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The versatility of the beneficial effect of probiotic drugs on the intestinal microflora has long been proven. By limiting the production of inflammatory cytokines, the microorganisms entering the gastrointestinal tract normalize the immunological protection of the mucous membrane. They help to eliminate inflammatory processes in the intestine, as they show antagonistic activity to bacteria that cause irritation. In addition, these beneficial microorganisms normalize the pH level, help the mucous membrane recover from infectious diseases, secrete antimicrobial substances, enzymes, and vitamins.
Nowadays, in any pharmacy, you can buy probiotics that are advertised on TV and are very popular among consumers. However, is it worth using the same drugs in all cases, for all age categories? And are they as effective as the ads claim?
What are the manufacturers of most probiotics silent about?
People tend to want an instant positive effect, and this is understood by marketers, promising in the advertisements of probiotics a complete restoration of the microflora after a week of use. It is the declared effectiveness that justifies the high cost of drugs. However, any doctor will confirm that a full recovery can be achieved in the best case after 3-4 weeks.
Often, in modern probiotics produced in enteric capsules, the coating does not have sufficient resistance to acidic environments to protect the bacteria included in the capsule when passing through the stomach. Microorganisms are released before reaching the small intestine, so their initial titer is significantly reduced.
Some probiotic products do not contain nutrients to preserve the viability of bacteria, so by the end of a short shelf life, there are almost no useful representatives of the microflora in them.
Some modern probiotics contain strains of enterococci and other bacteria that can cause inflammatory processes in a weakened body. If you give such a “medicine” to infants for a long time, they may develop lacticidemia, allergic reactions.
What should be good probiotics?
When buying a drug to restore the microflora, it is advisable to pay attention to such nuances:
- First, you need to make sure that the product meets the GMP standard, which indicates its quality and effectiveness of the drug.
- The natural origin of the genotypically classified bacteria should be noted on the package or in the attached annotation (if this requirement is met and the microorganisms are grown on the basis of healthy donor strains obtained from the gastrointestinal tract).
- There must be information about the composition of the shell. Good probiotics are available in acid-resistant capsules that prevent the stomach environment from releasing beneficial bacteria before entering the small intestine.
- Drugs can not be universal: there are varieties for all age groups, to normalize the bacterial environment in the gastrointestinal tract or oral cavity. They differ in the contained strains of microorganisms that correspond to certain tasks.
- Also, drugs of this class should differ from each other in the form of release, depending on the age category for which they are designed. For children from 4 years and adults, products in protective capsules are suitable, and infants are given a dissolved powdered drug.
- Probiotics must contain bifidobacteria and lactobacilli.
- It is also necessary to pay attention to how the product was stored before the sale. No matter how the probiotics are produced, they should only be kept in a refrigerator, otherwise the number of living organisms in the capsules decreases very quickly and the medicine can become useless long before the expiration date.
Where and what probiotic drugs should I buy?
In every pharmacy, you can find many names of probiotics, which, thanks to advertising, are well known to everyone. Also today, there are a large number of sites where you can order medicines from any region of the country. But not all of them sell really high-quality and proven probiotics, and even more so they are not always stored in refrigeration units. But there are proven resources that offer customers the highest quality products. For example, on the website of the company Flora M&D, everyone can buy probiotics of Canadian origin, which are popular in the United States and many European countries.
These products meet the GMP standard and all the criteria described above. They are available in several versions: for adults, for toddlers and for children from 4 years old. Flora m&d probiotics are stored at temperatures below 2 °C, so the loss of beneficial microorganisms does not exceed 2%.