↑
See also the post on Dannon Activia.
You’ve got to be skeptical about the benefits of Activia when the ad I saw tonight said: “Eighty-seven percent of us report some problems with regularity and can [”therefore” is implied] benefit from Dannon Activia, with bifidis regularis.” That is my paraphrase of what I heard about an hour ago. My instant reaction was that either the 87% includes people with IBS or it doesn’t
- If people with IBS are included, then Dannon is making a medical statement that we can benefit from eating Activia, when it fact it may give us violent diarrhea (on top of “normal” diarrhea) because some of us are lactose intolerant. I don’t think that’s a benefit of eating Activia.
- If only people who don’t have IBS are included in the 87%, then that implies that the remaining 13% is composed of people who never have regularity issues and don’t need Activia, and people who *do* have “regularity issues”–because they have IBS–and *shouldn’t* eat Activia.
My guess is that if the statistic is *real* then what they did was ask, in a survey, “Do you ever have irregularity for any reason.” If that is the basis, then option #1 above applies. Dannon Activia is making a medical statement in promoting Activia as usable and beneficial for everyone in their 87% group, regardless of lactose intolerance. Or did they cook the statistic by weeding out people who had already told them they were lactose intolerant?
Someday we’ll know.
Again, the link to the previous post on Activia, and the comments.
March 22nd, 2008
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Probiotics, Digesting Information, Dannon Activia Yogurt |
2 comments
Summary
Quick summary of the For My Tummy position:
Probiotics in pills or capsules that protect against stomach acid, GOOD.
Probiotics in food, exposed to digestive juices all the way to the gut, BAD.
Types of Probiotics
That is to say that probiotics such as Digestive Advantage-IBS ™ and Align ™, both reviewed on this blog, are helpful forms of probiotics, and the strains seem to help more than Acidophilus or the multiple strains in the Neutraceuticals products. Both Digestive Advantage-IBS ™ and Align ™ are encapsulated in such a way that they do not need to be refrigerated, as some probiotics do. They also seem to reach the gut and then have the intended effect of improving gut (large intestine) response in the digestion of foods on an IBS diet, and perhaps extend the range and types of foods that can be eaten.
Probiotics in Food
Probiotics as food additives are unlikely to produce such help, because they are unlikely to reach the gut with their probiotic bacteria intact. Dannon’s web site section for health professionals summarizes a study that says that indeed their probiotic travels the entire digestive tract and emerges in the same strength–and then omits all the details that help to judge a study’s validity. Not to mention that people with some digestive problems have lactose intolerance, strong enough that they cannot eat yogurt. The encapsulated pill/capsule form of probiotic stays together and protects the contents, the millions of “colony-forming” GOOD bacteria that will change the digestive activity in the gut in a good way.
Immune System Probiotics
This–the unlikeliness to be helpful–also goes for DanActive, ™ which contains “l-casei immunitas” ™ as its resident strain of bacteria. In contrast, if increased immune function is what you want, search here for the Ganeden Biotech product Sustenex ™. Sustenex provides an encapsulated form of patented probiotics that are designed to bypass digestive juices in the upper digestive tract. I’m holding off on a wholehearted endorsement, just because I haven’t investigated the research, and only know that Dr. Mehmet Oz is a fan.
Further Information
See the many posts here; search on “probiotics” and on “Dannon,” or select the category “Probiotics.”
Feel Welcome to Comment
Thanks for visiting; please leave a comment below, by clicking the “Comments” link.
January 25th, 2008
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Probiotics, Align, NSI Probiotics, Digesting Information, Dannon Activia Yogurt, Digestive Advantage - IBS, Sustenex |
17 comments
Sustenex ™ is a variant on Ganeden BC ^30 ™, a probiotic used also in the Digestive Advantage ™ line of products for IBS, IBS-C, Crohn’s Disease, and Lactose Intolerance.
Sustenex, however, is marketed as a health-promotion product, rather than as a health-improvement product like the Digestive Advantage line. I cannot find out from the online literature whether there is the same amount of Ganeden BC^30 in each of the Ganeden products. I would be interested to know the differences among their products.
The reason I have been reading the Sustenex materials at www.sustenex.com is that I received a press release from them (Ganeden Biotech), which is reproduced here, without the main image.
