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2020 Guide To The Best Probiotics For Travel

If you’ve ever suffered from stomach cramps, constipation, or diarrhea while traveling, then before your next trip, we highly recommend you consider getting yourself some of the best probiotics for travel.  In fact, even if you’ve never suffered from these symptoms before – well how lucky for you – but we still recommend you consider the best probiotic for travel – because unfortunately sooner or later, we all suffer from these symptoms while traveling.

I’m guessing you’ve stumbled across this probiotics for travel guide because you’ve already been considering getting some for your next trip.  Perhaps you already know a little about the benefits of traveling with probiotics, or maybe you’re just uncertain on which travel probiotics you should get? 

Whatever your reason for landing on this guide, we have no doubt that you’re going to find what you’re looking for here.

In these travel probiotic reviews, we’re going to take you through all the basics.  At the end, we look at what a probiotic is and why you should consider taking probiotics while traveling, what to look for in order to buy the best probiotic for traveling, as well as take a close look at some of the top-rated probiotics currently available.

What Is A Probiotic And Why You Should Take Probiotics For Travel?

Our guts are made up of both good and bad bacteria, and provided bacteria is well balanced; it supports our immune system.  When we travel, particularly abroad, our bodies often come across unknown or bad bacteria that can make us feel unwell. Unfortunately, stomach cramps, bloating, constipation and traveler’s diarrhea are common consequences of this bad bacteria, not to mention food poisoning.

The changes in our eating habits when we travel, also, unfortunately, reduce the number of good bacteria in our gut.  Often when we travel, we tend to drink more alcohol and eat more processed, fatty or sugary foods – all which can deplete good bacteria.

What Is A Probiotic Anyway?  

Quite simply a probiotic is good bacteria that are found in live microorganisms that can be consumed through fermented foods or supplements.  

What are the benefits of taking probiotics?

Studies have shown that probiotics help with a healthy balance of gut bacteria and include a range of health benefits such as:

• Helping restore the natural balance of gut bacteria when unfamiliar or bad bacteria makes its way into your gut;
• Helping prevent or reduce the severity and duration of diarrhea;
• Improving your mental health and reduce anxiety;
• Helping to keep your heart healthy by lowering bad cholesterol and increasing good cholesterol; and
• Helping to reduce the symptoms of certain digestive disorders.

What Else Can I Do To Prevent Getting Sick While Traveling

You can also take other precautions such as washing your hand, only drinking bottled water, and eating things that are only well-cooked to help avoid getting sick while traveling.  

While you could do everything in your power to avoid bad bacteria, the fact is you could encounter it anywhere, including upscale 5-star resorts and restaurants. Taking probiotic travel tablets will also give your body an extra line of defense should it still face bad bacteria despite all your best efforts to avoid it.

My Pick For The Best Probiotic For Travel: Natures Branch

Don’t have time to read our entire guide on probiotics and travel? Just want our recommendation on the best probiotic travel bug tablets?  Well we really love the Natures Branch probiotics.  The Natures Branch probiotics come with 15 different strains of probiotics as well as 50 billion colony forming units per dose.  Plus, these probiotics are great value for money.

Best Probiotics For Travel Comparison Chart 2020

We looked at the best probiotics supplements to take while traveling, compared their features and prices, and made this easy to use table to help you review and decide which probiotic is best for you.

Keep reading below for further details about each of these best supplements for travel.

The Best Travel Probiotics Reviews 2020

Below I’ve listed our picks for the top 10 travelers’ probiotics currently available.

Vitamin Bounty Pro-50 Probiotics

If you’re after travelers diarrhea prevention medication or other common digestive symptoms travelers tend to suffer from, probiotics such as Vitamin Bounty Pro-50 are a good one to consider.

These probiotics contain 13 different probiotic strains known for supporting overall digestive health.  Strains include Saccharomyces boulardii, Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, Lactobacillus brevis, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium brevis and Bifidobacterium longum.

Pro-50 probiotics include the patented capsule, which delays release of the probiotic, as well as protecting it from stomach acid.  This means the probiotics are delivered to where they are needed most.

Each serve of 2 capsules provides at least 50 billion organisms, and they are gluten-free so perfect for anyone with dietary restrictions.

Pro-50 is a good one to consider if you’re after the best probiotics for travelers diarrhea or other common sicknesses travelers regularly suffer from.

Number of Strains: 13

CFU per Serve: 50 billion per 2 capsules

Contains a Prebiotic: Yes

Renew Life Probiotic

Similar to the Pro-50 probiotics, but around half the price, the Renew Life Probiotics are another great product to consider if you’re after the best probiotic for travelers diarrhea and other common traveler ailments.

