Best ingredients for gut & digestion

A generic placeholder for a multi-strain probiotic blend, typically combining several Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium species and sometimes Streptococcus thermophilus or a Bacillus spore.

Typical: 10–50 B CFU

Magnesium bound to citric acid, one of the best-selling magnesium forms because it is inexpensive, dissolves readily, and has shown good bioavailability in comparison studies.

Typical: 150–350 mg

LGG (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, ATCC 53103) is the single most studied probiotic strain, isolated in 1985 and since reclassified as Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus.

Typical: 1–10 B CFU

An isoquinoline alkaloid isolated from plants such as barberry, goldenseal, and Coptis, supplied as the hydrochloride salt.

Typical: 900–1,500 mg

Bifidobacterium animalis subsp.

Typical: 1–10 B CFU

The most concentrated magnesium source at about 60% elemental magnesium, which is why it dominates in multivitamins and small tablets.

Typical: 200–350 mg

Inulin is a soluble, fermentable fructan fiber extracted mainly from chicory root, though it also occurs in Jerusalem artichoke, agave, and onions.

Typical: 5–10 g

The pungent alkaloid isolated from black pepper fruit, used in tiny amounts to raise the absorption of other ingredients rather than for its own effects.

Typical: 5–20 mg

A concentrated extract of ginger rhizome standardized to gingerols, the pungent compounds responsible for most of its studied effects.

Typical: 250–1,000 mg

The most abundant free amino acid in blood and muscle and a primary fuel for intestinal and immune cells.

Typical: 5–10 g

Saccharomyces boulardii is a probiotic yeast rather than a bacterium, originally isolated from lychee and mangosteen skins.

Typical: 5–10 B CFU

A generic greens blend is a placeholder for the dried plant powders typical of greens products: cereal grasses such as wheatgrass and barley grass, spirulina and chlorella, leafy vegetables like spinach and kale, and often fruit or vegetable extracts.

Typical: 3–10 g

Lactobacillus acidophilus is the most widely recognized probiotic species and a staple of yogurt cultures and multi-strain capsules.

Typical: 1–10 B CFU

Bacillus coagulans is a spore-forming, lactic-acid-producing bacterium whose spores survive stomach acid, heat, and dry storage far better than vegetative Lactobacillus cells.

Typical: 1–2 B CFU

Bifidobacterium longum is one of the dominant bifidobacteria of the adult human colon.

Typical: 1–10 B CFU

Psyllium husk is the seed coat of Plantago ovata, a soluble, gel-forming fiber that holds many times its weight in water.

Typical: 5–10 g

Lactobacillus reuteri is a native human gut and breast-milk organism, now classified as Limosilactobacillus reuteri.

Typical: 0.1–1 B CFU

A seed extract of milk thistle standardized to silymarin, a flavonolignan complex, and the best-known botanical in liver-support formulas.

Typical: 140–420 mg

Cranberry extract is prepared from the whole fruit or juice of Vaccinium macrocarpon and is characterized by A-type proanthocyanidins (PACs) that are studied for anti-adhesion activity against bacteria in the urinary tract.

Typical: 250–500 mg

An extract of German chamomile flowers standardized to apigenin, the flavone behind much of its calming reputation.

Typical: 220–1,100 mg

Lactase splits milk sugar (lactose) into glucose and galactose.

Lactobacillus plantarum is a versatile lactic acid bacterium found in fermented vegetables and sourdough, now classified as Lactiplantibacillus plantarum.

Typical: 1–10 B CFU

A gum resin extract from the Boswellia serrata tree standardized to total boswellic acids, used in joint-comfort formulas often alongside curcumin.

Typical: 300–500 mg

Bifidobacterium infantis, now classified as B.

Typical: 1–10 B CFU

Bifidobacterium bifidum is a mucin-degrading species that is abundant in breast-fed infants and declines with age.

Typical: 1–5 B CFU

Bromelain is a mixture of protein-digesting enzymes extracted from pineapple stem.

Typical: 200–500 mg

Fructooligosaccharides are short-chain fructans produced either by partial hydrolysis of chicory inulin (oligofructose) or by enzymatic synthesis from sucrose (scFOS).

Typical: 2.5–10 g

The whole dried and ground rhizome of the turmeric plant, the same material used as a culinary spice.

Typical: 1,000–3,000 mg

Peppermint oil is the steam-distilled essential oil of Mentha piperita, rich in menthol and menthone.

Typical: 180–450 mg

Protease is a family of enzymes that cleave peptide bonds, breaking dietary proteins into peptides and amino acids.