1-800-456-0276 DigestiveAdvantage@GanedenBiotech.com
Dr. Mehmet Oz radio show on Oprah & Friends™:
Date: Thursday, November 15th
Time: 7:00am, 1:00pm and 7:00pm
How to listen to the show: Tune in to XM Radio channel 156 or click here! to sign up for a 30-day free membership.
Dr. Mehmet Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen, renowned doctors in cardiology, anesthesiology, and wellness are also the best selling authors of the YOU series of books. Their latest book, YOU: Staying Young was just released and is on the New York Times Best Sellers List.
Learn more about probiotics >>
Learn more about GanedenBC30 (Bacillus coagulans), our patented strain of probiotics >>
I am traveling out of town, and may not get to listen. Would you like to write a guest review of the radio show for the blog? Contact me tummyblogger [at] gmail.com?
And, to find out more about probiotics, especially for tummy problems such as IBS-C and IBS-D, and even IBS-A, read the following articles on this blog:
Originally from October 2006, on promising medical research:
http://www.formytummy.com/2007/04/20/medical-research-on-probiotic
Recommended Reading on Probiotics:
http://www.formytummy.com/2007/07/08/recommended-reading-on-probiotics-and-prebiotics/
And the series on Probiotics 101 and 102, as follows:
That even funnier word, SYNbiotics, is covered in this article:
http://www.formytummy.com/2007/07/09/prebiotics-plus-probiotics-synbiotics/
Don’t forget PREbiotics, described in this article:
http://www.formytummy.com/2007/07/09/prebiotics-plus-probiotics-synbiotics/
November 14th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Probiotics, general, Digesting Information, Sustenex |
one comment
The Second Brain
There is an actual physical finding in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), that indicates that IBS is not “all in the head.” All in the nerves, maybe, but not all in the head.
The Three Nervous Systembs
To begin with, we need to understand that our bodies have three nervous systems:
- CNS - The Central Nervous System
- PNS - The Peripheral Nervous System
- ENS - The Enteric Nervous System, or the “second brain”
The CNS - Central Nervous System - consists of the brain and spinal column.
The PNS - Peripheral Nervous System - consists of the very long nerves that run along our arms and legs to our hands and feet.
The ENS - Enteric Nervous System - is the nerve tissue that lines our gut = the viscera = (mostly) small and large intestine.
And Serotonin
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays an active role in the activity of neurons in the brain (CNS) and in the gut (ENS) . This activity, to simplify it all, either speeds impulses along the nerve pathways, or (as lack of activity) slows down nerve impulses.
Motility and Serotonin
What do you suppose that would do for motility–the ability of the gut to move its contents along easily, nicely, and calmly to the desired end. That’s right. The role of serotonin and the balanced action of serotonin affects both the speed of thought and the motility of the gut.
“Chemical Imbalance”
Depression is the major chemical imbalance in the brain that reflects an unbalanced serotonin activity. Not exactly similarly, just in somewhat the same fashion, IBS (IBS-C and IBS-D) are in part the result of a “chemical imbalance” of the Enteric Nervous System (ENS), the nerves that operate your gut, which rely on serotonin to transmit signals from one nerve ending to the next.
Balancing Serotonin
That’s why a gastroenterologist (gut doctor) may prescribe a tricyclic antidepressant, not because she or he is treating your head or thinks you are depressed. It is, rather, because he or she wants to give your Enteric Nervous System (ENS) more serotonin to work with for a better-balanced ENS.
August 27th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Medical, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS-C, IBS-D, Digesting Information, IBS Symptoms |
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The term Repressor-Sensitizer is a psychological term used to describe a certain kind of reaction to the discovery of symptoms or of illness. This kind of person, and I’m one, is accustomed to just keeping on keeping on, just hanging in there and getting it done. Until, that is, she or he notices signs of illness, or a usual test produces unusual results, or the doctor sends the person for a lot of dramatically invasive tests.
Then the ability to ignore small physical things that are not quite right goes out the window. Every shift and change in physical functioning gets noticed, felt strongly, and worried about. This is the shift from repressing bodily discomfort to becoming sensitized to every twinge–in your inner ear, in your kidney, and, of course, in your intestines.
I want to introduce the term ‘repressor-sensitizer’ in advance of a discussion next week of two very recent high-profile articles in the medical journal Gut. I think it helps to have the main term I’m going to use clearly in mind before reading my critiques of the Gut articles.