Containing 12 different strains and with 50 million CFU per capsule, these probiotics are perfect for supporting your digestive and immune system while traveling.  They also feature slow release, to ensure the probiotic gets where it needs to go.

While the Renew Life probiotics only have 30 capsules in a bottle, a dose is only 1 capsule, whereas most other brands require you to take 2 capsules to get the same amount of live cultures.  This makes the Renew Life probiotics excellent value for money. Plus being soy-free, gluten-free, and dairy-free, these capsules are also ideal for anyone on a restrictive diet and are great to help with traveller’s diarrhoea prevention or travellers tummy treatment.

If you’re looking for budget probiotics for travelling abroad, do consider the Renew Life brand. 

Number of Strains: 12

CFU per Serve: 50 million per 1 capsule

Contains a Prebiotic: NA

Terranics Probiotics 

If you’re looking for the best probiotics for travel to India or the best probiotics for travel to Mexico – anywhere your stomach will be tested, you will need to be taking a massive dose of top quality live probiotics – which is where the Terranics come in handy.

With the Terranics probiotics, every serve contains no less than 60 billion live probiotic cultures, which is the most of any probiotics contained in these reviews.  The probiotics have been scientifically formulated with 19 different probiotic strains and contain organic prebiotic fiber to ensure the probiotic flourishes in your gut.  

The Terranics are suitable for vegetarians and vegans as they’re made with all-natural ingredients.  They contain no egg, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish or corn and are soy, dairy, and gluten free.  These capsules are also 100% free of sugar, sodium, silicone dioxide, chemicals, stearates, preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, binders and fillers.

Like all good probiotics for travel, the Terranics don’t need to be refrigerated and they are formulated with delayed-release technology and will survive stomach acid and bile, to ensure the probiotics reach your intestinal tract fully intact.

The Terranics probiotics are certainly a good option to consider for improving your immune system as well as avoiding travelers diarrhea.  Coming with 60 capsules in a bottle, equating to 30 doses, these probiotics offer good value for money.

Number of Strains: 19

CFU per Serve: 60 million per 2 capsules

Contains a Prebiotic: Yes

Nature’s Branch Probiotics

Coming with 50 billion live probiotics and 15 different strains per capsule, Nature’s Branch probiotics offer a super ultra-high potency to keep you fit and healthy on your next trip.

Nature’s Branch probiotic offers the ideal complex for travel, including all 15 strains of beneficial bacteria.  These probiotics include Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium Lactis, Streptococcus Thermophilus, Bifidobacterium Breve, Bifidobacterium Infantis, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, Bacillus Coagulans, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Bifidobacterium Longum, Lactobacillus Bulgaricus, Lactobacillus Gasseri, Lactobacillus Reuteri, Lactobacillus Fermentum, and Saccharomyces Boulardii.

These capsules feature delayed time release and are resistant to stomach acids to ensure maximum absorption deep into the small and large intestines.  The Nature Branch’s probiotics are also 100% natural and GMO-free featuring no artificial colors, fillers or binders.

If you’re after the best stomach medicine for travel and probiotics for travellers diarrhea Nature’s Branch is an excellent one to consider. These probiotics will help improve your digestive health, immune system and more.  They also offer great value for money.

Number of Strains: 15

CFU per Serve: 50 Billion per 1 capsule 

Contains a Prebiotic: Yes

Physician’s Choice Probiotics

With 60 billion strains per capsule, the Physician’s Choice probiotics include more strains than any other in these reviews (only equal to the Terranics probiotics).

The Physician’s Choice probiotics are a 100% natural supplement made from 10 different probiotic strains.  The strains contained within this probiotic include Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus paracasei, Lactobacillus salivarius, Lactobacillus plantarum, Bifidobacterium lactis, Bifidobacterium bifidum, Bifidobacterium longum, Bifidobacterium breve and Lactobacillus bulgaricus.

These probiotics are completely suitable for vegetarians and vegans containing an organic prebiotic fiber and no binders, soy, gluten, milk, egg, wheat, peanuts, shellfish, or preservatives.  They also feature delayed-release capsules and are not required to be kept in the refrigerator.

With most probiotics, you’ll need to take two to three tablets to get the same dose of healthy bacteria as you will in just one of these capsules, making Physician’s Choice probiotics handy for traveling internationally with supplements.

Number of Strains: 10

CFU per Serve: 60 Billion per 1 capsule

Contains a Prebiotic: Yes

Nuevida Probiotic

The Nuevida probiotics are a good all-rounder supplement to help keep healthy during your travels.   Like all good probiotics, these are particularly helpful if you’re looking at how to prevent travelers diarrhea and other nasty common health ailments that travelers are susceptible too.

