Best Probiotic for Men Brands to Keep Your System Running

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Choosing the best probiotics for men can prove challenging, made worse by confusing measurements and dosages. For the man who seeks to treat his body like a temple, understanding the use of probiotics is essential.

Even the concept of probiotics can prove confusing at first. What are they? What do they do?

So if you want to choose the most effective probiotic supplements for your health, you’ll need to find the most accurate information on what to look for when shopping.

Your Questions Answered

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We researched the topic thoroughly in order to deliver you the most accurate information.

What are probiotics?

The word “bacteria” is plagued with negative connotations. It conjures up images of old food and dirty kitchens. We spend a large portion of our life waging war on bacteria to keep them from entering our bodies.

For people who have never heard of probiotics, it may come as a surprise to know that there are also good kinds of bacteria. In fact, some bacteria are essential to our survival.

We deem these “good” bacteria and consider the rest to be “bad” bacteria. Good bacteria live in our gut and aid in certain bodily functions.

Probiotics are strains of bacteria that are similar to the ones already living in our gut. Therefore, we can utilize them as a supplement to what is hopefully an already healthy diet.

What are prebiotics?

Prebiotics are a type of fiber that is particularly beneficial for the good bacteria in your gut.

Like any living organism, bacteria need food. While bad bacteria tend to feed off of sugar and junk food, the good kind love fiber.

In fact, that’s the main reason fiber is so great for digestion.

What are the benefits of probiotics?

At any given moment, there is a war taking place in your body between bacteria. The good bacteria fight off the villainous ones to protect us from illness.

To that end, probiotics offer a healthy boost our immune system. They also aid in digestion, allowing for better absorption of nutrients and smoother bowel movements.

Other benefits may include improved brain, heart health, and weight loss. Many probiotics even have a positive effect on your skin.

Where do probiotics come from?

You can obtain probiotics through several kinds of food, which are mostly fermented in some way. For example, kimchi and gouda cheese both contain them.

Yogurt is by far the most common food source with probiotics. However, the amount it has is only a tiny fraction of what most people require.

By taking probiotics in pill form, we can get more concentrated doses and control the strains.

What species of probiotics are there?

Probiotics come in many strains. Each of them has relatively similar benefits, although they do vary slightly. Strains also fit into a category of species.

The two most common species of these bacteria are:

Bifidobacteria

This species of bacteria helps fight off harmful bacteria in the small intestine and supports the immune system. It also assists in breaking down nutrients, particularly lactose.

Lactobacillus

Lactobacillus produces lactase and lactic acid. In doing so, it contributes to processing lactose, absorbing minerals, fueling muscles, and controlling the population of bad bacteria.

What strains of probiotics are there?

To understand the name of each strain, note that a letter indicating the species the strain is precedes the name of the strain. For example, “B. animalis” is of the bifidobacteria species.

Here is a list of some of the most common strains of probiotics:

B. animalis

This strain aids in digestion, fights food-borne bacteria, and boosts the immune system.

B. breve

Breve prevents yeast infections, helps breakdown plant fiber, and aids in nutrient absorption.

B. longum

This strain helps break down carbohydrates and can serve as an antioxidant.

L. acidophilus

Acidophilus aids with digestion.

L. reuterie

This strain lives in the mouth as well as the intestine. It’s thought to assist digestion and help prevent tooth decay.

Are multiple strains necessary?

Many probiotic brands use 10 or more strains in their supplements. They make a big deal out of advertising this, but more variety is not necessarily better.

Imagine you take a probiotic with one billion colony forming units, or “CFU.” If it has only one strain, then you get one billion CFU of that strain. If it has four strains then you get… a quarter billion CFU of each? It’s unclear, and brands are rarely, if ever, transparent about this.

Many strains do essentially the same thing or fulfill a very specific niche role. Therefore, while variety can be good, knowing exactly which strains and how much you’re taking should take precedence.

That being said, there is a correlation between high Amazon ratings and probiotics containing 10 or more strains.

Do I need probiotics?

If you have an illness or condition that seriously affects your immune system, speak to your doctor before trying probiotics.

Otherwise, probiotics are a good choice for nearly anyone. Just keep in mind that they’re a supplement and not a one-stop solution to your problems. Smart diet choices and exercise are the best tried and true way of staying healthy.

What dose of probiotics should I take?

Healthy adults should take somewhere between 1 and 10 billion CFU daily. Everyone is different, so some people may require significantly more.

Most of the best probiotics for men come in much higher doses, which is OK.

However, too many probiotics can lead to bloating and digestion issues, so pay attention to how your body reacts to them and cut back if needed.

When do I take probiotics?

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It’s not necessary for you to take most probiotics with food or at a specific time of the day. However, pay attention to the instruction on the label, because that may not always be true.

In any case, it’s a good idea to be consistent from day to day, so we suggest picking a time and sticking to it.

How We Determined the Best Probiotics for Men

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We reccommend these products as the best probiotics for men based in part on what customers say about them. Our research into which strains are used, as well as price and dosage, also influence this list of effective brands and formulas.

Since people may have varying goals when taking probiotics, the ultimate deciding factor should be how well a brand suits your particular needs.

The 8 Best Probiotics for Men

Please note that some of the benefits we list are more of a theory than actual fact. Because everyone’s gut ecosystems are different, it’s difficult to say for sure how probiotics will affect you. The best way to know is to experiment — after speaking to your doctor, of course.

Without further ado, here are the eight best probiotics for men!

