Wondering what strains of live and active cultured probiotics are used in your favorite yogurt? What types of probiotics are found in that capsule, pill, or dietary supplement that you just bought from the supermarket? If you don’t have even the foggiest idea what probiotics are beneficial to your health and what strains to look for when shopping for dairy and fermented products as well as probiotic-based supplements, then read this article as it takes a look at it.

In the United States alone, there are myriads of probiotic products that consumed by millions of Americans daily. Considering that people’s spending on probiotic products have tripled since 1994, probiotic products, that are either food or dietary supplements, have expanded. Back then, yogurt and kefir were the most popular products that have been associated with the delivery of beneficial cultures of probiotics. However, nowadays, this has expanded t granola, candy bars, frozen yogurt, cereal, juice, cookies, and that’s just to name a few. Let’s take a look at some of the most common strains of probiotics used in foods and supplements that you’ll find in the shelves of different supermarkets around the country.

Looking at food products, the probiotic strains that are most commonly used are the species of Lactobacillus or Bifidobacterium as well as Streptococcus thermophilus. In the United States, yogurt products are required to be produced by fermenting the Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus. However, there are brands that use heat treatment (during the post fermentation period). Unfortunately, this process kills all of the live cultures in the yogurt. With that in mind, you should distinguish and determine whether the yogurt product that you’re eyeing contains love cultures. What to do? Very simple – look at the label. If it states that it contains live and active cultures of probiotics, then go grab it. You can be sure that it contains live and active cultures of probiotics.

The dietary supplement market for probiotic cultures seems to have a more diverse audience and more active than the market for probiotics for dairy and fermented food products. After all, there are different dietary and probiotic food supplements take advantage of different strains of live and active probiotics. What strains do they use? Well, the more common Lactobacilli bifidobacteria is included in the list. However, along with that strain, this market also uses less commonly know strains like the Enterococcus, Bacillus, as well as the Escherichia coli and yeast.

These strains of live and cultured probiotics are properly prepared and stored so that they remain potent and viable even in dried form…and that they can reach the intestine alive when they are consumed. Aside from that, these dietary supplement based on probiotics are produced in different formats – some come in capsules, others in liquids, tablets, as well as food-like formats.