Can foods with probiotics work?
One Which? member, Patricia Thornhill told us: ‘I drink Actimel every morning but haven’t really felt an awful lot of difference in my digestion’. Even experts disagree on how effective food with probiotics are. Catherine Collins says: ‘We already have a phenomenal number of bacteria in our colon that do a great job. If you’re not suffering from constipation, diarrhoea, bloating or other digestive problems, there’s no benefit in taking probiotics.’ However, Professor Gibson says that probiotics can aid general health: ‘Probiotics do have a preventative effect by strengthening the balance of bacteria to protect against digestive problems and boost immune function.’ To have any benefit, the probiotic must contain a sufficient number of the right bacteria. Certain bacteria types are destroyed by gastric acid and even those that aren’t – Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus – need to number at least 10 million per dose. But of the leading brands we looked at, only Yakult labels how many bacte
