Overview
- Doctors say most healthy adults should skip daily probiotic pills and choose fermented foods instead.
- Over-the-counter probiotics are sold as nutraceuticals in India, leaving strain quality and live culture counts uncertain on many labels.
- Consumer interest is strong, with reports citing a probiotic supplement market of about Rs 2,000 crore in 2025 and combined prebiotic–probiotic revenue near $16.8 million in 2024.
- Large studies show gut microbiomes differ widely across countries and individuals, which helps explain why the same probiotic strain can benefit one person and not another.
- Indian firms are pitching personalised plans built on stool DNA sequencing and AI, yet the clearest medical proof still comes from REBYOTA, an FDA-approved therapy that prevents recurrent C. difficile infection.