Do probiotics need to be refrigerated? Expert: Doing so will destroy the activity and bacterial count

"Ren Shuai Probiotics"! When it comes to intestinal health, probiotics play an important role and everyone is familiar with them. However, there are many myths and doubts about probiotics, such as "Good probiotics do not need to be refrigerated?" and "Will long-term consumption of probiotics lead to dependence?" An authoritative doctor on probiotics helps everyone clarify some seemingly plausible concepts, hoping that everyone can eat probiotics wisely, which can not only help "live a long intestinal life" but also open up a smooth road to mental health.

The application of probiotics is not limited to intestinal health, it has entered the new century of brain and intestine

Before we debunk the myth, let's first get to know a breakthrough new concept: in recent years, scientific evidence has shown that the application of probiotics is no longer limited to intestinal health. Dr. Cai Yingjie, an authority on probiotics, stated in his new book "Intestinal Life 3: Happy Bacteria Keep You from Depression" that the application of probiotics even goes beyond immune allergies and metabolic regulation (weight loss, diabetes, blood pressure, blood lipids, etc.), and enters the mental and psychological fields of stress, mood, depression, happiness, memory, learning, fatigue, etc., which is the "brain-gut new century."

According to an article published in the journal Nature titled "Mental Health from the Gut," the rapid progress in research on the gut-brain axis and mental probiotics in the past three years has been reflected, pointing out the future development trend: To have good mental health, one must have good intestinal health.

★Myth 1/Good probiotics do not need to be refrigerated?

Probiotics are naturally afraid of high temperatures. For example, they can be safely stored for half a year in an environment of 25 degrees, but may not last even a few days at 37 degrees. Thanks to global warming, the temperature in summer often exceeds 30 degrees. If you buy a probiotic product, no matter whether it is marked as being stored at room temperature or low temperature, please go home as soon as possible and put it in the refrigerator. Even though the temperature in winter is over 10 degrees or 20 degrees, it is best to keep it in the refrigerator.

If a product is labeled to be refrigerated, then refrigerate it. If a product is labeled to be stored at room temperature, then refrigerate it as well to ensure that you are consuming highly active probiotics with sufficient bacterial counts. There are two types of probiotic products that can indeed be stored at room temperature. One type uses spore lactic acid bacteria, and the other type is dead bacteria products.

There are many dead bacteria products on the market. The functions of dead bacteria products are usually immune regulation, or functions derived from immune enhancement such as anti-infection. Because they are dead bacteria, they are of course resistant to high temperatures and acids. Some people may also ask, should it be frozen or refrigerated?

The simple answer is that it is best to refrigerate it, and it can be frozen, but don't move it in and out. Probiotics are not afraid of freezing, but they are afraid of repeated freezing and thawing. In cells, ice crystals form and melt again, which is the most damaging to the cell structure. Refrigerated storage at 4 to 10 degrees is sufficient.

Correct Answer

Dr. Cai Yingjie concluded that no matter whether the probiotic product is labeled for storage at room temperature or low temperature, please habitually store it in the refrigerator.

★Myth 2/Will long-term consumption of probiotics cause addiction?

Have you heard of this saying? "Excessive amounts of probiotics can cause an imbalance in the intestinal flora and even cause the baby to suffer from probiotic dependence, affecting the baby's ability to form probiotics on its own, resulting in the baby being unable to defecate without taking probiotics." The information about "probiotic dependence" on the Internet is a standard Internet rumor.

Basically, if the human body uses artificially synthesized probiotic products for a long time, it will lose its ability to reproduce beneficial bacteria. Over time, the human intestine will become dependent on it, which is medically known as "probiotic dependence." Once you suffer from probiotic dependence, you will rely on and use artificially synthesized oral probiotic products to maintain a healthy state of life for the rest of your life.

Dr. Cai Yingjie said, to the best of my knowledge, there is no formal medical research to prove that long-term consumption of probiotics will cause the intestines to lose the ability to reproduce beneficial bacteria, lead to dependence, or cause addiction. Let’s put it this way: some friends usually take a lot of probiotics to help improve constipation, but once they stop taking them, constipation comes back, and they blame it on probiotic addiction.

In my opinion, this cannot be called dependence. If this friend does not actively correct his living and eating habits and wants to rely solely on probiotics to improve constipation, he is making a big mistake. This is not a problem of probiotics, but a problem of the person himself.

Correct Answer

Dr. Cai Yingjie concluded that there is no formal medical research to prove that long-term consumption of probiotics will cause the intestines to lose the ability to reproduce beneficial bacteria, leading to dependence or addiction.