Probiotic drinks: how do they work and are they good for you?
Gurgling intestines, cramps, a bloated feeling: having stomach trouble is no fun. The refrigerated aisles of the supermarket are filled with a whole range of products that are supposed to help us with this. Yakult, Activia and Vifit are the best known. But what do we actually know about how these probiotic drinks work?
What we mainly know is that such drinks take up a considerable part of your grocery budget. A pack of Vifit, for example, is already twice as expensive as a simple pack of low-fat yoghurt. But if those probiotic drinks work, they may well be worth your money. Right?
A biology lesson
A biology lesson. Millions of bacteria live in your intestines. They support our immune system and help us digest our food better. You can also have bad bacteria in your intestines. If you have too many of them or the balance between good and bad bacteria is disturbed, you will experience stomach trouble. Drinks such as Yakult and Activia cleverly play into this. They are packed with good bacteria. Yakult, for example, contains plenty of the bacterium Lactobacillus casei , while Activia contains the exclusive Bifidus ActiRegularis® bacterium. According to Yakult and Activia, it has been scientifically proven that these bacteria arrive alive in your intestines. And that is supposed to relieve your stomach ache.
Health claims for probiotic drinks
Healthy little aids, you might think. But brands are not allowed to claim that just like that. In fact, in 2014, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) rejected all health claims surrounding probiotic drinks. There are simply very few studies proving that the drinks contribute to health benefits. Brands such as Yakult and Activia are therefore no longer allowed to use the terms ‘healthy’ and ‘probiotics’ on their packaging or in advertisements. They cleverly get around this. On Yakult’s website, for example, you can see the slogan ‘Feel even better with Yakult’. This at least gives you the impression that the drink will make you feel better.
Strict
So do these drinks not do anything good at all? According to professor of Food Microbiology Marcel Zwietering – who spoke to Radar – we should not write them off completely. Proving the health benefits of your product is difficult, especially if you test it on people who are already healthy. But it is not the case that your product does not work at all if you cannot prove your health claims 100% to the authorities. The EFSA is an authority that is extremely strict anyway. And rightly so, of course, because these are claims related to people’s health. Your evidence must be very strong for the EFSA to accept that you can publish health claims about your product.
Different for each person
Robert Jan Brummer, a gastroenterologist, hepatologist and professor, also tells AD that the effects of Yakult, Activia and Vifit can vary from person to person. Bacterial strains may be genetically identical, for example, but cultivated slightly differently by the manufacturer. This affects how they work. We also all have different intestines. So how the bacteria from such a drink multiply in your body can be very different for you than for your partner.
A happy belly
Whether probiotic drinks work and which one is best for you is a matter of trying them out. Zwietering says that if you have intestinal problems or have completed a course of antibiotics – during which many good bacteria disappear from your body – it could well help to drink something rich in bacteria, such as Yakult. Preferably for several weeks, though. And the best advice still remains: generally maintain a healthy eating pattern. Wholegrain products, plenty of vegetables and fruit, and preferably as little sugar as possible. Ultimately, that is what makes your belly happiest.
Read also:
- 15 tips you need to know if you are going to cook with yoghurt
- 6 supposedly unhealthy foods that are actually perfectly fine
- What is the difference between Greek yoghurt and kwark?
Sources: AD, Quest, Radar
