Promoting Better Gut Health
Maintaining a healthy gut is about more than just a healthy diet and ensuring you eat your five a day. Studies show that probiotics can help with maintaining a healthy gastrointestinal tract. This can contribute to keeping common GI illnesses at bay. If you suffer with bloating, constipation or diarrhoea, finding the right probiotic could help you get things under control.8
Why Are Probiotic Supplements Beneficial For Women
Probiotics are live microorganisms that can enhance the natural beneficial bacteria in your gut. In fact, your gastrointestinal system contains roughly 39 trillion bacteria, most of which can be found in your large intestine.
Probiotics work to inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria and help enhance the growth of helpful bacteria.
Helpful bacteria can support food digestion, destroy harmful cells, or produce important vitamins.
Taking probiotic supplements may help balance the bacteria in your intestines, also known as the gut microbiome.
Additionally, your vagina is home to 50 different species of microorganisms, which, when in balance, keep your vagina healthy and infection-free. Probiotics can help to restore a healthier balance of bacteria in the vagina.
An imbalance of vaginal bacteria can lead to bacterial vaginosis , yeast infections, trichomoniasis , and urinary tract infections.
Maintaining balance within the body and preventing the growth of dangerous bacteria can have far-reaching health benefits.
Research suggests that having a healthy balance of gut bacteria is linked to a variety of health benefits, including:
- Improved digestion
- Escherichia
- Bacillus
When choosing a probiotic, its important to look for the specific strain of bacteria that is most helpful for your condition because different strains serve different functions.
Summary
Probiotics can help create and maintain balance throughout your gut and within your vagina.
How We Made Our Selections
In addition to ensuring the products met the criteria above, we evaluated each brand based on several criteria. These included:
- Quality: Are the products made in a certified Good Manufacturing Practices facility? Are they third-party tested?
- Involvement of Professionals: Does the brand work with professionals to ensure the quality of its products?
- Evidence to Support Claims. Does the brand provide evidence to back up the claims of their products?
- Safety: Does the brand ensure the products are generally safe?
Based on these criteria, we pulled together a list of products for specific concerns that women might have.
Read Also: So Good So You Probiotic Shot Review
What Does Womens Daily Probiotic Do
This once daily Womens Probiotic supplement helps replenish healthy vaginal microflora, boosts immune defenses and promotes digestive wellness, enhancing your guts ability to absorb nutrients from food.* Our probiotic for women promotes a slightly acidic environment that naturally defends against problematic yeasts and infectious bacteria, and also protects the nearby urinary tract.*
- Lactobacilli La-14 and HN001 probiotic strains are clinically studied to support a healthy vaginal ecosystem*
- Prebiotics from Jerusalem Artichoke are fuel for the live probiotics
- Organic Chaste Tree extract promotes womens hormonal balance*
Best Budget Pick: Probiotic Pearls Womens
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Natures Way Probiotic Pearls Womens is a great product if you dont want to spend a fortune, but you also want a product designed to tackle both your digestive and vaginal health.
The product provides 1 billion CFUs and includes three strains of probiotics: L. acidophilus, L. rhamnosus, and L. plantarum. This specific blend was designed to maintain vaginal health, promote digestive balance, and support your immune system.
Probiotic Pearls Womens uses a triple-layer soft gel that protects the probiotics from heat, air, moisture, and stomach acid to increase survival and delivery to the intestine.
When purchasing from Amazon, a 1-month supply is only $11.81.
The Bottom Line: If youre on a budget, Natures Way Probiotic Pearls Womens is a nice choice as it contains a variety of strains to support your digestive and vaginal health.
The triple layer soft gel may also increase the survivability of the strains making them more effective.
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Renew Life Ultimate Flora Womens Vaginal Probiotic
This Renew Life probiotic aims to maintain healthy vaginal bacteria and yeast levels. It contains a mix of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacilli. It is delivered in a delayed-release capsule for improved survival through the acidic environment of the stomach.
