• Probiotic supplements are touted as a treatment for everything from bloating to mental health.
• Probiotics can help restore good bacteria in your gut, but a nutrition expert said not everyone needs them.
• If you want to try probiotic supplements, pay a and the reputable brand and talk to your doctor.

Probiotic supplements have been all the rage among celebrities in 2023. From Gwyneth Paltrow’s bizarre video of probiotic brand Seed, to Halle Berry’s investment in probiotic company Pendulum, it seems like everyone is raving about these small capsules filled with live bacteria.

And the claims that probiotic companies make can seem compelling. Some claim that taking a pill or two a day can improve gut health, give you better skin, boost immune functioning, and even improve mental health.

According to Dr. Saman Khalesi, Senior Lecturer and Discipline Lead in Nutrition at Central Queensland University in Australia, probiotics can be beneficial for your gut microbiome “if you need them.” But he said that it’s a misconception that everyone needs probiotics.

Lifestyle and health can influence our gut microbiome

Probiotics are a good type of gut bacteria that lives within our gastrointestinal tract. They have all sorts of important jobs including helping us get nutrients from our food and serving as a first line of defense in our immune system.

The number and diversity of probiotics is “very important for our physical and mental health,” said Khalesi.

But sometimes life, or an underlying health condition, can disrupt the diversity or quantity of these good bacteria, and this can lead to health problems.

Not eating enough fiber, for example, can harm your gut microbiome health. Fiber, including “prebiotics,” feeds good gut bacteria. Not eating enough can diminish the diversity and quantity of the probiotics in your gut.

Smoking, drinking, taking antibiotics, and not exercising can also negatively affect gut microbiome health.

Underlying health conditions can also play a major role in microbiome health. Gastrointestinal issues like constipation or diarrhea, cardiovascular disease, obesity, and even mental health conditions like depression are “linked to an imbalanced gut microbiome,” Khalesi said.

Probiotics can help restore balance

If you do have an underlying issue with your gut microbiome, then “taking probiotics may help restore the balance and improve the management of those conditions,” Khalesi said.

But it isn’t as simple as taking a probiotic once. Typically, Khalesi said, you’ll have to take probiotics for a couple of months to notice a change in your health. Additionally, not all probiotics do the same things.

The most studied strains of bacteria found in probiotics include lactobacillus and bifidobacterium, which can help treat different conditions, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). But there are thousands of other strains — and researchers are just beginning to uncover what they do.

If you’re trying to find the best probiotic supplement for yourself, “make sure you study the strain first,” Khalesi said, so you know what kinds of conditions it could help with.

As a general rule of thumb, Cleveland Clinic recommends looking for probiotics that contain at least one-billion colony-forming units and includes the most researched strains, like lactobacillus, bifidobacterium, bacillus, or saccharomyces boulardii.

It’s also critical not to just take probiotics, but to incorporate fibrous foods into your diet. According to Khalesi, eating fiber-rich foods helps good bacteria survive, thrive, and diversify.

In fact, “you technically can change the balance of your gut bacteria just by feeding them with their own food, which is actually fiber,” he said.

Be careful where you purchase probiotics

If you’re looking to try probiotic supplements, it’s important to remember that probiotics are considered supplements in the United States, which means they are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration the same way that medications are.

Since probiotics are not regulated as closely, they can sometimes be contaminated with ingredients not listed on the label. Additionally, probiotics must be designed to withstand digestion so they can actually reach your gut, Khalesi said. If not designed correctly, probiotics will just be digested and won’t actually do anything.

If you’re looking to try a probiotic, Khalesi recommends speaking with a doctor or dietician to identify probiotic strains that are the most beneficial for you.

“A majority of the time, probiotics are safe,” Khalesi said. “You might feel some discomfort and bloating at the beginning,” he said, “but that goes away really easily after maybe a week.”

If you want to try getting more probiotics without taking a supplement, stick to naturally probiotic-rich foods. These include many fermented foods like yogurt, pickles, kimchi, and kombucha.