Probiotics, what do about a fatal shelf life.

Probiotics may provide a remedy for all kinds of illnesses such as allergies, cold, flu, auto-immune diseases, yeast infections, constipation, diarrhea, IBS, Colitis, Crohn’s, leaky gut, cholesterol, blood pressure, and even obesity. These are diseases and disorders that attack the immune system, but they could be stymied at the gut with the right balance of flora. Balanced flora in your gut also heightens mood, energy, sense of well-being, and helps with focus and energy.

However, according to current studies: (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0147960) the key issue that prevents you from experiencing the full benefit of probiotics is the fragility of its shelf life. This is because CFUs (colony forming units), the live ingredient in probiotics, are vulnerable to light, oxygen, moisture, and heat. So, the longer probiotics sit on the shelf, the more opportunity the live cultures (CFUs) will have to die off.

Therefore, the two things you should consider when choosing a probiotic are 1) the time it takes for it to travel from the vendor to your home and 2) packaging (whether it is conducive to extending the life of the product).

Some labels say that their probiotics can guarantee the number of CFUs at 30 to 50 billion. However, without protective technology such as vacuum sealing, this number is closer to zero CFUs by the time you ingest the probiotics. The good news is that there are some measures you can take to ensure that you are getting the maximum benefit from your probiotics.

The best kind of packaging -- that will significantly extend the livelihood and viability of CFUs -- is vacuum sealing because this technology eliminates the effects of exposure the most. In addition, be sure that they are delivered from the manufacturer directly. You don’t want them to sit on a shelf at a big box store, dying from exposure!