Don't chase high CFU counts — strain matters more

Ignore marketing that emphasizes "50 billion CFU" or "100 billion CFU" as proof of superiority. Most clinical studies use 1-20 billion CFU. Choose products based on evidence for specific strains, not raw CFU numbers.

Why It Works

Research shows that 1 billion CFU of the right strain can be more effective than 50 billion CFU of less specific bacteria. Companies inflate CFU counts because it is cheap to increase them and makes for easy marketing. The break point for effectiveness in reducing antibiotic-associated diarrhea is approximately 10 billion CFU/day — above that, more is not reliably better.

Tips

• CFU count is a necessary minimum, not a quality indicator — you need enough viable organisms, but more is not better
• Look for products that guarantee CFU at expiration, not at manufacture
• Third-party testing (USP, NSF, ConsumerLab) verifies that products contain what they claim
• The supplement industry uses CFU inflation the way cereal brands use "added vitamins" — it sounds impressive but doesn't determine quality