With just one dose (two capsules) of these probiotics, you’ll ingest 60 billion live cultures from a range of 19 different strains of probiotics, as well as a natural plant-based prebiotic.  These probiotics are vegetarian and vegan-friendly too and are completely free of eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish, fish, soy, gluten, dairy, synthetic colors, artificial flavors and sweeteners.

Given one dose is two capsules, and there are only 30 capsules in a bottle, these probiotics do work out a little pricey compared to many others in these reviews, but nevertheless are still a great one to consider for your next overseas trip.

Number of Strains: 19

CFU per Serve: 60 Billion per 2 capsules

Contains a Prebiotic: Yes

New Rhythm Probiotics

Whether you’re wondering how to avoid traveler’s diarrhea, wanting the best probiotic for travel constipation, or just after some good quality travel tablets for stomach issues, the NewRhythm probiotics are worth considering.

With the NewRhythm probiotics, every serve (two capsules) contains no less than 50 billion live probiotic cultures.  The probiotics have been scientifically formulated with 20 different probiotic strains and contain organic prebiotic fiber to ensure the probiotic flourishes in your gut.  

These probiotics are suitable for vegetarians as they’re made with all-natural ingredients.  They contain no egg, peanuts, fish, shellfish, or corn and are soy and gluten-free.  These capsules are also 100% free of sugar, stearates, preservatives, artificial colors, flavors, binders, and fillers.

Like all good probiotics for travel, the NewRhythm doesn’t need to be refrigerated and they are formulated with delayed-release technology so they will survive stomach acid and bile, to ensure the probiotics reach your intestinal tract fully intact.

Coming with 60 capsules in a bottle, which equates to 30 doses, these probiotics are more expensive than others in these reviews, however, overall, the NewRhythm probiotics are certainly a good option to consider.

Number of Strains: 20

CFU per Serve: 50 billion per 2 capsules

Contains a Prebiotic: Yes

Naturelo Probiotic

With each capsule containing 50 billion CFU across 11 different strains, the Natureleo probiotic is an excellent high-quality supplement and overall offers great value for money.

The Naturelo probiotic offers an advanced formula containing all the essential Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains.  Strains included in just a single capsule include Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, Lactobacillus Paracasei, Lactobacillus Salivarius, Lactobacillus Casei, Streptococcus Thermophilus, Bifidobacterium Longum, Bifidobacterium Lactis, Bifidobacterium Breve, and Bifidobacterium Bifidum

These value for money probiotics are vegan and vegetarian-friendly and are 100% natural as well as being free from gluten, soy, yeast, dairy, sugar, eggs, maltodextrin, magnesium stearate, animal derivatives, artificial flavors and preservatives.

Like all good probiotics, these feature delayed released capsules to ensure the probiotics are delivered to the intestines alive and also don’t require refrigeration making them perfect for travelers.

Number of Strains: 11

CFU per Serve: 50 billion per 1 capsule

Contains a Prebiotic: Yes

OptiBac Travel Probiotics for Every Day Max

Another popular choice for travel probiotics is the OptiBac probiotics.  Coming with a high strength of 50 billion CFU per capsule, these probiotics will support your digestive and immune health while traveling.

These supplements come with 3 different strains of probiotics Bifidobacterium lactis B1-04, Bifidobacterium lactis HN019, and Lactobacillus acidophilus.  These three strains of probiotics are said to be among the most effective strains in supporting the digestive and immune system. Read any OptiBac travel probiotics reviews and you’ll find a lot of happy customers reporting almost immediate relief from a range of digestive issues such as IBS.

The supplements are suitable for vegans and vegetarians and are free of gluten, soy, and sugar.  Plus like all good probiotics, the OptiBac probiotics travel supplements don’t require refrigeration and they are scientifically proven to survive stomach acid to ensure they reach the gut alive.

While the OptiBac probiotics for traveling abroad are certainly a good one to consider for travel, given the high price tag and the fact that they only contain 3 different strains of probiotics and don’t contain a prebiotic, I’d probably opt for another one from these reviews.

Number of Strains: 3

CFU per Serve: 50 Billion per 1 capsule

Contains a Prebiotic: NA

Healthy Origins Probiotic For Kids

While many of the above probiotics are suitable for children over a certain age (check the directions on the box as this changes for each supplement), many children prefer the chewable probiotics rather than having to swallow a capsule.  This is why I’ve included the Healthy Origins Probiotic for kids in this guide.

