# whats the difference in probiotics.



## cherrypie09 (Jan 20, 2009)

What is the difference between infantis 35624 (Align) and 229V and VSL3. I have heard not very good reports of VSL3 and it is very expensive, what one works best for ibs-d, i know it depends on person to person, but one must have a better success rate. Just wondered what the differences are in strength and content and effectivness, before i buy.


----------



## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

"Probiotic" is a type of bacteria, and sometimes yeast.There are lots of different species. They all break down carbohydrates in a way that doesn't release gas.Different brands have different species or different combinations of species.I've heard both good stories and bad stories with every single brand. VSL#3 has sometimes worked for people when no other probiotic did so it certainly isn't all negative. It is a much higher dose of bacterial (450 billion instead of 1-30 billion like a lot of other products, some that are just as expensive per dose) species and that is IMO part of the higher cost.Price will not predict if it works for you. Not much will predict which brand/species will work for you.Usually I recommend staying with brands where there are some good stories about here because some companies are not able to deliver viable bacteria of the species on the label.The other difference tend to be if they add a "prebiotic" like FOS or inulin to the pills. This, in theory, helps to feed the probiotic bacteria but will feed all bacteria and may be why some people have a lot of gas when they start and the probiotic bacteria haven't had a chance to get going, yet.There are very few studies that have more than one preparation compared head to head so there really isn't any data to say Brand A is better for Symptom Y.


----------

