25% of Canadians mistakenly drink red wine instead of probiotics
Staff Writer |
Many Canadians are aware that probiotics are an important part of a healthy lifestyle, but a survey by Progressive Nutritional reveals that consumers are confused about where probiotics come from.
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When surveyed, in addition to probiotic yogurt, Canadians correctly identified miso, pickles and raw cheeses as sources of good bacteria.
However, many surprisingly identified non – probiotic foods such as red wine (25.5%), beef (31.9%) and kale (21.7%). In total, 79% of respondents believe that they are getting probiotics from foods that simply do not contain them.
Showing overall uncertainty, 56.2% of Canadians surveyed said that they simply 'don't know' if the probiotics in yogurt are working.
Only 7.4% of Canadians reported they are 'extremely confident' that their probiotic yogurt is working. Only a slightly higher 8.6% said that they are 'very confident' it is working.
15.0% are 'somewhat confident'. 12.8% are 'not confident at all'. Men are nearly twice as confident that probiotics are working 'extremely well' 62.7% vs. 37.3% (women).
Asked what conditions Canadians use probiotic yogurts to treat, respondents were provided with options of issues known to have probiotics relief (in proper strengths) such as intestinal health, immunity, and gas/bloating.
In addition, they were provided with issues not shown to be effectively treated with probiotic yogurts. A total of 36.8% of Canadians said that they take Yogurt probiotics for conditions not improved by probiotics such as better sleep (10.2%), treating infections (7.3%) and 'healthy hair' (19.3%)
There are many different species of probiotics, each offering different benefits when consumed at the potency required. In natural health products, potencies can run from 100,000 to 100 billion CFUs.
The survey also showed that Canadians may be uncertain of how to choose the probiotic best suited for their needs, with 24% simply selecting the probiotic product containing the highest amount of the good bacteria.
"There is a common misconception that the potency of probiotics in yogurts or supplements is the only factor to effectiveness," said Lisa Petty, author and nutritionist at Progressive Nutritional.
"In reality there are two factors that make a good probiotic – the right species, at the optimal potency. You need a wide range of species, because different types of these healthy bugs live in different parts of the body and provide different kinds of health benefits." ■
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