Understanding when is the best time to take probiotics is vital for getting the most health benefits out of them as possible. Check out this slide to find out more...

1. Whats the Best Time To Take
Probiotics and With Food or on
an Empty Stomach

2. • This is a questions that seems to divide Probiotic manufacturers
• However, it shouldn’t as the scientific research is pretty clear
• Many manufacturers will suggest taking their probiotics in the
morning on an empty stomach, however stomach acids are at their
highest levels at this time after fasting throughout the night, and
reach a pH level of between 0.8 and 2

3. • The more acidic your stomach the higher the chance of killing
the probiotics
• So really we suggest rather than worrying about a specific
time of day, take the probiotics at a time when your stomach
acids are lowest
• That means taking them with food. With a meal our stomach pH
rises to between 4 and 7. Also the digestive enzymes released
mean the stomach will empty more quickly, so the probiotics
spend less time in the stomach

4. • A study in 2011 showed that probiotics taken within 30 minutes
of a meal survived in significantly higher numbers than
probiotics taken more than 30 minutes from a meal
• They also found that meals with some fat in them were more
effective at helping probiotics to survive than those without fat

6. Enteric Coated and Delayed Release Capsules
• All reputable companies should be using these. They are designed to
allow the probiotics to survive stomach acids, however they are not
perfect
• What is more important is to look for companies who use patented
strains that are specifically selected for their ability to survive
stomach acid and bile

7. • You can do this by checking for a number after the listed strain
on a probiotic bottle
• For example at intelligent Labs for the strain Lactobacillus
Acidophilus, we use the patented strain La-14.
• Most companies do not use patented strains and instead use
cheap generic strains with unknown health and survivability
characteristics

8. • An easy way to understand this difference is by picturing a
probiotic strain such as Lactobacillus Acidophilus as a dog. A
dog can come in many different shapes and sizes, for example a
Yorkshire Terrier is very different to a Great Dane
• So only pick probiotic companies that will tell you the exact sub-strain
they are using, otherwise they are trying to hide something

9. Conclusion
• We recommend taking your probiotics with food to create the best
situation possible for the success of your probiotics.
• However, if you are using Intelligent Labs probiotics, and it’s more
convenient for you to take them without food, they will still work just fine.
This is because we use delayed release capsules and sub-strains
specifically selected to survive stomach acid and bile

10. • For more information please see the original article on our blog,
or you can see more details of our Intelligent Labs Probiotic here