of strains.