Culturelle Probiotics Women’s Wellness Probiotic Chewables Review
You’ve probably heard that probiotics are good for your digestive and immune system. In the wild, you can consume healthy foods that contain probiotics: yogurt, sauerkraut, or cheese, for example. But what if you’re not exactly a sauerkraut kind of girl? What if you’re traveling and you want an extra boost to your immune system? That’s where Culturelle Probiotics Women’s Wellness Probiotic Chewables come in.
Recently, I started taking this probiotic. I’m a simple girl with simple goals: I just want to protect myself from my kids’ never-ending rolodex of infections. Improving my vaginal and digestive health are honestly bonuses. When Culturelle approached me about trying out their probiotic chewables, I was excited. Not only for myself, but also for the thousands of soon-to-be moms visiting my blog. Getting sick when you’re pregnant is no fun and, sometimes, downright scary. If I could find a product that boosts their immunity, I knew I had to try it. In this Culturelle Probiotics Women’s Wellness review, we’re going to discuss the pros and cons of this probiotic supplement, my personal experience with it, and go over some other critical questions you might have before trying it out for yourself.
At-A-Glance
PROS
- Sweet fruity flavor
- Contains lactobacillus rhamnosus GG as well as other well-researched strains
- Dietary restrictions-friendly: dairy, gluten, wheat, and nut-free
- Pregnancy-safe
CONS
- Not for children under 12
- Some women may experience bloating or gas in early use
- May not affect some women
Bottom Line: Studies have shown that the lactobacillus rhamnosus strain offers plenty of benefits for women, including improved digestive, immune, and vaginal health. The Culturelle chewables are a great daily supplement to gain these benefits. I enjoyed the taste, and digestive benefits. However, new users should keep an eye out for bloating or gas during the first couple weeks.
Use the code babyland20 for 20% off
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of the links I will make a small commission at no charge to you. Blunders in Babyland does not diagnose, treat, or give out any professional advice for any medical conditions. I was given a sample from Culturelle to facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.
What are the Culturelle Probiotic Womens Wellness Probiotic Chewables
First, let’s chat about Culturelle.
Culturelle is a brand owned by iHealth Inc. that manufactures probiotic supplements to improve your immune system, weight loss, gut health, and more. Culturelle is an extremely well-known brand. It was rated the most trustworthy probiotics manufacturer according to Brandspark’s American Trust Study in 2022.
Basically, I feel very confident using their products. In fact, my kids take the Culturelle Probiotics Kids Purely Probiotic packets every day, and (knock on wood) they haven’t been sick in over a month.
Glory. Hallelujah.
What are the Women’s Wellness Chewables
The Women’s Wellness Probiotic chewables are daily (or sometimes twice daily) chewables you can take that deliver helpful probiotic strains straight into your gut. I like Culturelle’s supplement in particular because they contain Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG.
I studied several scholarly articles, written by doctors who are way smarter than me, while prepping for this review.
Basically, I wanted to determine if lactobacillus rhamnosus gg was, legitimately, a great strain to use and actually showed promising results for a woman’s digestive, immune, and vaginal health.
Here’s what I found.
They’ve conducted more studies reviewing the effects of rhamnosus than any other probiotic stain. Most of the time, the results are great.
Some studies have found that this strain reduces the duration and risk of upper respiratory infections. This is, in part, because 70% of our immune system actually lives in our stomach, as does the lactobacillus rhamnosus gg strain. This strain creates a biofilm that prevents bad bacteria from colonoizing. It also helps our body digest nutrients more effectively.
Likewise, studies also found that this strain improves digestive health (it prevents nasty bacterial diarhea and helps you digest food more efficiently).
But does it actually help vaginal health?
This is where the results vary. Some studies, found very little benefit. Other studies found that rhamnosus help with yeast infections. That biofilm we talked about earlier can help prevent candida, the fungus that causes yeast infections, from going crazy. Or, if you’re currently suffering from a yeast infection, probiotics can help balance your vaginal microbiome again.
