GoodBelly Probiotic Drinks: Are They Good for Your Gut?
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GoodBelly probiotic drinks are non-dairy drinks with the live and active Lactobacillus plantarum 299v probiotic strain in them. The drinks are manufactured by NextFoods and are the only beverages in the USA that offer this probiotic strain. They are found in the refrigerated sections of many grocery and health food stores, as well as via Amazon.com Fresh Delivery. |
The benefits and characteristics of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v, L. plantarum 299v or Lp299v, as it is often called, from scientific studies are summarized on this page. Note that there is one product, described below, that does NOT have Lp299v in it.
As of late March, 2019, there are these available products (Please always check ingredients prior to consuming as manufacturers change products without notice):
GoodBelly StraightShot (Not Gluten-Free): A non-dairy oatmilk 2.7-oz. shot with 20 billion CFU of Lp299v per serving and no added sugar. Total of 3 grams sugar. One serving per day.
GoodBelly PlusShot (Not Gluten-Free): A non-dairy oatmilk 2.7 oz serving which contains 20 billion CFU of Lp299v plus 9 vitamins and calcium with added cane sugar for a total of 8 g of sugar per shot. One serving per day. Comes in 4 flavors at this time: Blueberry Acai, Mango, Pomegranate Blackberry and Strawberry.
GoodBelly SuperShot (Not Gluten-Free): A non-dairy oatmilk 2.7-oz. shot with 50 billion CFU of Lp299v per serving and no added sugar. Total of 5 grams of sugar. Comes in 2 flavors, Lemon Ginger and Vanilla Chamomile. This is the most potent product in the GoodBelly line of products. One serving per day.
GoodBelly Family-Sized Quarts: 32-ounce cartons of juice with four 8-ounce servings per quart. Each serving contains 20 billion CFU of Lp299V. (Citrus varieties contain 10 billion.) Has added cane sugar. One serving per day.
There are also Gluten-Free Family-Sized Quarts: 32-ounce cartons with four 8-ounce servings per quart. Each serving contains 20 billion CFU of Lp299V. One serving per day.
The quarts are available in various flavors:
- No Added Sugar Orange – Not gluten-free
- No Added Sugar Raspberry Blackberry – Not gluten-free
- Mango – Added sugar and not gluten-free
- Blueberry Acai – Added sugar and not gluten-free
- Tropical Green – Added sugar and not gluten-free
- Pomegranate Blackberry – Added sugar and not gluten-free
- Cranberry Watermelon – Added sugar and not gluten-free
- Peach Mango Orange – Added sugar, gluten-free
- Coconut Water – Gluten-free
- Strawberry Banana – Added sugar, gluten-free
- Tropical Orange – Gluten-free
Infused Beverages (Gluten-Free): In 12-oz. bottle with flavors such as Watermelon Lime, Lemon Ginger, and Orange Pineapple Basil. They have 20 billion CFU of Lp299v per bottle. 5 grams of sugar total per bottle.
Nutrition Bars (Gluten-Free): Honey Almond Butter and Cocoa Peanut Butter flavors with 1 billion CFU of Bifidobacterium lactis BB-12 per bar. They contain added sugars for 9 g of sugar total per bar, 21 total carbs, 3 g of fiber and 9 g of protein. You can find them here.
Protein Shakes (Not Gluten-Free): With 15 g of pea and chickpea protein plus 40 billion CFU of Lp299v per bottle in flavors such as Tropical Coconut, Green Power, and Triple Berry. They contain added sugar for a total of 32-40 g of sugar per 16 oz. bottle.
Probiotic Supplement, Plain (Gluten-Free): Contains 10 billion CFU of Lp299v with potato starch, vegetable magnesium stearate, and hydroxypropyl-methyl cellulose (capsule). May contains trace amounts of soy. You can find it on Amazon.com here.
Probiotic Supplement, Plus Iron, Folic Acid and Vitamin C (Gluten-Free): Also dairy-free, soy-free, and vegan, but with other additives. You can find it on Amazon.com here.
What Are the Pros of These Probiotic Products?
The good points about these probiotic products as I see them are:
- All but the nutrition bars contain the proven strain of probiotic, Lactobacillus plantarum 299v, at a proven dosage (10 billion CFU were used in many studies and all GoodBelly products contain 10 – 50 billion colony forming units of probiotics per serving, depending on the product)
- They are dairy-free
- They are soy-free (except for the supplement)
- They are certified organic so no GMO’s (bars are not certified organic)
- Oat flour used in some of the gluten-free products is from non-GMO oats.
- They offer NSF certified gluten-free products
- Some of the products have no added sugar
- Numerous flavors to suit different tastes
- Dosage of 10 billion CFU per day is suitable for all ages. (Always remember to start with low dosages for a few days to give your body time to adjust before increasing the dosage).
- The plain probiotic supplement is gluten-free, dairy-free and free of most unnecessary additives
What Are the Cons of These Probiotic Drinks?
The cons of these probiotic products as I see them are:
- Most of the products are NOT gluten free and they directly contain oat flour and/or barley malt
- Some of the gluten-free products contain non-GMO oat flour, so beware if you are sensitive to oats
- The juice shots have anywhere from 3-8 g of sugar per little 2.7 oz. shot
- Many of the products contain added sugars, which makes some of the products, such as the Cranberry Watermelon, have 22 grams of total sugar per serving (8 oz.) at the time of this writing. That is a lot of sugar in 8 oz.
- The Plus Iron probiotic supplement has forms of added nutrients that are not the best bioavailable nutrients, plus several additives.
- There is only one species/strain of probiotics in each product, so if you decide to consume these, I recommend that you also consider getting more microbes from fermented foods and drinks and/or probiotic supplements.
Have You Tried GoodBelly? What Do YOU Think About It?
If I were to take this, I would skip all the products with added sugars. You can find other supplements with Lp299v in them on this page.
I'd love to know what YOU think about this drink. Please leave comments in the box below or use the Contact Us form.
Return to Lactobacillus plantarum 299v page.
Return to page with other cultured foods and drinks.
Return to probiotic supplements page.
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