Probiotics… you know you’ve heard the name somewhere before; most likely a yogurt commercial. Probiotics are ‘live’ bacteria… I know, ew, but they are actually ‘good’ bacteria that help digestion and fight against yeast infections (ew, again).

It seems that it is becoming the next new health fad among celebrities, including Jenny McCarthy, Jim Carrey, Mary J. Blige, and others. Since discovering her son Evan had autism in 2004, McCarthy has been a major advocate for autism research and nutritional regimens to help manage the disease.

She’s become very knowledgeable about healthy eating to boost the body’s immunity naturally. She and her son (I’m sure Jim can’t avoid it) are on a diet free of wheat and dairy, and each are on daily probiotics.

She obviously believes in their health benefits: “Everyone should always be on a probiotic every day of their life, especially if they are doing an antibiotic,” says McCarthy.

McCarthy noticed a vast improvement in her son’s condition since she started giving him probiotics: “He started speaking. Words were coming out… Now, he says, ‘I love you mommy.’ And squeezes, hugs and kisses.”

Tina Fey, Blair Underwood and Kevin Dillon all give their kids probiotics, too.

Well, at least this is finally a diet trend that is about feeding your body more nutrition than taking it away. Hollywood’s full of meek looking actors. Keira Knightley looks like a cold could kill her. Then again, how beneficial can probiotics be for celebs if there’s nothing to digest??