Some research has also shown that this strain can help prevent recurent urinary tract infections (UTI).
My Experience with The Culturelle Women’s Wellness Chewables
Before this year, I wasn’t the kind of girl to get sick very often. But after we moved to the South, it’s like my family’s immune system just snapped and gave up. We’ve legitimately been sick every single month. Our worst stint was last summer, when my husband developed pneumonia, I caught bronchitis, and my girls caught ear infections and sinusitis.
I think I’ve been on antibiotics only four times in my entire life. Two of those times was last summer.
My immune system (and my gut) was shot. I’ve heard about the benefits of probiotics before, but I don’t love yogurt without lots of added sugar and making sauerkraut is a fine art that I haven’t exactly mastered.
Not only that, many of my readers are expecting and are hungrily looking for ways to boost their immune system during pregnancy. Trying out these chewables seemed like a great idea!
Let’s talk about my negative side-effects first: the bottle says you may experience bloating when you first try it out. I didn’t not notice any bloating, but I did notice an increase in gas. I belted out some pretty explosive man-burps for the first couple days.
And that’s the extent of my negative consequences.
Let’s move on to what I love about the chewables.
The Flavor
I really like the flavor! Have you ever had Tums? The chewables kind of tastes like that. Sweet and fruity but not overly so.
If you don’t enjoy the flavor, Culturelle also sells some probiotic capsules as well. The downside to the packets is that you have to consume them with a cold beverage or food. My drinks are never cold (even my water is lukewarm) so that just wasn’t the best decision for my test-run.
Keeps You ‘Regular’
Remember, my goal was to boost my immune system.
So, I was pleasantly surprised, when I noticed that my, um, digestive processes became a little more regular.
I suspect the chewables also regulated my hormones as well. My period came at the normal time and my mood swings (according to my poor husband) were not as overwhelming this time around.
Immunity Boost
Now, the most pressing question of all: does taking probiotics actually boost your immune system?
Well, ladies…it’s been three weeks… and I haven’t had any major illness so far. That means, I’ve officially gone six weeks without getting sick.
Now, I’ve had the sniffles twice. The first time, it went away within a couple days, and I’m about two days in with my current episode. I’ll update this post in a couple weeks.
Cross your fingers!
Seriously, though. This is a huge improvement. Our family has been sick so often and so bad these last few months. I’m excited that we’re doing okay now. If you have kids and you’re interested in reading my review for the kids probiotic, you can check it out here.
FAQ: What Should I Know Before I Try Culturelle Probiotics?
How Should I take the Culturelle Women’s Wellness Chewables?
According to the instructions, you start off by taking these chewables once a day, with or without a meal.
If you’re traveling, or getting the sniffles, try upping your dosage to twice a day. Once in the morning, once at night.
What Are the Side-Effects of Taking Probiotic Supplements
Culturelle warns that their probiotics may cause bloating in the beginning. I didn’t experience that.
What are the benefits of taking probiotics?
We’re still learning about our microbiomes and the benefits of taking probiotics, but here’s some exciting benefits that research has found so far:
- Improved glucose control (during pregnancy)
- Improves lactic acid digestion
- Anti-inflammatory
- May boost your energy
- Balances Yeast Ph
- Boosts the Immune System
- Relieves diarhea
Is It Safe to Take Probiotics During Pregnancy?
Short answer: yep! According to this case study, there were no adverse affects for mom or baby when orally taking probiotic supplements.
Would I Recommend Culturelle Probiotics Women’s Wellness Probiotics Chewables?
So far, I’ve really enjoyed the Culturelle Probiotics Women’s Wellness Probiotics supplements. They taste great, keep things regular, and I haven’t been sick yet. I’m excited to update this review in a couple weeks to let you know the rest of my experiences!
In the meantime, if you’d like to try out the chewables, you can buy them directly from Culturelle for 20% off with the code babyland20.