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​Probiotics are living bacteria. They partner with the "good" bacteria, found in our digestive tract, to fight off bad bacteria. Poor food choices, emotional stress, lack of sleep, antibiotic overuse, other drugs, and environmental influences can all shift the balance in favor of the bad bacteria. Probiotics functions much like an equalizer to help maintain the correct balance of good to bad bacteria. Essentially, probiotics help to keep our gut healthy. When the digestive tract is healthy, it filters out and eliminates things that can damage it, such as harmful bacteria, toxins, chemicals, and other waste products.

The American Gastroenterological  Association lists the following uses for Probiotics - the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, infectious diarrhea, travelers' diarrhea  and antibiotic related diarrhea. Other potential uses for probiotics include maintaining a healthy mouth, preventing and treating certain skin conditions like eczema, promoting health in the urinary tract and vagina, and preventing allergies (especially in children). There is not as much research about these uses as there is about the benefits of probiotics for your digestive system, and studies have had mixed results. Side effects are rare and may disappear once your body adjusts.

How Long Should You Take a Probiotic? "If your doctor has prescribed a probiotic for you, follow his/her instructions. Otherwise, the benefits of probiotics are temporary and will disappear within a few weeks if you stop taking them, as they do not continue to grow in your intestine. So you will need to take them as long as you feel you need their benefits. Store your probiotic according to package instructions and make sure the product has a sell-by or expiration date. Probiotics are living organisms. Even if they are dried and dormant, like in a powder or capsule, they must be stored properly or they will die..."

Question: How do I choose the best probiotic supplement?

ConsumerLab answers, there are so many different strains of bacteria! Since the effects of individual bacteria strains vary, the first thing to consider when choosing a probiotic supplement is the reason you are taking it. Certain strains, for example, may help with weight loss, lower cholesterol or reduce allergy symptoms, while others have been shown to help with digestive issues, such as diarrhea from antibiotics and irritable bowel syndrome.

The FDA regulates probiotics like foods, not like medications.

Once you have identified the right strain or strains, it's important to find a product that provides a dose that's been shown to be effective and that contains its labeled dose (ConsumerLab.com tests have found some probiotic supplements to contain less than half the amount of organisms claimed on the label!) According to Dr. Shekhar Challa, author of Probiotics for Dummies, "The vigor of a probiotic in part depends on the quantity of colony-forming units (CFUs) present. "You should be getting 3-5 billion CFUs a day."

Unlike drug companies, makers of probiotic supplements don't have to show their products are safe or that they work. Ask your doctor for more information about the correct product and dose for you.