Building Healthcare Professional Trust in the Probiotic Space

In today’s crowded health product market, healthcare professional recommendations are more powerful than ever. As supplement shelves flood with claims like “immune support,” “gut friendly,” and “natural,” people increasingly turn to healthcare professionals to separate credibility from clickbait.

But here’s the catch: healthcare professionals don’t recommend lightly.

Their role isn’t to market your product – it’s to protect their patients. That means only a handful of products ever make it past their mental checklist. Yet when a healthcare professional does back a brand, their recommendation carries real weight.

Why Healthcare Professional Recommendations Influence Consumer Trust

Healthcare professionals aren’t influencers, they’re informers. And they’re trusted. Especially in high-growth areas like digestive health, immunity, and women’s wellness, consumers want to know: What does my dietitian think? Would my GP recommend this?

Brands that win healthcare professional support aren’t doing it through deceptive marketing or trending ingredients. They’re doing it through evidence, clarity, and transparency.

How the UK Probiotic Guide Supports Healthcare Professional Recommendations

This is exactly what the UK Clinical Guide to Probiotic Products was designed to do.

Launched in March 2025 and developed by experts from the University of Reading, Leeds, and King’s College London, the guide is a free, independent tool that reviews probiotic products available in the UK based on strain-specific clinical data. It gives healthcare professionals the information they need to confidently recommend a product, or not.

For brands, inclusion in the guide signals credibility. For healthcare professionals, it provides a shortcut to trustworthy choices in an industry often dominated by vague or exaggerated claims.

What Healthcare Professionals Need Before Recommending a Product

Healthcare professionals don’t just want to know what’s in your product, they want to know:

• Is it safe?
• Is it effective?
• Is the evidence clear and relevant to real-life use?

Listing “Lactobacillus” on a label doesn’t cut it. Healthcare professionals want:

• Precise characterisation – e.g. Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG
• Clinically validated dosage
• Clear health indication – e.g. IBS, colic, UC
• Human data from peer-reviewed high-quality studies

The UK Guide brings this clarity, enabling more confident healthcare professional recommendations, and fewer grey-area products in patient conversations.

Applying the Same Standards to Other Functional Ingredients

While the current guide focuses on probiotics, the same principles apply across the board:

• Probiotics: One of the most promising and complex areas in nutrition, with hundreds of options on the market and major differences in efficacy. The guide helps bridge the gap between research and real-world recommendations.
• Prebiotic ingredients like inulin, GOS, PHGG, and FOS are supported by strong evidence for bowel regularity, blood sugar control, immune support, and even potential benefits for IBS and PCOS.
• Polyphenols: Naturally found in foods like berries, olive oil, and green tea, polyphenols show promise in reducing inflammation, supporting cardiovascular health, and modulating the gut microbiome. But dose, form, and bioavailability are key.

For brands, the lesson is clear. It’s less about including on-trend ingredients, and more about using it in a clinically relevant way that earns healthcare professional recommendations.

When Healthcare Professional Recommendations Don’t Happen

Without clear evidence, products might look credible, but don’t hold up to scrutiny, resulting in:

• Vague claims that damage consumer and healthcare professional trust
• Healthcare professionals unwilling to recommend your product
• Confused or disappointed consumers wasting money on underperforming options
• Reduced customer retention and poor brand loyalty

Even a well-formulated product can miss the mark if it’s not backed by clear, accessible clinical evidence.

How Leading Brands Are Gaining Healthcare Professional Support

Brands that successfully gain healthcare professional recommendations tend to follow a few key strategies:

• Lead with the science – use high-quality human evidence to support claims
• Spot market gaps – identify clinically supported strains not yet available in the UK
• Collaborate early with healthcare professionals – design with credibility in mind
• Be transparent – include trial data on your website, packaging, and in HCP materials
• Use trusted third-party tools – like the UK Probiotic Guide
• Avoid overpromising – stick to what the science truly supports

When a product earns professional trust, it earns consumer trust and that’s how lasting brand reputations are built.

Get Involved in the 2026 UK Probiotic Guide

The UK Clinical Guide to Probiotic Products is revised annually. The next review begins in September 2025. 

If your company produces a probiotic supported by human clinical data, you’re invited to submit it for consideration. 

Learn more about the UK Clinical Guide or submit your probiotic products: https://probioticguide.uk 

Search “Probiotic Guide UK” in app stores to download the free app. 

Guest authored by Sarah Danaher BSc MSc RD ASD
Specialist Dietitian | Co-author of the Guide to Probiotic Products Available in the UK