30-Second Takeaway
Probiotic drinks contain healthy bacteria that can support immune and digestive function. Look for a probiotic drink that’s low in total sugar, since sugar can negatively affect your gut microbiota. Probiotic drinks may not be as effective as a probiotic supplement—they often have a smaller overall dose of probiotics, and fewer probiotic strains.
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Bacteria for your health—who knew? Probiotics (AKA live, beneficial bacteria) have exploded in popularity due to their far-reaching potential health benefits like a healthier gut, clearer skin, and improved immune function (1). There’s no shortage of ways to get more probiotics—from probiotic supplements to probiotic yogurts—but probiotic drinks are arguably the tastiest way to partake.
Probiotic drinks are beverages that have either naturally occurring probiotics (like kombucha or kefir) or have live active cultures added to them (like probiotic soda or greens powder). But are they any good for you? And how do probiotic drinks stack up to probiotic supplements?
Everything you need to know including the best probiotic drinks, below.
Why Trust Us
Hone Health is a team of health-obsessed journalists, editors, fitness junkies, medical reviewers, and product testers. As a registered dietitian, it’s my job to sift through marketing claims and beautiful branding to figure out which products contain meaningful ingredients and which don’t. I search high and low for the tastiest options with the highest quality ingredients. The below products are items that I would purchase myself or recommend to a client or friend.
Are Probiotic Drinks Good For You?
Maybe. Probiotic drinks can be an easy, and tasty way to get more probiotics in your diet. However, probiotic drinks range in their potential health benefits depending on how many probiotics they contain, the strain of probiotics (different strains are good for different things), and other added ingredients like sugar.
Most probiotic drinks don’t have as large (or targeted) a dose of probiotics as probiotic supplements, so they may not be as effective. They also might not contain the specific type of probiotic you need to clear up a specific issue. For example, L. bulgaricus (one of the probiotics in Activia yogurt) is effective for IBS; while, L. rhamnosus GG (LGG) is effective for diarrhea sparked by taking an antibiotic (2).
How to Choose a Healthy Probiotic Drink
To hunt down the healthiest probiotic drinks on grocery store shelves, look for:
- Low in Total Sugar: Since sugar can negatively impact gut microbiota, it may counteract any positive effect a probiotic drink may have (3). Look for the lowest amount of sugar (both added and naturally occurring). 10 grams of sugar or less is a good rule of thumb.
- A Range of Probiotics: Unless you’re trying to clear up a specific issue, focus on consuming a wide variety of beneficial probiotics. Bifidobacterium bifidum and Lactobacillus acidophilus are popular strains for general health (4, 5).
MORE PROBIOTICS
Best Probiotic Drinks
We’ve rounded up the best probiotic drinks from fizzy probiotic soda and tangy kefir, to probiotic greens powders and probiotic shots. These tasty, low-sugar, probiotic-rich picks get our stamp of approval.
Maple Hill Creamery Plain Kefir
Best Kefir
Per serving: 180 calories, 11g sugar, 0g added sugar, 11g carbs, 9g protein, 11g fat
Made by fermenting kefir grains with milk or water, kefir is touted as a healing beverage due to its robust nutrient profile and naturally occurring probiotics. Maple Hill Creamery’s kefir is the best you can get. It’s made with grass-fed, organic milk and live active cultures—in fact, it contains ten different species of bacteria in one eight-ounce serving.
This kefir has zero grams of added sugar and nine grams of protein making it an excellent addition to a meal or a snack on its own. Fair warning: Kefir is extremely tart. To tone it down, consider adding kefir to a smoothie with berries for antioxidants, or a bowl of granola.
Humm Probiotic Kombucha
Best Kombucha
Per serving: 2 billion CFUs, 25 calories, 5g sugar, 0g added sugar, 6g carbs, 0g protein, 0g fat
Kombucha is a fermented drink that is made by combining sugar, tea, bacteria, and yeast. The resulting beverage is naturally probiotic-rich, fizzy, tangy, and depending on any flavoring that has been added, fruity or sweet. Humm’s kombucha is no exception with two billion CFUs (the number of live bacteria per serving when the kombucha was manufactured).
We also love that Humm’s kombucha contains zero grams of added sugar. Unlike many other kombuchas on the market that can have upwards of 10 grams of sugar, Humm’s Whole 30-approved Kombucha contains only five grams of sugar that comes from organic juice.
Culture Pop Probiotic Soda
Best Probiotic Soda
Per serving: 40 calories, 6g sugar, 0g added sugar, 8g carbs, 0g protein, 0g fat
For what it’s worth, there are healthier ways to consume probiotics than drinking a probiotic soda. Probiotic foods and supplements will always be better than a can of pop. But if you are going to enjoy a soda, Culture Pop’s Probiotic Soda is delicious and much better for you than a can of Coke.
Each 12-ounce can contain 40 calories and billions of CFUs of live probiotics at the time of canning. Unlike regular sodas that are sweetened with sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, or diet sodas that use artificial sweeteners, Culture Pop is sweetened naturally with a little bit of organic juice.
