Health Reference LibraryWhen is the best time to take probiotics, and should you take them with food?
This entry is part of the Nutri Tailor Health Reference Library — cited research on supplements, nutrients and adjacent areas of health.
Summary
Just before or with a meal, at a set time you will keep. A careful study in a laboratory model of the stomach found more bacteria survived when the capsule went in up to 30 minutes before a meal containing some fat than when it went in 30 minutes after, because food raises the stomach pH and buffers the acid that kills them. Breakfast or dinner both work. What the trials for bloating and bowel habit controlled was daily dosing for four to eight weeks, so judge a probiotic after a month, and never stir it into a hot drink.
Effective dose
Daily for at least four weeks before judging, because the trials for bloating and bowel habit measured change at four to eight weeks, and the bacteria do not colonise permanently; the effect stops when the dose stops.
Timing
With a meal or just before one, at the same time each day. The one careful timing study, run in a laboratory model of the stomach and upper gut, found more bacteria survived when a capsule was taken up to 30 minutes before a meal that contained some fat than when taken 30 minutes after, because food raises the stomach pH and buffers the acid that kills them. Breakfast or dinner both work; what the trials controlled was daily dosing for weeks, not the hour.
Interactions
Yes, with or just before food, and a meal with some fat is better than fruit alone. Very hot drinks kill live bacteria, so not stirred into tea.
Practical framework
From the Nutri Tailor range: [Combocillus](/products/combocillus), the Nutri Tailor multi strain probiotic capsule, all made in the UK. This is a summary of published research, not personal health advice. Talk to your GP or a registered nutritional therapist before changing what you take, especially if you are pregnant, have a diagnosed condition or are under ongoing care.
Common misconceptions
That the hour matters more than the habit: for probiotics the daily total and the weeks of use decide the result. That an empty stomach is always better: for probiotics the answer is above, and comfort keeps people taking it.
Sources
- Tompkins TA, Mainville I, Arcand Y 2011. The impact of meals on a probiotic during transit through a model of the human upper gastrointestinal tract. Beneficial Microbes 2(4):295-303. PMID: 22146689