While chewable probiotics are much easier for kids to take, the downside is they tend not to include as many strains of CFU per dose.  For example, the Healthy Origins probiotics only contain two strains (Bifidobacterium lactis UABla-12 and Lactobacillus acidophilus) and just 5 billion colony forming units per dose.  However if this is the only way your child will take a probiotic, its better than nothing at all.

These chewable probiotics are free of sugar, gluten, fish, shellfish, egg, soy, peanuts, and milk, but unfortunately also don’t include a prebiotic.  They also include a range of artificial colors and flavors to give them the cherry flavor to encourage your kids to take them.

If you can get your kids to swallow tablets, I’d recommend they take one of the other supplements in these reviews.  However if chewables are the only way your children will take probiotics, then the Healthy Origins are a good one to consider.

Number of Strains: 2

CFU per Serve: 5 Billion per 1 tablet

Contains a Prebiotic: NA

Things To Consider When Purchasing The Best Probiotic For Traveling

Like any product, there is no one size fits all when it comes to probiotics.  Plus, not all probiotics are created equal and some are more superior than others.

To purchase a great quality probiotic, as well as one that will meet your own individual needs, I recommend you consider the following factors. 

Types of Probiotics

You don’t have to take supplements to ingest probiotics.  Probiotics can be found in fermented dairy products such as yogurts and milk, as well as foods like pickled vegetables, tempeh miso, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut and soy products.

However if you’re visiting a country where this food is not readily available, or perhaps you just don’t like these foods, supplements are the easiest way to ingest probiotics.  Probiotics in a supplement form come as tablets, capsules, chewables and drinkable powders.

Different Strains

There are different strains of probiotics, all of which have their own beneficial properties.  For this reason, it’s best to take a probiotic which contains multiple strains.  

At the very least, ensure your probiotic contains strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum which are said to be the most effective in preventing or reducing the severity in the common sickness’s travelers tend to get such as diarrhea. 

If you have a particular illness, you’re trying to prevent or reduce the severity of, do some research as to which strain of probiotic you need, and look for this on the packaging to ensure you purchase the right probiotic for you.

If a probiotic has 20 different strains of bacteria but doesn’t include the one that will help improve your health concern, then its not a good probiotic for you.  Meanwhile there may be another probiotic with only 3 strains of bacteria which are all exactly what you need for your individual concerns. In other words, more strains is not always best.  As the saying goes “quality over quantity”.

Number Of Live Organisms Per Dosage (CFU)

Inside our guts, we have trillions of live bacteria – both good and bad.  So if we are going to take a probiotic supplement, we want to ensure we are taking one that’s actually going to make a difference.  

Given we have a trillion live bacteria in our guts, you can imagine that 100 million is hardly going to make a difference.  So when it comes to quality probiotics, you’re going to want one that has billions of bacteria per dose.

The number of live organisms per dose is referred to as colony-forming units (CFU).  Generally, you will want probiotics with at least 1 billion to 100 billion CFU per dose.  In fact, I would recommend nothing short of around 20 million CFU.

If you’re after probiotics in India for example, or somewhere you think your gut is really going to be tested, then then it’s worth paying extra for a probiotic with a super high CFU, like around at least 50 billion.

You can of course take multiple tablets to reach the correct dosage you want to ingest – but just keep this in mind when purchasing the probiotics.  Probiotic A with 60 tablets for $10 might sound cheap compared to probiotic B with 30 tablets for $25, but if you need to take 3 tablets from probiotic A for the same dose as probiotic B, then it’s actually more expensive.

Prebiotics

Another recommendation is to look for probiotics that contain a prebiotic.  A prebiotic is basically food for probiotics, which then encourages the probiotic to flourish and in turn, create more good gut bacteria.

Prebiotics can also be found in fiber-rich foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains.  So if you eat a lot of this food each day, it may not be essential to have a probiotic which also contains a prebiotic.

Tips For Taking Probiotics Travel Tablets

To obtain the maximum benefits from your travel bug probiotic, you should begin taking probiotics before travel – at least 2 weeks before your trip.  Taking probiotics before traveling will give a good kickstart to encouraging increasing bacteria and supporting your immune system in defense against any bad bacteria it encounters on your trip.

Probiotics should then be continued all throughout your trip, as well as at least 2 weeks after arriving home.

In terms of how to travel with probiotics – the only thing you really need to know is NOT to buy probiotics that require refrigeration.  Once upon a time, this was a little tricky – however these days you can get some excellent probiotics that don’t require refrigeration.  Also always keep your probiotics in a cool, dark place.

We also have a lot of packing and travel products tips, including the following.

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