August 25th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Medical, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Digesting Information, IBS Symptoms |
one comment
The following material is designed specifically for people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It may be useful to people who have occasional constipation or diarrhea or non-specific tummy pain. As usual, this is not medical advice. It will be helpful to read the Fiber in IBS Glossary, posted two days ago, and you might want to reread the post titled Fiber for IBS 101a.
There are three points in this follow-up post. I will be talking about how the role of fiber in establishing a real comfort level with your tummy. The three points, as questions, are:
- What does fiber do in your body?
- What kind of fiber do you need to have that beneficial effect?
- How much of the right kind of fiber do you need each day?
What Does Fiber Do in Your Body?
As your background reading indicates, there are two kinds of fiber, soluble and insoluble.
First, insoluble fiber (IF) is bulk, or roughage. It increases the size of the stool as the stool is forming and passing through the large intestine (=large bowel). This is the kind of fiber that many doctors are suggesting you take when they say eat more fruits and vegetables, and take Metamucil ™ or another psyllium laxative/fiber. IF is also the kind of fiber that many many people with IBS have tried and given up on, because it makes things worse.
Second, Soluble Fiber (SF). Soluble fiber in supplement form (SFS) dissolves completely in water, and when it reaches your large intestine it blends with the contents of your digestive system as it comes from the small intestine, and *there* it forms a gel. I will tell you that the following comparison may gross you out. Still, please read on.
The gel that’s formed in your large bowel has somewhat the consistency of a tube of toothpaste, and your large bowel squeezes it along until the gel-like stool is eliminated. This is the result of taking a Soluble Fiber Supplement (SFS).
The effect of taking adequate amounts of SFS is very easy passage of formed stools, not too loose and not too hard, dry, or painful. The gel-forming effect of SFS works with the loose and watery stools of diarrhea (IBS-D) as well as with those of IBS-C.
What Kind of Fiber Do You Need to Have that Beneficial Effect?
In order to have the help of fiber to change the nature of the stools you pass, you need adequate amounts of a soluble fiber supplement (SFS) for your IBS-D or IBS-C. Right now in the U.S. the available supplements are FiberSure ™ and Heather’s Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber ™, and perhaps some store brands.
- FiberSure is pure powderedinulin, made from chicory root. It is also FDA approved for use in treating constipation.
- Heather’s Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber is pure powdered acacia. It may be classed by the FDA as a “medical food.”
- Store brands that are still in place that mimic the old form of Benefiber, ™ and have guar gum as their active ingredient. (I have tried to check out a report that Wal-Mart has such a store brand SFS, with no success.)
How much of the right kind of fiber do you need each day?
How much SFS do you need, and how do you get there? How do you change over from Metamucil ™ or FiberCon ™ or Konsyl ™? Do you also need Metamucil ™?
To my way of thinking, you need to gradually add an SFS to your daily routine, while also gradually reducing the amount of any IFS you have been taking. Carrots and apples and other vegetables and fruits that are sources of SF should be switched to steamed or blended forms, with no sugar added.
Basically, you are going for a daily intake of 30 to 45 grams of soluble fiber. That varies from individual to indivual according to size, weight, and age. To find the right amount, you gradually increase your SFS intake until your stools are the kind of softened and formed “gel” that I described above.
If you reach 40 or 45 grams of SF per day, without getting these results, please consult your doctor.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is that in taking an SFS you take it every day, and build up until the amount is adequate for a comfortable, formed stool.
August 23rd, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
fiber, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS-C, IBS-D, FiberSure (tm), Heather's Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber (tm), Benefiber (tm), Digesting Information |
2 comments
The following paragraph on Heather’s web site caught my eye:
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) Supplements
Supplements for the dietary management of IBS can be unbelievably helpful for stabilizing digestion. This is particularly true when they’re used as one of the five key strategies for controlling Irritable Bowel Syndrome (proper diet, stress management, alternative therapies, and prescription medications are the other four).
Soluble fiber supplements, herbs that have medicinal effects on the gastrointestinal tract, heat therapy, probiotics, calcium and/or magnesium, and digestive enzymes are all of proven benefit. Best of all, results are usually felt very quickly - sometimes even immediately (emphasis mine). ((1 from the Help for IBS Website
http://www.helpforibs.com/supplements/))
see also
http://www.helpforibs.com/footer/treatments.asp
Not to throw a wet blanket on your hopes of instant relief–well, yes, I’ll throw that wet blanket after all.
