What are some guidelines to keep in mind when buying probiotics?

Some guidelines when buying probiotics: buy as far away from the Use By date as possible, start with a low dose, and read the label to ensure you know the ingredients. Watch as integrative medicine expert Julie Chen, MD, explains these guidelines.

Transcript

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Having no probiotics to all of a sudden taking a high dosage and then your body might bloat and be uncomfortable. [MUSIC PLAYING]

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Some of the main guidelines to keep in mind for buying probiotics is one, you definitely want to get a probiotic bottle or package

00:18

that is as far away from the use by date as possible because these little guys do tend to die the closer they get to the use by date.

00:26

So the farther out that you get them from the use by date, the more effective they'll be. And then the other thing that you want to do, is you want to make sure that you go low with the dosing

00:34

at the beginning for the first week or two so that your body has time to adjust to the good bugs. Some of my patients go from having no probiotics to all of a sudden taking a high dosage.

00:42

Your body might bloat and be uncomfortable. So you might want to start with a lower dosage and just slowly work your way up to the full dosage.

00:48

That way you can transition into the probiotics easier, and your body has time to adjust to it. The last thing I would recommend is

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for you to read the label on the probiotic, primarily, because a lot of people who are trying to take the probiotics for their gut symptoms or immune support already have food allergies

01:04

or sensitivities. And so you want to make sure that you check the label on the probiotic you're buying and make sure that it says that there

01:11

are none of the food allergens or sensitivities that you have on there. Because just because it doesn't say on the ingredients doesn't mean it's necessarily not in there.

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The safest thing is to see the label that says no gluten, no soy, no dairy, et cetera. [AUDIO LOGO]