Physician's Choice is one of the most popular affordable probiotics in the US. The brand claims this product line is a #1 best seller on Amazon, and that it can support a "happier, healthier gut."
But does Physician's Choice Probiotic contain research-backed ingredients for gut health? Does it contain any unhealthy ingredients? Does it cause side effects? And is it better or worse than popular probiotics like Seed?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Physician's Choice Probiotic to give our take on whether or not it's likely to support optimal gut function, and whether or not it's healthy overall.
We'll also discuss the risk of side effects, and compare Physician's Choice Probiotic to other popular probiotics to pick our winners.
Key takeaways:
- Research-backed probiotic species for gut health
- No unhealthy additives
- We currently recommend Physician's Choice probiotic
Ingredient Analysis
The probiotic ingredients in Physician's Choice Probiotic are shown below:
60 billion colony-forming units (CFU) is a high enough dose to have a biologic effect, but higher probiotic doses aren't necessarily more effective, as documented in this Fact Sheet published by the National Institutes of Health.
Some of the probiotic species in this formulation are clinically shown to have positive health effects.
Lactobacillus casei was shown to have anti-obesity and anti-cancer effects in a medical review published in the Frontiers in Microbiology journal.
Bifidobacterium lactis (at least one strain of it) has been clinically shown to reduce cholesterol and body weight in overweight adults, as we documented in our Garden of Life Probiotics reviews article.
The prebiotic ingredients in this supplement are shown below:
While these are all whole food ingredients that can support health, the individual doses are too low to have any significant effects on gut health in our opinion.
We haven't come across any clinical evidence that these prebiotic ingredients support gut health in humans at a 50 milligram (mg) dose, nor does the brand currently publish any research proving such on their product page.
The inactive ingredients in Physician's Choice Probiotic are shown below, and should be safe and non-toxic:
Overall, this is an excellent probiotic for the price, and we have no issues with this formulation.
Will it Cause Side Effects?
Physician's Choice Probiotic doesn't appear to have been studied in any clinical trials, which makes it more challenging to assess the risk of side effects.
However, we can make an educated guess based on its ingredients.
High-dose probiotic supplements can cause temporary digestive distress, including gas and bloating, as we documented in our Align Probiotic review article.
There are no ingredients other than probiotics in this formulation that we consider likely to cause side effects.
Overall, we do not consider Physician's Choice Probiotic likely to cause side effects in otherwise healthy individuals, but consumers with existing gut issues may wish to speak with their doctor prior to taking a 60 billion CFU probiotic supplement.
There is no mention of potential side effects on the Physician's Choice website product page at the time of publishing this article.
Physician's Choice vs. Popular Probiotics
Here's how Physician's Choice compares to other popular probiotics in terms of potential effectiveness and healthiness, in our opinion:
Seed
This (expensive) probiotic is arguably an industry leader, and the company publishes the specific probiotic strains used. They also use a novel capsule technology that may improve probiotic survivability.
One strain in Seed is clinically shown to support immune health and stabilize the gut microbiome.
Winner: Seed
Pendulum Probiotics
This probiotic supplement is marketed for weight loss.
However, as we documented in our Pendulum Probiotics review article, we were unable to identify any probiotic strains shown effective in humans for that outcome in our analysis.
We consider Physician's Choice to be better-formulated.
Winner: Physician's Choice
Garden of Life
Like Physician's Choice, contains research-backed probiotic species.
However, Garden of Life also contains some active ingredients (like digestive enzymes) we consider unnecessary in healthy individuals.
Winner: Physician's Choice
Our Clean Probiotic Picks
Ritual Synbiotic+ is our top probiotic pick.
It contains prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics, and costs under $1.50 per serving at the time of updating this article.
Probiotics "can improve in the immune, gastrointestinal...health systems in healthy adults" according to a 2019 medical review.
MBG Organic Fiber Potency+ is our top prebiotic fiber pick.
MBG Organic Fiber Potency+ contains 100% soluble fiber, which was described as "one of the most important nutrients for the gut microbiota" in a clinical review published in the Molecules journal.
Both of the products recommended in this section are free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy.
Physician's Choice Probiotic Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Can support optimal gut health
- May relieve digestive distress
- Affordable
- No dangerous active ingredients
- No unhealthy inactive ingredients
- Unlikely to cause side effects in healthy individuals
- Highly positive online customer reviews
Cons:
- Relatively high probiotic dose
- May cause digestive side effects in sensitive individuals
- Doesn't appear to be clinically tested
