The Best Probiotics for Women: What Really Works

Think of the gastrointestinal tract as the world’s busiest airport, with food like the airplanes coming in and going out, nutrients as the tickets that need to be taken from the meals you eat, and both good and bad bacteria as the masses of passengers lining every possible nook and cranny. The good bacteria help in the absorption of those nutrients, support your body’s basic functions (like waste disposal), and boost your immunity against harmful bacteria. But it can be tough to develop a healthy balance between the good and bad bacteria in the gut flora. That’s where probiotics step in, like a dedicated moving sidewalk to get the good bacteria where they need to be while keeping the bad bacteria to the side.

The Benefits of a Healthy Gut

Gut flora play a significant role in digestion. A healthy gut—one that’s lined with good microbiota—helps your body take full advantage of the nutrients in the food you eat, so your system can increase their absorption and make use of their benefits. Because what’s the point of eating Brussels sprouts if you don’t get nutritional credit for it? The good germs also help keep the bad ones in check so they don’t cause issues like diarrhea. And they may help protect against a range of serious problems, from type 2 diabetes to heart disease. On the flip side, an imbalance in the gut flora can contribute to digestive troubles, including Crohn’s disease, constipation, IBS, leaky gut, and colitis.

Why Are Probiotics Good for You?

Probiotics support your healthy gut flora so that you are better able to resist any harmful germs that may already be in your body. If your diet consists of a significant amount of processed food, however, the odds are that what you’re eating is supporting bad bacteria rather than good bacteria. Conversely, if you put foods that contain probiotics on the menu—like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and miso—you are giving the healthy gut bacteria a helping hand.

You especially want to add probiotics to your routine if you have recently been taking antibiotics, which may kill good and bad bacteria alike. After (or even during) a course of antibiotic treatment, probiotics may help replenish the good bacteria in your digestive tract. It is recommended that a probiotic be taken several hours after taking an antibiotic.

The Benefits of Probiotics for Women

Just like you are a special snowflake, so is your gut. And what’s good for your gut is different from what’s good for your boyfriend’s, girlfriend’s, mom’s, or dad’s guts. Gender, age, diet—many factors affect the community of bacteria, the microbiome, in the GI tract. According to the American Nutrition Association, the right balance of microbes in the gut is roughly 85 percent good to 15 percent bad, so the ideal probiotic for you will help you support that environment.

The best probiotics for women may help in these areas:

• General digestive health
• Replenishment of good bacteria after antibiotics
• Relief from irritable bowel syndrome
• Overall immune system well-being
• Improved vaginal health

Where Can You Find Probiotics?

In addition to food sources, probiotics are available as supplements that come in powder and capsule form. Probiotics for women vary widely in quality and potency, especially in terms of the strains and the number of bacteria they contain. In general, you should look for a product with colony-forming units (the CFU) between 10 billion and 100 billion. You also want that supplement to include several strains of probiotics in a single product, such as lactobacillus and Bacillus subtillis.

Probiotics are live bacteria, so it’s hard to know exactly how your system will react when you start taking them. Some people see a positive change in their health right away, but as with any natural supplement, it is better to consider improvements to your health and well being in terms of perhaps subtle but cumulative long-term benefits. Probiotics are generally considered safe for healthy people, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, but it is always best to consult your doctor first before making changes such as taking probiotic supplements on a regular basis.

The Best Probiotics for Women

When introducing a natural supplement into your routine, take care to ensure that you choose the best quality product. Not every probiotic offers the same quality of good bacteria. Plus, some need to be chilled so that they function properly; if they are not kept at the correct temperature, they deteriorate quickly.

BlueBiotics Ultimate Care

The BlueBiotics mix combines 61 billion CFU of 11 probiotic species—including Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium

NEW RECHARGE HEALTH™ core value Probiotic + Prebiotic

11 billion CFU of 3 scientifically studied strains plus a special natural prebiotic that supports the growth of healthy bacteria.  Formulated from non-GMO whole foods, with no chemical preservatives, artificial fillers, or flavors. This product is produced in the US and stands up to a variety of dietary needs: it is kosher, halal, vegan, and gluten-free.  From an interesting start-up, the brand is committed to quality and transparency.

Hyper Biotics: Pro-Women

5 billion CFU and with a patented delivery method, the probiotic organisms in this formula are released over an 8-10 hour period so they bypass your stomach acids and reach deep into your intestinal tract alive.

Garden of Life RAW Probiotics – Ultimate Care

100 billion CFU and 30+ probiotic strains The claim RAW means their probiotics are uncooked, untreated, unadulterated, with no binders or fillers and no carriers. 

Renew Life: Women’s Vaginal Ultimate Flora Probiotic

50 billion CFU and 10 strains designed to support vaginal health for a woman’s unique needs.

InnovixLabs Multi-Strain Probiotic

The 50 billion CFU and 31 strains in this probiotic include lactobacillus and bifidobacterium complexes along with two variations of streptococcus thermophilus.