Starting diet change, discovering that indeed there are more triggers than you thought, finding the right supplements, all take time. It took me at least three months. Then, too, probiotics take at least three weeks before they begin to give relief. So IBS treatment in full does not produce rapid results. Yes, parts of a treatment regimen do, such as putting a heating pad on a painful tummy, or drinking fennel tea for gas and bloating. Getting IBS under control, though, takes time.
August 19th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
fiber, Probiotics, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS therapy, IBS Triggers, Digesting Information, Prebiotics, Adjuncts, IBS Symptoms |
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Introduction
I had a friend who helped me startup a counseling center.
He was a neurologist, who said something that really stayed with me. He said “When I see a patient for the first time, I know within five minutes what I’ll find on examination, and how I’ll treat the person. The rest is interaction–teaching and listening.”
How can he know within five minutes what is going on with a patient? Here is a quote from a medical review article on IBS that lays it out. Knowing this information, and related information about other disorders and diseases, a doctor — all right, a good doctor — is generally quite clear on what to do next. It’s just that the patient, one of us, is still in the dark.
The Bullet
The doctor is practiced in knowing and reciting back “the bullet” - the briefest possible summary of a disorder or disease, and the briefest possible summary of a patient, his or her complaints and treatment. Here in the opening paragraph of a review article on Irritable Bowel Syndrome, is “the bullet.”
New England Journal of Medicine Article
Irritable bowel syndrome, a common disorder in which bowel habits are altered in association with abdominal pain or dis comfort, has a prevalence of 12 percent among adults in the United States and a similar prevalenceworldwide. By definition, no mechanical, biochemical, or overt inflammatory condition explains the symptoms. Validated, symptom-based criteria for the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome are highly predictive in the absence of alarming symptoms such as weight loss, fever, and intestinal bleeding. The pain or discomfort experienced by patients with irritable bowel syndrome often leads to health care use and a decreased quality of life. Diarrhea is a symptom that often leads to medical consultation, since it can be inconvenient and, if associated with urgency, may be accompanied by fecal incontinence, an altered lifestyle (owing to frequent trips to the bathroom), and anxiety. Constipation may be associated with bloating, discomfort, and an altered body image. The quality of life was reported as impaired in people with irritable bowel syndrome who sought medical care but only marginally reduced in those who did not seek medical care. The therapeutic goal is both a reduction in the severity and frequency of symptoms and an overall improvement in the quality of life.
How Disappointing
After you’ve gone through various tests beyond a simple blood test, all the way to having a colonoscopy, to be offered a “therapeutic goal” rather than a “cure” is a disappointment. So you may begin to distrust the doctor.
Now
What do you think?
August 19th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Medical, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS therapy, Digesting Information |
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“Medicine Has Dropped the Ball on IBS”
I recently read a letter of praise for the dietary method of managing IBS, which is a medically endorsed therapy for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). In the middle of his self-congratulation, he inserted a slam against “medicine” for not dealing with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).
The best we have are some risky medicines that can reduce the impact on the body of a seriously “messed-up” large intestine (large bowel). As I read it, these medicines are not something you would want to take, or depend on, forever. Rather, they take a very bad situation–constant constipation or diarrhea–and improve the problem to the degree that good dietary control and use of the full daily amount of fiber can take effect. These medicines are not “magic pills” for IBS.
Slams
I see slams, such as I mentioned above, all the time from people with IBS, and would like to offer a gentle, general correction.
IBS Is Functional
The nature of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is that it is a “functional disorder.” That means that doctors can identify a symptom picture and some of the physical elements that produce that symptom picture. So far, so good. Medicine is (sort of) in our corner, here.
Just Like Everyone Else
But what we who have IBS often want to know is why no one is working on a magic pill that would attack the cause or causes of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). The magic of the magic pill is that we would then be able to eat anything and everything, just like everyone else.
The wish of people with disabilities is to be as normal as possible, to use a cane rather than a crutch, to use a crutch rather than a wheelchair, to have people talk to the person in the wheelchair, rather than the person pushing the wheelchair. In the same way, people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) want to live in a way as close to normal as possible.
