If you have a digestive issue such as an irritable bowel condition, ask your doctor if they recommend probiotics. These supplements are widely recognized for potentially supporting overall digestive function, says Mai Nguyen, RDN, with Hoag’s Mary and Dick Allen Diabetes Center in Newport Beach, California.
One systematic review and meta-analysis from England that evaluated 82 trials, including 10,332 people with IBS, established moderate certainty that Escherichia strains may help overall symptoms. However, there were limitations in this study: There were inconsistent results across trials, and not all results from individual studies were published, so more research is needed.
Another systematic review that looked at 18 randomized, controlled trials and two observational studies, involving 2,675 adults with IBS or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), found that probiotics may help some people with IBS and IBD (particularly those with ulcerative colitis), but the results were inconsistent, so more research is needed.
More research is needed to establish both which strains work best and for which digestive conditions. Because of the limited research, current major guidelines don’t broadly recommend probiotic supplements as part of standardized treatments for most digestive conditions.
“In most cases, we don’t know specifically which of the probiotics are exuding this beneficial effect,” Peek says. “And we don’t know how much people would have to take to gain these [possible] benefits.”
2. Certain Lactobacillus Strains May Help With Oral Health
The same probiotics that benefit your gut health may affect your mouth, Peek says. Specifically, those with poor gum health or oral infections may want to ask their doctor if probiotics could help.
A systematic review and meta-analysis from Portugal analyzed 33 randomized, controlled trials, involving 1,290 people, and found that adding probiotics to professional dental cleaning significantly improved gum health, with Lactobacillus strains showing the most substantial benefit.
Another systematic review from China of 13 randomized, controlled trials, including a total of 898 participants, found that those who took probiotics were 62 percent less likely to develop the oral infection thrush versus those who didn’t. However, 75 percent of the review’s studies used multistrain combinations of probiotics, so it’s unclear which strain works best. Most of these studies also recruited healthy people, so more research is needed, as thrush primarily affects immunocompromised people.
3. Probiotics May Help With Weight Loss
You may want to talk to your doctor about probiotics if you’re looking to lose weight. One meta-analysis from China of eight randomized, controlled trials, involving 412 people with obesity, found that people who took probiotics lost more weight, had greater reductions in waist circumference, and lost more visceral fat than control groups who didn’t take probiotic supplements.
“Probiotics help maintain a healthy gut microbiome, which plays a key role in nutrient absorption and fat storage,” Nguyen says. “However, while they can be helpful as part of a comprehensive, healthy lifestyle, they should not be considered a substitute for balanced nutrition, regular exercise, and overall healthy habits.”
