Is Eating Yogurt As Good As Taking A Probiotic Supplement?
It’s a weird idea to purposely ingest bacteria. But the good ones (probiotics) can provide tremendous health benefits for a variety of concerns. When used correctly, they can regulate irritable bowels, reduce urinary tract infections, modulate immune activity, and calm anxiety. It feels like every time I turn around there’s a newly recognized benefit of probiotics.
These live microscopic organisms come as powders, capsules, and even gummies. And there are probiotic-rich foods too. Yogurt is usually the first to come to mind. Which is why patients frequently ask “Is eating yogurt the same as taking a probiotic?”
In short, the answer is no. Let’s dive into the why.
DOSAGE
If you can get the *right nutrients* for your specific health concern in the *correct dosage* from food, I will ALWAYS recommend the food. It's more sustainable, usually more cost-effective, and comes in nature's fantastic combo-pack with all the other nutritional benefits of that food. For general maintenance, dietary sources are often sufficient. BUT usually, the amount required to see improvement (“therapeutic dosage”) in specific conditions is difficult to obtain from food alone. And this goes for probiotics too. Typically, the research-cited benefits of probiotic-rich foods are obtained at dosages much higher than you’d find in the actual product. One review found that a collection of Canadian yogurt studies would require you to eat 2 to 25 servings per day to get the benefits they reported. Wow!
Most yogurts contain 1 billion CFU (colony-forming units) because that is the minimum amount required to use probiotic health claims on the label. Unfortunately, that's incredibly low. I never prescribe less than 11 billion CFU per day. And typically it's closer to 50 billion CFU.
VARIETY
The majority of yogurt products on the market in Canada contain only 1 or 2 strains (types) of bacteria. Your digestive system contains up to 7000 strains! The more variety the better. No probiotic supplement will come close to 7000 either, but the good ones will get you a lot closer. I try to use products with at least 8 strains. In addition to supplying variety, combining probiotic strains can actually help them stick to your intestinal walls and do their jobs better.
SUGAR CONTENT
In addition to dosage and bacterial variety, it's also important to look at what you're eating alongside those bacterial friends. Yogurt is a sneaky culprit for hidden sugars. Even though you only have to look at the label to find them. The WHO recommends eating and drinking *less than 25 grams* of sugar per day. Many flavoured yogurts contain between 9 and 17g of sugar per serving! If you're going to eat yogurt, *choose plain* and add your own honey, fruit, or maple syrup to sweeten.
DAIRY-SENSITIVITY
Many people experience digestive symptoms - gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, or acid reflux - when they eat certain foods. Sadly (if you’re an ice-cream lover), some of the most common foods to cause these symptoms are dairy products. Not everyone is dairy-sensitive or lactose-intolerant (although the likelihood increases as you age and your natural production of the lactase enzyme declines). But a lot of humans are. So obtaining probiotics (which are meant to decrease these symptoms) from a dairy source can be problematic for many.
SELECTION
I recently (pre-COVID, don’t worry) attended a conference where the speaker, a scientist who researches probiotics almost exclusively, raised the point that the probiotic strains used in making yogurt have been selected because they make good yogurt, not because they do great things for your body.
SPECIFICITY
And finally (but not unimportantly), not all probiotics are created equal. Different strains or species have different purposes. Certain strains are best for preventing or soothing respiratory infections, eczema, travellers diarrhea, or UTIs. Others support your intestinal cells to knit back together and form an effective barrier, produce vitamins (like Vitamin K, for bone health), or promote proper estrogen metabolism. It’s important you take the right ones for you.
I’ve had countless patients who had tried probiotics without any benefit in the past. Thankfully they were willing to try again, and they came back raving after trying a quality product chosen for their specific concerns. It can happen for you too. Let’s turn things around for the better.