Probiotics don't need to chill out!

By now, almost everyone has heard of probiotics and their potential health benefits. That's why almost every major multivitamin contains probiotic elements these days. Some versions of popular "name brands" are making a big deal out of their probiotic focus.

There's a widespread belief that these elements need to be refrigerated and preserved at all times to retain their effectiveness. Many experts will tell you that there's no good reason to consume probiotics if they haven't been appropriately handled with respect to temperature from the point of bottling until they reach your home.

There's some truth to that perspective. If left in their everyday form, a probiotic will lose effectiveness if exposed to higher temperatures. Under normal circumstances, a warm bottle of vitamins containing probiotics wouldn't be appreciably different than a bottle without them.

So, make sure you buy refrigerated vitamins if you want the probiotic advantage, right?

Not necessarily. There is an alternative.

There is one process that can preserve the effectiveness of the elements without requiring constant refrigeration and care. It involves stabilizing the probiotics through a cryogenic (flash freezing) method.

If this is done, it's possible for them to retain their value in the bottle until combined with water, another liquid, or ingested.

If you want to latch onto the benefits of probiotics but don't want to gamble with a product that may or may not have been constantly refrigerated (and you'll never really know), look for a supplement that uses a cryogenic process to stabilize the mix.

You'll be glad you did!