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  • Probiotics can be obtained from both foods and commercial supplements. Foods such as yoghurt and cultured milk products, and fermented drinks such as kombucha and kefir are a good choice given synergistic effects between food compounds and probiotic cultures. Supplements may be purchased in shell-stable (dried) format for easy use at home or when travelling, or as products that need to be refrigerated.
  • Most studies report effective dosages of 109-1010 organisms per day (i.e. – 1-50 billion bacteria). This concentration corresponds to about one litre of acidophilus milk (formulated at 2 x 106 colony forming units/millilitre (cfu/ml). Some commercial preparations available in 2020 have up to 25 – 50 billion bacteria per dosage. Studies and clinical experience at the AIS have shown that most athletes will safely tolerate dosages of up to 35 – 50 billion in the commercial preparations that are currently available. Lower levels may benefit some individuals. Daily consumption is recommended as probiotics will pass through the intestine.
  • The shelf-life of most probiotic products is about 3 – 6 weeks when kept at 4oC. The shelf-life of dried supplements is about 12 months, but levels of probiotics may drop significantly over this time.7 The concentration of bacteria in food products varies substantially and some research indicates that commercially available products contain no live bacteria.

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