What is a High CFU in Probiotics?
Making sure you have a healthy balance of bacteria in your gut is an important part of staying healthy. This is because most of your immune system is located in your gut. This is the reason probiotics have become a popular supplement.
Probiotics are basically healthy bacteria that are designed to help you keep your gut microflora balanced. Taking probiotics is supposed to help with your digestion, boost your immune system, and even help with various mental health conditions due to the brain-gut connection.
Probiotics come in various concentrations including 5, 20, 50 billion CFU, to everything in between. CFU is short for colony forming units. While the amount of CFU inside a probiotic supplement makes a difference, it doesn’t necessarily mean that one supplement with a higher CFU count is better than one with a lower count.
For instance, lower CFU supplements may be optimal under normal circumstances. But if you are traveling and want some help with stress and digestion, it may be better to go with a higher CFU count. Then you have to account for the quality of the probiotic supplement.
Some supplements are kept in cold conditions to keep the cultures alive while other supplements are stored in places where there are no temperature control measures. While the supplements can still be effective if within the expiry date, its effectiveness may have decreased.
Overall, probiotics can help boost your immune system, help with your digestion, and improve your general well-being. It can be especially helpful with people dealing with digestive disorders or gut issues like IBD.