Whether you’re taking a high dose or low dose probiotic, you want the healthy cells to stay alive and be potent enough to last all the way through the upper intestinal tract to reach the colon where it can colonise and maintain your gastrointestinal health.
Some tips to keep in mind to prolong the cell life of your probiotic are:
1. Follow specific directions on the bottle unless otherwise directed by your practitioner
2. Keep refrigerated if refrigeration is required or if temperatures get to high during summer – We recommend storing below 25 Degrees Celsius
3. Avoid exposure to excessive heat
4. Seal your probiotic bottle tight
5. Avoid moisture as this will activate the bacteria
6. Choose a probiotic that does not require refrigeration so that postage is possible
Know your supplier
One final word of advice is to know your supplier and investigate the path through which the probiotics have been transported and investigate under on what conditions they have been stored.
The long trip from the manufacturer through multiple changing hands along different distribution networks to the final destination at your health food supplier and then to your home can impact your probiotics if not managed correctly. This impact will most likely be affected even more so if it requires refrigeration during this process and is mishandled.
Through our experience we have learned that many probiotics do not even survive the trip to your health food store from the manufacturer if travel conditions for that particular probiotic are not considered. That is because of the hot temperatures in the back of delivery trucks that they may be exposed to if the product requires refrigeration. For those cultures within a probiotic that do survive the journey the stability of the product can be impacted even further if the supplier does not store them correctly within their own facility. If it is an online product and requires refrigeration, it will need to be shipped with ice. Always make inquiries into how your probiotics are transported and stored and whether they require refrigeration. Choosing a probiotic that does not require refrigeration will better secure the chances of maintaining the stability and viability of the culture.