The FDA does not regulate these. These are supplements. And therefore, you will not see statements about whether they work. So it's really buyer beware. At the moment, we are early in the marketing of these products, and I expect within the next year or two, there's going to be more research and more guidance about which are the good bugs and which were really helpful.
Probiotic supplements are expensive.
So, if you don't have any serious digestive problems you might try certain foods instead. Among the richest in probiotics are those made of fermented milk That includes yogurt with live bacterial cultures. Look for that on the label. Keep in mind you'd have to eat a lot of those foods to match the levels of probiotics found in supplements. Subject Archive HealthWeek is a production of Newsweek Productions Inc. in association with Maryland Public Television.