Typical: 50–150 mg

Acacia fiber is the dried sap of Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal trees, a highly branched arabinogalactan polysaccharide that dissolves completely in water with almost no viscosity.

Typical: 5–10 g

Amylase is the enzyme that breaks starch into maltose and shorter glucose chains.

Typical: 50–150 mg

Lactobacillus casei is a lactic acid bacterium closely related to L.

Typical: 1–10 B CFU

Partially hydrolyzed guar gum is guar bean galactomannan that has been enzymatically shortened so it dissolves clear and non-viscous instead of forming a thick gel.

Typical: 5–6 g

Lipase hydrolyzes dietary triglycerides into free fatty acids and monoglycerides so they can be absorbed.

Typical: 30–100 mg

Galactooligosaccharides are chains of galactose units produced enzymatically from lactose, which makes them structurally similar to some of the oligosaccharides in human milk.

Typical: 2.5–5 g

Turkey tail is a thin, fan-shaped polypore whose protein-bound polysaccharides (PSK and PSP) have been studied for decades in Japan and China as adjuncts in oncology settings.

Typical: 1,000–3,000 mg

Betaine hydrochloride is the acidic salt of trimethylglycine, a dry crystalline powder that releases hydrochloric acid when it dissolves in the stomach.

Typical: 500–1,500 mg

D-mannose is a naturally occurring simple sugar related to glucose, found in cranberries and other fruits and made commercially from corn or wood sugars.

Typical: 1–2 g

Lactobacillus gasseri is a human-origin lactic acid bacterium found in the gut and vaginal microbiota.

Typical: 1–10 B CFU

Oregano oil is the steam-distilled essential oil of Origanum vulgare, standardized to carvacrol, its dominant phenolic compound, at around 70 percent.

Typical: 150–300 mg

Resistant starch is starch that escapes digestion in the small intestine and is fermented in the colon, where it is a preferred substrate for butyrate-producing bacteria.

Typical: 10–20 g

Alpha-galactosidase breaks down the raffinose-family oligosaccharides in beans, lentils, cruciferous vegetables, and whole grains that humans cannot digest and that otherwise ferment into gas in the colon.

DE111 is a trademarked strain of Bacillus subtilis, a spore-forming soil and gut organism, supplied by Deerland (now part of ADM).

Typical: 1–5 B CFU

Aloe vera inner leaf extract is the dried, decolorized gel of Aloe barbadensis, supplied as a 200:1 concentrate so that 50 to 200 mg represents 10 to 40 g of fresh gel.

Typical: 50–200 mg

Xylooligosaccharides are short chains of xylose produced by enzymatic breakdown of xylan from corn cobs or other plant cell walls.

Typical: 1,000–2,000 mg

Streptococcus thermophilus is one of the two mandatory yogurt starter cultures and a source of the enzyme lactase (beta-galactosidase).

Typical: 1–5 B CFU

An extract of globe artichoke leaves standardized to cynarin and caffeoylquinic acids, used in digestive, liver, and cholesterol-support formulas.

Typical: 320–640 mg

Tributyrin is a triglyceride made of three butyrate molecules bound to glycerol.

Typical: 300–1,000 mg

Cellulase breaks the beta-1,4 bonds of cellulose, the structural fiber in plant cell walls that human digestive enzymes cannot touch.

DGL is licorice root extract from which most of the glycyrrhizin has been removed, typically to below 1 to 3 percent.

Typical: 380–760 mg

Ox bile extract is dried, defatted bovine bile that supplies conjugated bile salts such as taurocholate and glycocholate.

Typical: 100–500 mg

Senna is the leaf or pod of Senna alexandrina, standardized to sennosides, which are anthraquinone glycosides converted by gut bacteria into compounds that stimulate colon movement.

Typical: 15–30 mg

The root of the common dandelion, used in traditional practice as a bitter digestive and liver tonic and in modern formulas for liver support and water balance.

Typical: 500–2,000 mg

Barley grass is the young leaf of Hordeum vulgare, harvested before the plant heads and dried or juiced into a green powder.

Typical: 3–5 g

Slippery elm is the inner bark of Ulmus rubra, a North American tree.

Typical: 400–1,500 mg

Marshmallow root is the dried root of Althaea officinalis, a European plant unrelated to the confection that borrowed its name.

Typical: 500–1,500 mg

Fennel seed is the dried fruit of Foeniculum vulgare, a Mediterranean herb used across cuisines and in traditional carminative blends for bloating and gas.

Typical: 500–1,500 mg

Papain is a cysteine protease obtained from the latex of unripe papaya fruit.

Typical: 100–300 mg