Probiotics With Delayed-Release Capsules Enhance The Beneficial Effect

Probiotics With Delayed-Release Capsules Enhance The Beneficial Effect

With so many probiotic supplements on the market, selecting the right one can be a challenge. In addition to important features such as a high culture count and multiple strains of beneficial bacteria, your probiotic should have an effective delivery system. Delayed-release capsules are thick capsules with an interlock mechanism that helps hold the capsule together longer in the harsh environment of the stomach. This, in addition to the selection of hardy probiotic strains, helps ensure targeted delivery of the healthy bacteria to where they are most active—the intestines.*

Why the Right Delivery System Makes All the Difference

When was the last time you thought about what happens after you swallow your probiotic supplement? To understand why delayed-release capsules are so important, it helps to understand the path each capsule takes to get to the intestines. Probiotics exert their beneficial effects primarily in the small and large intestine. However, to reach the intestines your supplement must pass through the stomach, which is a highly acidic environment. By nature, stomach acidity is designed to inhibit bacteria so they cannot survive. This protective mechanism safeguards the body from potentially harmful microorganisms, but it is not helpful when it comes to the delivery of beneficial bacteria to the intestines.

Individual probiotic strains can vary in their ability to survive stomach acid; some are hardier than others. When formulating supplements, it is important to select hardy strains—but the protection doesn’t stop with strain selection. Ultimate Flora Probiotics delayed-release vegetable capsules offer extra protection against stomach acid when compared to standard capsules.

Other Important Factors to Consider when Choosing a Probiotic Supplement

In addition to delayed-release capsules, one of the most important things to look for when choosing the right probiotic for your needs is culture count (i.e. the number of “active” or “live” cultures in a formula). Be sure to select a supplement with a high culture count—at least 10 billion active cultures (per single serving) for daily maintenance, and on up to 200 billion cultures per serving for advanced digestive and immune support.*

It is also important that your supplement contain multiple strains of probiotic bacteria. In a healthy intestinal tract, Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli make up the majority of the beneficial bacterial cells residing there. Bifidobacteria are the most prevalent good bacteria in the large intestine (or colon), and Lactobacilli are the most prevalent good bacteria in the small intestine as well as in a healthy vagina. They are especially important for women because they produce beneficial compounds that help promote a healthy balance of bacteria and yeast.*

Making sure your probiotic supplement contains multiple strains of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli ensures it will provide a wide range of benefits throughout the entire digestive system.*

The Many Benefits of Probiotics*

Although we typically associate probiotics with digestive health and regularity, these good bacteria actually provide a multitude of benefits for overall health.* In addition to helping maintain a balanced intestinal environment to help prevent occasional irritable bowel, constipation and other digestive issues, probiotics are vital to a healthy immune system—producing beneficial compounds and acids that help support the growth of good bacteria in the gut.* They also help your body absorb valuable nutrients from food during the digestive process and play a key role in manufacturing needed vitamins (including B12 and K) and providing nourishment for healthy intestinal cells.*

A Word about Probiotics and Aging

Because research indicates our numbers of Bifidobacteria decline as we age, many experts believe added probiotics are necessary as we get older to maintain digestive and immune health.* In one study, scientists in Britain measured the amounts of probiotic bacteria in people of varying ages and found that “…the absence of Bifidobacteria, or their low numbers in the elderly, may have metabolic and health consequences … because they play an important role in the body affecting immune system reactivity.”

Similarly, a study conducted by the University of Dundee and South Bank University in London found that living a healthy lifestyle and taking probiotic supplements can boost the body’s supply of Bifidobacteria.* When they measured amounts of beneficial bacteria in aging adults, it was discovered that most seniors had very low levels of these good bacteria, and that people concerned with protecting their health as they age may want to consider adding a natural probiotic supplement to their diets.*

*This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Posted by George Daniels on Wednesday November 27 2013, 2:37 AM EST. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0