Renew Life states that this probiotic comes in a smaller capsule size than most other probiotic capsules, which can benefit those who have difficulty swallowing capsules. Like Culturelle probiotics, this brand also contains the widely studied strain L. rhamnosus GG, but it does not seem that this product was studied in its entire formulation for efficacy.
Type: CapsuleDose/day: 1 capsule per dayDietary considerations: Formula free of gluten, dairy, and soyClinical studies using the final formulation: No, specific strains have been studied in isolation, but not the final formulation.Multispecies/ multistrain: Yes
What Are The Benefits Of Probiotics
Probiotics are live bacteria that are similar to the good bacterial colonies that live in the digestive tract. They keep the gut healthy and aid in the resolution or prevention of a wide range of health issues.
The digestive tract or gut contains trillions of live bacteria, which are collectively called gut flora. Some of these bacteria are good, while others are bad. As a result, the number and composition of gut bacteria can have a significant impact on your physical and even mental health.
Probiotics are not all the same, nor do they all have the same effect on the body. The right types and amounts of probiotics can help health in a variety of ways:
- Boost skin health
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Can You Take Too Many Probiotics
Taking too many probiotics is not a common issue. For those who have taken too many probiotics , they will likely experience gut disruptions and gastrointestinal side effects.
Probiotics are generally safe regardless of the amount taken, and any side effects are generally mild. It is impossible to take a toxic level of probiotics. The most common side effects of taking more probiotics than you can tolerate are gas, bloating, and diarrhea. These side effects can be treated individually and are generally corrected after 24 to 48 hours and stopping the probiotics until they are resolved.
It can be tempting to discontinue probiotic use altogether after a negative experience out of fear of another bad reaction, but simply reducing your dose and taking your probiotic as directed should prevent further issues. It is important for those with a weakened immune system or serious illness to discuss probiotic use with their healthcare provider before starting a probiotic regimen.
Which Probiotic Strains Are Best For Womens Health
Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria are two species that are associated with multiple health benefits, including immune function, vaginal health, and digestion. Having said that: its not enough to look at the species.
To truly understand the function of a probiotic bacterium, you need to look at the strain level or the substrain level . Different strains perform different functions in the body, so choosing a company that invests in this level of strain-specific research, understands the significance of each strain, and then mindfully combines these strains with specific health outcomes in mind ensures the highest quality product. Unfortunately, some probiotics companies want to be flexible in which specific bacteria they procure or which vendor they use, therefore they do not disclose the substrain level. This bears the risk of being exposed to regular changes in the products formulation.
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Why You Need A Targeted Womens Probioticand How To Choose The Best Ones Out There
Advertiser Disclosure
Weve all been there urinary tract infections, candida overgrowth, vaginal itching, excessive bloating, diarrhea, weight gain, and a host of other womens issues that flare up when bad bacteria takes over.
Many of us turn to probiotics for help, but when they offer no relief, hope soon turns to desperation. You may even start thinking its your own fault poor diet, lack of exercise, or just bad genes.
Nope, not your fault. The probiotics youre taking just arent working, and heres why…
Probiotics For Women 25 Billion Cfu 12 Strains Shelf Stable Gluten Dairy & Soy Free 30 Capsules Ultimate Flora Women’s Care
as of December 12, 2021 10:14 pm
Features
- With 25 billion cultures and 12 scientifically studied probiotic strains
- HIGH-QUALITY GUARANTEE: Guaranteeing quality, purity and potency through expiration. Made in the USA using only the highest quality global ingredients
- DIGESTIVE HEALTH: With a blend of 12 specially selected strains to reflect the natural diversity of your gut, this womens probiotic helps restore digestive harmony and is gluten free, dairy free and soy free
- IMMUNE AND VAGINAL PROBIOTIC: Did you know your gut is home to 70% of your immune system. Womens Care probiotic for women supports both digestive and immune health, plus the potent Lactobacillus formula helps support vaginal health
- SHELF STABLE PROBIOTIC: For this probiotic supplement for women, refrigeration is recommended, but not required, so stick it in the fridge only if you want to
Also Check: How To Use Probiotics To Lose Weight
A Special Look Into Womens Issues
Not only do we have to bare and mostly raise the children, women are often the centerpiece of every family, which means a lot of responsibility and running around. Many women dont pay attention to their own needs as much as they do the needs of their partners, work or family.