1. Vitamin Bounty

Vitamin Bounty is clearly one of the best probiotics for men.

This brand has 13 different strains in one capsule, as well as prebiotics for feeding them and helping them flourish. While we can’t speak to the exact proportions of each strain, together they provide a wide array of benefits.

Vitamin Bounty should definitely aid with digestion, including nutrient absorption and preventing diarrhea and irritable bowel syndrome.

It may help fight infections and increase tolerance to lactose and food allergies. Although, if you have allergies to certain foods, you should definitely still avoid them!

Other benefits include treatment of skin conditions like eczema and the promotion of weight loss.

One customer with fibromyalgia reported feeling completely cured by Vitamin Bounty. So, if you are experiencing symptoms of joint and muscle pain, fatigue, and brain fog, then this product may drastically help you.

The dosage is 50 billion CFU for 2 capsules, which is relatively high and may cause side effects for a small percentage of people. However, you can just take one capsule for a lower dosage and make the bottle last longer.

2. BioSchwartz

The primary purpose of this probiotic is to support immune health and fight off bad bacteria in the intestines. As with all probiotics, it’s also great for digestion and will likely help your body absorb nutrients more efficiently.

BioSchwarts uses only 4 strains instead of 13, so its list of benefits isn’t quite as long. However, assuming all strains in both brands are equally proportioned, you get over twice as much of each strain in BioSchwartz.

BioSchwarts claims that brands that use more than 4 strains are still 95 percent made of only 4 strains.

Additionally, BioSchwartz is about 38 percent cheaper per capsule for the one-time purchase prices. If you buy once a month, that will save you hundreds of dollars per year.

We will say that the positive comments on this product are less varied than Vitamin Bounty and primarily relate to digestion.

3. Zenwise

Zenwise is another popular brand that is considerably cheaper than Vitamin Bounty and appears to assist mainly with digestion-related issues. These include diarrhea, irritable bowel, bloating, gas, and so forth. It also helps with nutrient absorption, so it’s great for energy levels and general health.

Now, Zenwise measures its dosage in weight, so we have to do a little math. According to the label, there are 233 milligrams with one billion CFU per gram. You should know that 233 milligrams are equal to 0.233 grams. So, we can deduce that there are 0.233 billion CFU per tablet.

That’s not a lot! However, this brand appears to have considerably more food for our bacteria friends than other brands. Therefore it stands to reason that Zenwise is going for quality over quantity.

Still, you’d have to swallow a handful of these tablets to achieve the same dosage.

That being said, these are probably the best probiotics for men who know they’re sensitive to higher dosages.

4. Physicians Choice

With 60 billion CFU, this is a highly potent dosage compacted into a single pill. So, although the price per pill is higher than Vitamin Bounty, the price per CFU is cheaper.

The downside to this is that you can’t simply take fewer pills if you want a lower dosage. So, avoid these if you’re sensitive to large amounts of probiotics.

Physicians Choice will help immensely with digestion related issues, including irritable bowel and diarrhea. Of course, it assists with nutrient absorption as well. They also recommend it for treating leaky gut, which is a condition where food from your small intestine leaks into your bloodstream and causes chronic fatigue, among other things.

Many of the benefits of Vitamin Bounty are present here too, including increased tolerance to infections, food allergies, and lactose.

These are probably the best probiotics for men who are confident about taking high dosages.

5. New Rhythm

It uses 20 strains in its formula and contains 50 billion CFU across 2 capsules.

This is the first evidence we’ve seen that more strains don’t necessarily make a better rating. Remember that just because a product has more, doesn’t necessarily mean it carries equal amounts of each.

However, some customers claim many of the negative reviews are staged by competitors. We actually saw some of the exact same reviews on other products, so we know there is some truth to this.

In any case, this brand appears to have everything the other brands have, and for a cheaper price. Because the serving size is two capsules, you could opt to take only one per day and make the bottle last twice as long.

For those who don’t mind taking a risk, these could turn out to be the best probiotics for men.

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Captain Biotics Probiotics are the cheapest brand we’ve seen yet.

With 19 strains and 50 billion CFU, it should contain all the digestive and immune system benefits you need plus a few bonus ones. As always, be wary about taking such a high dosage. Fortunately, you can take 1 capsule for only 25 billion CFU if you wish.

Some characteristics of strains in Captain Probiotics include improved cognitive function and improved liver and bone health.

7. Garden of Life

Garden of Life is a probiotic specifically targeted for men, primarily for colon support. It contains multiple colon-specific strains.

This product is a 50 billion CFU dosage in one pill, so only try it if you think you can handle a high dose of probiotics.

There’s not much to say about this one that hasn’t been said before. It provides all the same benefits of other multi-strain probiotics.

However, it is rather pricy, so we only reccommend it if you have issues with your colon and other brands are not working for you.

8. Nature’s Nutrition

For Nature’s Nutrition, the serving size is 2 pills with 40 billion CFU, so feel free to only take 1 if you don’t require that many.

This is one of the more basic ones, with only four strains. It offers all the digestion benefits and most of the immune system enhancements at a very affordable price point.

These are possibly the best probiotics for men seeking something simple, cheap, and effective.

Time to Choose

Now that you’ve had a look at many of the forms probiotic capsules come in, you should have a better understanding of which is right for you.

Do you prefer the simplicity and refinement of fewer strains or the exciting possibilities of those with 10 or more? Which of these do you think are the best probiotics for men? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!

Last update on 2023-04-27 at 02:51 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API