Gut Health: Microbiotics and Digestive Enzymes Explained
Most people picture the stomach when they think about the gut. In fact the digestive tract runs the whole length of the body, from mouth to anus, and the most densely populated bacterial communities sit well past the stomach, in the intestines.
Two different things, often confused
Microbiotics and digestive enzymes get shelved together and talked about interchangeably. They are not the same, and knowing the difference is the single most useful thing on this page.
| Microbiotics | Digestive enzymes | |
|---|---|---|
| What they are | Live bacteria | Proteins that act on food |
| Alive? | Yes — declared as cell counts | No — declared as activity units |
| Measured in | Billions of cells | FCC activity units |
| Refrigerated? | Yes | No — shelf-stable |
| Taken | Daily | With meals |
They contain nothing in common. Taking one does not substitute for the other, and there is no overlap between them if you take both.
What we can and cannot tell you
There are no authorised health claims for live bacteria in the UK. None — for any strain, at any cell count, from any manufacturer. The same is true of digestive enzymes.
So this page describes what is in these products rather than what they will do for you. That is not evasion; it is the only thing anyone selling live bacteria or enzymes in the UK can honestly say. What we can give you instead is the full specification, which is more than most disclose.
It is also why Udo's Choice calls its live-strain formulas microbiotics.
Microbiotics: the numbers that matter
Read the expiry figure, not the manufacture figure. Live cultures decline over the life of a product, so two counts can be quoted: the count on the day it was made, and the count still guaranteed on the last day of shelf life. The second is lower and far more useful. Udo's Choice publishes both.
| Formula | Guaranteed at expiry | Bifidobacterium | For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Super 8 Gold | 61 billion | 80% | Adults & children 4+ |
| Super 8 Immune | 31 billion | 9% | Adults |
| Adult 50+ | 20 billion | 30% | Adults 50+ |
| Adult's Blend | 10 billion | 10% | Adults 15+ |
| Children's Blend | 3 billion | 10% | Ages 5–15 |
| Babies & Toddler's | 1.7 billion | 25% | Up to age 5 |
| Super 5's | 1 billion | 15% | Adults & children |
Two things that table makes visible. The two Super 8s are near mirror images rather than two strengths of the same product — Gold is 80% Bifidobacterium, Immune is 91% Lactobacillus. And the Bifidobacterium proportion rises with age, from 10% in the Adult's Blend to 30% in the 50+, which is the actual formulation logic behind the range.
Two formulas contain a strain found nowhere else: the infant powder has Bifidobacterium infantis, characteristic of the young gut, and the Children's Blend has Lactobacillus fermentum.
Digestive enzymes: milligrams versus activity
This is where most enzyme labels fall short.
Milligrams tell you weight. FCC units tell you activity. Two capsules can hold the same milligrams of protease and differ several-fold in measured activity, because activity depends on potency rather than mass. A label giving only milligrams is telling you how much powder is in the capsule, not what it does.
FCC stands for Food Chemicals Codex — the standardised assay methods for enzyme activity, with a different unit for each class. Udo's Choice publishes all of them.
The two formulas are weighted differently rather than one simply being stronger. Gold carries ten times the lipase and bromelain and three distinct proteases; the standard Blend carries more cellulase and costs less.
Four ways to look after your gut through food
1. Eat a wide variety of vegetables, nuts and seeds
Plant foods supply fibre. Variety matters as much as volume — rotating through different vegetables gives a wider range of nutrients than eating the same few well. Carrots, broccoli, pumpkin, squash, cauliflower, cabbage, aubergine, radishes, peppers, apples, pears, berries, basil, parsley, dill, lettuce, brazil nuts, almonds, walnuts, cashews, sunflower seeds, flaxseeds and sesame seeds are a reasonable starting point. A market and whatever is in season will take you further than a list.
2. Include prebiotic foods
Prebiotics are fibres that are not digested in the small intestine and reach the colon intact, where the resident bacteria ferment them. Garlic, leeks, red and white onion, bananas, oats, asparagus, chicory, Jerusalem artichokes and blackstrap molasses are among the richest sources.
3. Include fermented foods
Kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, yoghurt and kefir are all made by fermentation and contain live cultures as a result. Beyond Greens uses a fermented grass blend — oat, barley, wheat and alfalfa grass fermented with Lactobacillus plantarum and Saccharomyces boulardii before drying.
4. Consider a supplement
Diet, illness, antibiotics and travel all disturb the composition of the gut microbiome. If you are considering a microbiotic, the comparison table above is the place to start — and the specification, not the marketing, is what distinguishes one from another.
A note on FOS
Many microbiotics add fructooligosaccharides as a prebiotic. FOS is a fermentable carbohydrate and one of the compounds restricted on a low-FODMAP diet, which some people find uncomfortable.
No Udo's Choice microbiotic contains added FOS. Most labels do not state their position either way, so it is worth checking if it matters to you.
Food supplements should not be used as a substitute for a varied, balanced diet or a healthy lifestyle.