If you eat a plant-based diet, choosing a probiotic takes a little more homework. Many probiotics are grown on dairy, sold in gelatin capsules or blended with milk-derived ingredients. Rather than ranking brands, here are five things to check so you can judge any vegan probiotic for yourself.
1. Check the growth medium and the ingredients
Probiotic bacteria are grown on a food source before they are dried and packaged, and that source is sometimes dairy. Read the full ingredient list for milk-derived ingredients, and check that the capsule itself is plant-based rather than gelatin. If the label is not clear, ask the brand directly. This matters beyond veganism too: approximately 65 percent of the human population has a reduced ability to digest lactose after infancy.
2. Look for named strains with research behind them
Being vegan says nothing about whether a probiotic works. Different types of probiotics may have different effects, so look for products that name each strain in full and are built on well-studied groups such as Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.
3. Check the dose, not just the headline number
A huge CFU count or a long list of strains makes for good marketing, but more is not automatically better. What matters is a dose in the range studied for those strains. In research on antibiotic-associated diarrhea, for example, higher doses of the same probiotic were more protective than lower doses.
4. Look for prebiotics, and do not forget fermented plant foods
A product that pairs probiotics with prebiotic fiber is a synbiotic, which gives the bacteria something to work with. Plant-based eaters also have plenty of fermented foods to choose from, such as sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, tempeh and coconut or soy yogurts with live cultures, though the number of live organisms in fermented foods can vary significantly.
5. Ask for independent testing
FDA does not approve dietary supplements before they are marketed, so third-party testing is the best way to know a product contains what its label says. Look for brands that publish their results. Ours are on our 5 Nation Standard page, with certificates of analysis for each product.
Our own probiotics, including Trust Your Gut Probiotic + Prebiotic Daily Essential (16 billion CFU, 6 strains) and Trust Your Gut powder (20 billion CFU, 7 strains, USDA Organic), are vegan and use dairy-free probiotics with organic prebiotics. For more, read What are Probiotics?