Chobani Greek Yogurt Drink
Best Probiotic Yogurt Drink
Per serving: 140 calories, 15g sugar, 7g added sugar, 18g carbs, 10g protein, 4g fat
Yogurt is a great source of probiotics, but if you are on the go, the need for a spoon and a fridge isn’t the most convenient. Enter: Chobani’s Greek Yogurt Drink. Each yogurt drink contains six live and active cultures: S. Thermophilus, L. Bulgaricus, L. Acidophilus, Bifidus, L. Casei, and L. Rhamnosus.
Though this drink is a solid way to get those beneficial gut bacteria, one serving contains seven grams of added sugar and 15 grams of total sugar. Compared to other yogurt drinks on the market this is not outlandish, but we’d recommend sticking to just one of these drinks per day.
GUT BOOSTING DRINKS
Bio-K Plus
Best Dairy Probiotic Drink
Per serving: 50 billion CFUs, 40 calories, 6g sugar, 0g added sugar, 6g carbs, 4g protein, 0g fat
If you simply can’t stomach another pill in your supplement stack, a dairy probiotic drink might be an option. Bio-K Plus is a fermented dairy drink that contains three strain-specific probiotics: Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285®, Lacticaseibacillus casei LBC80R®, and Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus CLR2®.
Lactobacillus acidophilus CL 1285 has been shown to help improve IBS symptoms (6). All three probiotics have also been shown to prevent infection with Clostridium difficile; however, it’s worth noting the study was funded by Bio-K Plus itself (7).
Forager Project Unsweetened Plain Cashew milk Yogurt
Best Dairy-Free Probiotic Drink
Per serving: 1 billion CFUs, 140 calories, 1g sugar, 0g added sugar, 10g carbs, 4g protein, 10g fat
Dairy-free folks, rejoice—Forager Project’s Unsweetened Plain Cashewmilk Yogurt drink is a dairy-free way to get your probiotics. This organic beverage is made with cashew milk (just filtered water and cashews), coconut cream, tapioca starch, and nine live active cultures including S. Thermophilus, L. Bulgaricus, B. Bifidum, B. Lactis, L. Acidophilus, L. Casei, L. Paracasei, L. Plantarum, L. Rhamnosus.
People with dietary restrictions will also love that this drink does not contain gluten, soy, or gums.
Pressed Probiotic Shot
Best Probiotic Shot
Per serving: 2 billion CFUs, 20 calories, 4g sugar, 0g added sugar, 5g carbs, 0g protein, 0g fat
Sometimes committing to an entire beverage for a dose of probiotics can be a tall order (pun intended). If you’d rather just get things over with, consider the probiotic shot. Pressed Juicery’s probiotic shot is exactly what it sounds like. A two-ounce bottle contains two billion colony-forming units of probiotics and no added sugars. With a simple ingredient list (Apple Juice, Red Cabbage Juice, Lemon Juice, Ginger Juice, and Probiotic Cultures (Inulin, Bacillus Cultures) this is a simple and refreshing way to get in your dose of probiotics.
Orgain Organic Superfoods Probiotic Powder
Best Greens Powder with Probiotics
Per serving: 1 billion CFUs 40 calories, 1g sugar, 0g added sugar, 11g carbs, 1g protein, 0g fat
If you travel frequently, getting in your probiotics can be difficult—especially considering many probiotic supplements and drinks are temperature sensitive. As a shelf-stable powder, Orgain’s Organic Superfoods Probiotic Powder makes it easy to drink your probiotics, any time or place. One scoop of this powder provides one billion colony-forming units of Bacillus Coagulans as well as a blend of 50 different superfoods like kale and broccoli sprouts. We love that in addition to being free of added sugar, one serving provides seven grams of dietary fiber—which fuels the probiotics in your gut (8).
GUT HEALTH
Worst Probiotic Drinks
Not all probiotic drinks are healthy. Here’s one probiotic drink we recommend steering clear of.
Tropicana Essentials Probiotic Juice
Per serving: 1 billion CFUs, 170 calories, 37g sugar, 0g added sugar, 41g carbs, 1g protein, 0g fat
Tropicana Essentials Probiotic Juice has a monstrous 28 grams of sugar per eight-ounce serving. Although this sugar comes from fruit and is not added, that’s a lot of sugar to consume just to get some probiotics. Enjoyed once in a while, this juice could be a tasty treat with a bonus of roughly one billion live and active cultures. However, it should not be the primary way you fill your probiotic needs.
- Probiotics: What You Need to Know.
- A Gastroenterologist’s Guide to Probiotics.
- Impact of Dietary Sugars on Gut Microbiota and Metabolic Health.
- Recent Development of Probiotic Bifidobacteria for Treating Human Diseases.
- The Functional Roles of Lactobaillus acidophilus in Different Physiological and Pathological Processes.
- Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285, Lactobacillus casei LBC9oR and Lactobacillus rhamnosus CLR2 Improve Quality-of-Life and IBS SymptomsL A Double-Blind, Randonised, Placebo-Controlled Study.
- Lactobacillus acidophilus CL1285, Lactobacillus casei LBC80R, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus CLR2 (Bio-K+): Characterization, Manufacture, Mechanisms of Action, and Quality Control of a Specific Probiotic Combination for Primary Prevention of Clostridium difficile Infection.
- Influence of Foods and Nutrition on the Gut Health Microbiome and Implications for Intestinal Health.