Women are often powerhouses of the work force and of the home. Women statistically tend to sleep less and eat worse on the whole They can be overweight or underweight, simply because they dont have time, on the whole to really focus on what they are taking into their body. Immune systems and stomachs are affected by their busy lifestyles.
Women also tend to hold their tension in their gut, and so the digestion is negatively affected just by living the way that we do. And who has time to take for oneself anyway? Not with that big project due or the science project that you need to help your child with for the science fair. But in order to keep all of the pieces together, we need to take care of ourselves as well.
Probiotics can help with that. But how?
Best Probiotics For Women: Floratrex
FloraTrex is our preferred choice for probiotics supplement for women and it has been a part of many of our natural protocols for womens health, especially to promote healthy digestion, immune system function and to restore gut flora balance in cases of yeast infection, candida, antibiotics use and other cases of compromised gut flora. With 50 billion CFUs of the 23 most studied key probiotic strains, optimized with organic inulin prebiotic, FloraTrex is one of the best probiotics for women we have tested, shown to be both effective and safe with no adverse side effects reported.
The biggest advantage we see in FloraTrex is its complete probiotic strains profile as well as the purity the probiotic strains used. FloraTrex uses exclusivity vegan probiotic strains with no dairy, soy, wheat, gluten or other allergens. As we mentioned, this is where many probiotic supplements fail, and one of the reasons of the digestive issues such as gas and bloating people experience when using dairy based probiotics.
FloraTrex combines the Lactobacillus with the Bifidobacterium strains which were shown in many studies to be very beneficial and it is considered a common best practice.
For a complete list of all the probiotic strains that are included in FloraTrex: FloraTrex Ingredients.
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Improve And Balance Mood
If you experience depression or anxiety, youre not alone. Women are twice as likely to be depressed than men, and twice as likely to have anxiety disorders as men. The good news is, if you are depressed, probiotic supplements may help support your mood.
- Two meta-analyses found that probiotics improved depression, with no negative side effects. [13
- Though the data about anxiety are not as strong, there is some evidence that probiotics can improve anxiety.
If you experience depression and anxiety, it may be worth trying probiotics to improve your mood.
Which Is The Best Probiotic Supplement For Women
Research shows that different probiotic strains do different things, which means they are not one-size-fits-all. Therefore, the best supplement for you depends on your individual needs. Many probiotics are beneficial for both women and men, but several strains are particularly beneficial in supporting womens health. Whether you are looking to support your gut health or intimate health, this article will pinpoint the best probiotics for you. Learn more by reading What are probiotics?.
In this article, we look at:
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Top 5 Probiotic Supplements Of 2021
We’ve compiled a list of what we’ve found to be the top five products in this category on the market today.
- Contains 51 billion live cultures in each capsule
- 11 diverse strains
- NutraFlora Prebiotic Fiber is included
- Only one capsule per day is needed
- Has no synthetic fillers or binders
- Each substrain is listed and has been clinically studied.
Wholesome Wellness Raw Probiotics
For women who have never had probiotics, the Raw Probiotics line from Wholesome Wellness is an excellent option to start with. The company guarantees that it has at least 100 billion cultures and 34 strands per serving.
Whats also remarkable is that the probiotics are organic. They have no trace of soy, gluten, binders, milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, shellfish, additives, or preservatives. They are even capable of maintaining lengthy shelf life, too.
If youre looking for digestive support, this is the one for you. It contains plenty of probiotics and enzymes that can tackle a spectrum of bowel and digestive issues.
Also Check: Over The Counter Probiotic Pills
How We Chose The Probiotics On This List
There are so many probiotics on the market today, that it can be hard to figure out which one will work best for you. When choosing the top probiotics for women, the following factors were considered:
- Number of colony-forming units : A probiotic with at least 1 billion CFUs containing some of the most common probiotic strains as listed above.
