Choosing the right live bacteria product

Watch our short video in which Olenka from our Clinical Nutrition team explains the differences between them to help you pick the right product for you, or read below.

The bacteria in our gut are essential to health. In fact, there are trillions of bacteria living inside us, outnumbering our own body cells. We’ve evolved together, supporting each other in a mutual relationship, and we’re only just beginning to understand all the ways in which they support us.

Modern lifestyles don’t really support our levels of gut bacteria. Toxins in the environment, medicines like antibiotics, stress, poor diet and digestion can all impact their health and diversity. This is where a good quality live bacteria supplement can really help.

So, support your live bacteria each day, to help them to support you in return.

Not all live bacteria supplements are equal. You need to choose the best.

There is a baffling array of live bacteria products on the market. They are not all the same in terms of quality or effectiveness. So how do you choose one that is going to give you the best possible support? Here are a few key pointers to help you make the right choice…

Choose a live bacteria product that is…

Clinically effective - Only exactly the right bacteria in the right quantities to have maximum effect. Many of our products use the LAB4 combination of bacteria used in multiple clinical trials. The LAB4 complex is one of the most clinically-researched combinations of live bacteria, consisting of 4 strains of beneficial bacteria – two strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus, along with Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bifidobacterium lactis.

Safe – make sure your live bacteria product contains human strains with an excellent safety record. Just remember, you are dosing yourself with ‘bacteria’ after all! Our bacteria are safe to use with everyone - we only use strains with excellent safety records in clinical trials and that naturally live in the human gut.

Stable - live bacteria need to stay that way and get to where they need to be. You don’t need specially coated capsules, just hardy bacteria with guaranteed potency at end of shelf life. Our live bacteria products have guaranteed potency at the end of shelf life. They are stable in storage, so you’re guaranteed to get what you need, and stable in the gut. Our new glass, wide neck bottles now have an air-tight seal instead of the rubber stopper and we’ve added a new superior, high tech ‘molecular sieve’ (you’ll find it within the bottle in a form of a small orange capsule). This absorbs moisture, keeping the bacteria fresher and stable for even longer

No unnecessary additives – choose a product free of unnecessary ingredients and allergens, especially one that is dairy free (which many live bacteria products are not). Our products are simple, straightforward formulations with only the ingredients you actually need and free from common allergens like dairy*, so vegan-friendly.

*with the exception of our Baby BioFlora product

Synbiotic – that means with dietary fibres like ‘fructo-oligosaccharide’ (FOS) or inulin to feed the good bacteria and increase its effectiveness.

Personal – make sure it’s in a convenient form to take, for example in a powder form for babies or children. There’s no point in having a great product if it isn’t used. We have the right live bacteria product for everyone - adults, children, babies, in pregnancy – including different strengths and forms such as capsules, powders and our unique Children’s RedBerry BioMelts.

Most of all, make sure it’s going to work! The more strains, the better, surely? Definitely not! We can’t possibly replicate the diversity of bacteria in the human gut, so trendy multi-strain products, including lots of different bacteria, may not be helpful at all. We can’t be sure how they work together and that we’re not just diluting the useful ones and wasting money.

Similarly having a really high number of bacteria may mean nothing if they are not the most effective types. What’s important is using exactly the right bacteria at the right level to make a real difference to health and that takes real expertise. Our products have been the choice of health professionals for 30 years. This is because they’ve been designed by the UK’s top probiotic researchers, used in clinical trials and successfully by clinicians with their clients. We use only the right types of bacteria in the right quantities to have maximum effect.

For everyday use, choose our BioAcidophilus with our clinically researched LAB⁴ combination of bacteria.

For a stronger dose, choose BioAcidophilus Forte, an incredible 30 billion LAB⁴ bacteria in a single capsule.

For children you can try our new, unique Children’s Red Berry BioMelts™, a convenient sachet of great tasting melt-on-the-tongue powdered live bacteria with vitamin D to support immunity.

For babies, our unique Baby Infantis Powder is suitable to take from birth. It contains four billion live bacteria per daily dose and can easily be mixed into a paste with sterile water or added to soft food for consumption. It’s also dairy-free.

We strive to provide the most effective live bacteria for everyone.

Got a question?

The brand you can talk to:

We have a team of Clinical Nutritionists at the end of our advice line, open to you, for product support and advice (5 days a week). 0121 433 8702 or clinicalnutrition@biocare.co.uk

Or head to our advice page where you can find Healthnotes.

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