Any doctors have an opinion about taking lactobacillus acidophilus supplements?

Question

Do you believe that it helps to take a supplement for colon health and to prevent yeast infections? I know that you can eat yogurt and get the same effect, but I was curious if taking the pill form would help out as well? What is the opinion? I read that the studies aren't very conclusive and I was wondering what the current status was.

Answer 1

If by pill you mean capsule, sure. By capsule I mean there is a powder encased in plastic, as opposed to a caplet. It is more likely that the capsule would have live cultures. It's not conclusive, but there is the whole "Hey, it works for me" thing. Personally, I'd rather supplement my body with those kind of bacteria through yoghurt because there is more variation in the species I am getting as opposed to only acidophilus.

Answer 2

Current medical opinion is that the studies are inconclusive.  Basically, without strong proof, the implication is that it really doesn't help, or it helps so little that you would need to treat so many people in a study to prove it that it isn't practical.

My personal feeling is that there may be some benefit that hasn't been proven because studies have been small or poorly designed.  Because it is not harmful and is so cheap, I tell my patients that they can take it if they want to.

Remember that the best time to take it is outside of the conditions that are killing your body's own bacteria (Lactobacillus is one).  That is to say, if you are on antibiotics, do not take them within 3-4 hours of antibiotics, or they will die, too.  Otherwise, you could try Saccharomyces boulardii, which is not susceptible to most antibiotics.

Answer 3

It isn't a bad idea if you have antibiotic-associated diarrhea, but I can't imagine why you'd want to bother otherwise.