- The active cultures used: A diverse mix of common strains like Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Saccharomyces boulardii.
- Evidence-based products: Strains that have been studied for effectiveness and safety.
- Clear information on label: Clear labelling of the number of CFUs, types of strains, and expiration and use by dates.
- Other ingredients: Products that are free of common allergens such as gluten and are free from harmful compounds like certain additives.
Read below to learn about the top 9 best probiotics for women that you can buy today.
What To Look For
When shopping for a probiotic, be sure to choose a probiotic that contains:
- 1 billion or more CFUs
- A diverse array of probiotic strains that include common strains like Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium, and Saccharomyces boulardii, to name a few.
- Links to research on their site that can verify effectiveness of the strains used in the probiotic product.
- Clearly stated expiration and use-by dates on the label.
- No ingredients that you may be allergic to.
Read Also: Women’s Probiotic For Bv
Best Overall For Women: Garden Of Life Once Daily Womens Probiotic
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If youre looking for a probiotic that may address various needs, including immune functioning, vaginal health, and digestive support, I recommend trying Garden of Life Once Daily Womens Probiotic.
The product contains a whooping 50 billion CFUs and includes 16 diverse strains of helpful probiotics, including Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria.
These specific strains have immune-boosting properties, help balance your vaginal bacteria, and support your digestive health.
Additionally, the product is reasonably priced at $27.94 for a 1-month supply.
The Bottom Line: Garden of Life Once Daily Womens Probiotic is chock full of diverse probiotic strains that may help address various health concerns at a reasonable price.
The Best Probiotic For Women
The best probiotic for women is one that meets the following criteria:
- Has multiple species and strains
- Contains both bifidobacteria and lactobacilli species
- Contains high enough dosages to get optimal results
- Contains variability in strains to promote weight loss, hormone balance, and mood balance
With that in mind, it doesn’t mean that there is one single best probiotic out on the market that EVERY woman should be on.
Instead, it means that you will want to find a probiotic that fits this criterion and monitor for changes over time.
In addition, I have also put together several tips for using probiotics :
- Use probiotics concurrently if you are ALSO taking probiotics .
- Use probiotics daily as a preventative measure to reduce the incidence of both urinary tract infections and vaginal yeast overgrowth.
- Use probiotics during pregnancy to prevent bacterial vaginosis. Bacterial vaginosis is known to increase infant mortality and increase the risk of preterm labor .
- Use probiotics daily to treat intestinal issues including conditions like IBS, IBD, acid reflux, SIBO/SIFO, constipation or diarrhea.
- Use daily to help with weight loss.
- Use daily if treating autoimmune conditions or attempting to boost immune function.
- Use multispecies, multi-strain probiotics to increase intestinal health and colonization of healthy bacterial species.
Finally, I’ve included my recommendation for which probiotic to start with – you can read more below:
The Best Probiotic for Women:
How to Use
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Probiotics For Overall Health
When purchasing any probiotic for overall health, a person should be aware that there is little research into the health benefits of probiotics and may find it difficult to determine their effectiveness.
While it is common for some people to take probiotic supplements to promote their overall health, and suggested by many healthcare providers for various conditions, it is important to understand that not all probiotics are effective or safe for everyone . It is much more important for an individual to support their overall health by focusing on diet and lifestyle as a whole rather than on taking one specific supplement.
The health benefits of probiotics are strain-specific, and probiotics for overall health often contain a lot of live microorganisms rather than single strains. This makes it difficult for a person to determine whether research supports the health benefits that the manufacturers claim.
Three probiotic options for overall health include:
Best for a raw probiotic
| Bacteria strains |
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Persona claims that this vegetarian probiotic can support healthy digestion, immune health, and emotional well-being.
Each capsule contains 10 billion CFU of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG.
The company recommends people take the probiotic differently depending on the time of day:
- in the morning, take with or after breakfast
- in the evening, take with a snack or dinner
- at night, take an hour before going to bed
