Can probiotic drinks really help digestion?

There are a variety of probiotic products on the market, and many claim to be able to “regulate intestinal bacteria” and “improve indigestion”, making many white-collar workers who have been sedentary and lacking exercise for a long time. However, do probiotics really improve bowel problems and help digestion?

Probiotics can play a beneficial role on the host by improving the host intestinal flora balance, including Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Streptococcus thermophilus, etc.

However, if you want probiotics to work in your body, you need to meet a lot of strict conditions, and they are all indispensable.

First, you need to get a specific strain. Each type of probiotics has different functions. If you want to improve intestinal health and promote digestion, you must drink probiotics with digestive functions, such as Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium.

Second, a sufficient number of probiotics must be obtained. There are trillions of bacteria in our intestines, and too few probiotics will work. Generally speaking, you need to eat more than 100 million live bacteria at a time and take it continuously for a period of time to achieve the effect.

Finally, and most importantly, the probiotics that enter the gut must be alive. Because live bacteria are very demanding on the environment, a slight change in outside temperature will cause a large number of live bacteria to die, and dead bacteria have no effect on the intestine. Even if the probiotics survive, it is difficult for them to enter the intestine through the gastric juice, and even if they pass the test of gastric juice, the amount that finally enters the intestine is very small.

From this perspective, the probiotic products currently on the market can hardly meet these three conditions. If you have abdominal pain, bloating or constipation, drinking probiotic drinks is not reliable. Moreover, current research shows that even if the above three conditions are met, probiotics are more of an adjuvant effect on improving intestinal health.

Hint: The argument that probiotics can improve indigestion is actually not enough scientific evidence. Most of the probiotic foods on the market can’t really improve the intestinal problems. They are just marketing gimmicks. And most of them are high-sugar drinks, so try to drink less. However, you can use yogurt as a healthier drink after meals.