Have you ever wondered if there is a perfect time to take probiotics to reap optimal benefits for gut health? It turns out, to get the highest benefit from your probiotic, whether it is for your gut health or your mood, it is essential to take them at the right time.
According to Sarah Greenfield, RD, education director at HUM Nutrition and Greenfield, RD, education director at HUM Nutrition:
“Probiotics are bacteria that live in your body and provide a variety of health benefits. They play a role in mood, digestive health, and they [help] make certain vitamins,” such as synthesizing vitamin B12.
…probiotics are “beneficial bacteria that help your gut digest food, breakdown nutrients, and level out harmful bacteria.”1
The encapsulation of the bacteria in the capsule needs to reach your stomach to do its job. This means the capsule needs to survive passing through your gut acids first, for it to then settle in your GI tract. If the capsule fails to make it through your stomach acids intact, it may lose its effectiveness, making it pointless to take.
Lisa Richards, nutritionist and creator of The Candida diet, says:
“Research shows that the best time to take probiotics is just before a meal or as you begin your meal. This is the time when your stomach environment is at its least acidic, because your body has not yet begun to produce stomach acid in large quantities to digest your food. Taking your probiotics at this time will make their passage to your gut a little easier, and ensure you get the most from those beneficial bacteria.”1
But, it also depends on the type of probiotic you take (you can find this information on the package), as Greenfield explains:
“If your probiotic is enteric-coated or uses delayed-release capsules, it is more likely to survive stomach acid and so the exact timing is less important,” she says. If you’re taking a live strain probiotic supplement, “ideally you want to take them 20 minutes after you eat, first thing in the morning or right before bedtime. This allows more of the probiotics to get into the large intestines where they will have the most benefits. If you are taking a soil-based probiotic, you can take them with food for most impact.”1
To get the most benefit from your probiotic, and not overwhelm your gut, you can even split up the dosage, as explained by Dr. Sonpal and Richards:
“If you’re splitting up your dose, it might make sense to take one half in the morning and one half in the evening to maximize the beneficial effect on your gut flora. It will help you assess your system’s reaction to the probiotic in increments instead of all at once. It also gives your system the opportunity to adjust to the effect of probiotics at smaller doses.”1
There you have it – the time of day doesn’t matter when taking probiotics. The most important thing to remember is to take them with a meal to achieve excellent gut health.