Medicine Offers Crutches, not Cures
What medicine offers, so far, is crutches. Immodium ™ and Miralax ™, Kaopectate ™ and Metamucil ™. We get wise to them. We know they are not giving us a cure, only a crutch to get by on.
It is so frustrating! Yet there is no identified single physical mechanism that could be regulated by a magic pill. An adequate amount of (soluble) fiber daily comes closest. The research results on enteric-coated peppermint come very close also.
The question
Why don't we want to hear that? Why do we still want that magic pill that sets everything right? Since serious and consistent dietary change and an increase to an adequate and regular amount of soluble fiber every day work so well for people who try it, why do we still say that medicine has let us down?
I know people have strong feelings on this. Perhaps you could tell me if I didn’t make my case. Do you need a pill for IBS?
August 12th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS therapy, Digesting Information, Adjuncts, Enteric Coated Peppermint |
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The Problem
In traveling the web I occasionally come across someone with IBS who is struggling with the idea the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is “all in your head.” Then too there are the 50 or so articles I’ve seen that say that hypnosis, or cognitive therapy, or yoga, or meditation, provide symptom relief in IBS.
The Studies
The idea that the illness is “all in my head” is bosh, from my retired psychologist perspective. The studies that show that meditation, yoga, hypnosis, or cognitive therapy, or biofeedback are a different story. Some of them are carefully done and well-controlled. They show that with coaching in the specific techniques mentioned, people with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) are able to train themselves to control the symptomatology of IBS. I have no problem with that. These studies do not prove that IBS has a mental causation.
Misunderstanding the Studies
The following short item that I stumbled on in following Google leads is toxic and corrosive and damaging to people with IBS and those around them, who then assign blame of various kinds to people with IBS, and increase the pain and problems we face.
Psychological Treatment for IBS
by Will Meek
May 26, 2007
There is a growing belief that certain somatic problem like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) are inherently tied to mental health problems; in the case of IBS, certain anxiety disorders. The CBC is reporting on research that has shown psychological treatments like psychotherapy and hypnosis are effective at reducing IBS symptoms. The article has an interesting conceptualization for consumers on how the mind-body interaction can take place and create something like IBS, and I hope that there is continued movement in this area since diet management alone may not get at the core, underlying problems.1
What are the problems with this brief article? Let me count the ways:
o “There is a growing belief”
+ who believes and exactly what do they believe and what does belief have to do with the science of psychology?
o “certain somatic problems like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)”
+ “Like” but not really? [emphasis in the quote is mine]–The author goes on to talk only about IBS, not as a real somatic problem but as something like a somatic [bodily] problem. Thus the points that follow don’t apply directly, do they?
o “The CBC is reporting some research”
+ What is the CBC? At a minimum, establish why we might believe their reporting of research.
o The author tells us what the research shows: “psychological treatments like psychotherapy and hypnosis are effective at reducing IBS symptoms.”
+ Yes, that’s pretty well established. We know that many small studies show such effects. We don’t know about the other small studies that showed no effect, and we don’t know how the people with IBs and the control group(s) were selected.
o The author describes something in the article but doesn’t show it or link to it, only uses it to prove a point.
+ How does it prove anything if we don’t have the data?
o Finally, the author states that “diet management alone may not get at the core, underlying problems.”
He or she has jumped to a planned conclusion that IBS is a somatic problem that represents deep underlying psychological disturbance and requires treatment.
Summary of the Debunking
Nothing in the “proofs” brought by this author establish his or her conclusion. It is the result of backward thinking. The psychological treatments listed do not treat people who are diagnosed with mental illness, and somatic problems are not diagnosed in connection with mental illness.
Closing
If you have IBS and something is bothering you psychologically, then see a professional–a psychologist, psychiatrist, or clinical social worker–and work on what troubles you . If you have IBS and are managing a self-help regimen of diet, fiber, probiotic, and perhaps one of the above listed therapies, I suspect you are no more abnormal than most of the working people of the world.
August 8th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
IBS therapy, Digesting Information |
2 comments
FMT featured in DHSB
For My Tummy was featured in the August 1st issue of Digestive Health Smart Brief, a newsletter that is distributed to the offices of Gastroenterologists for their patients, including those with Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS). It is also available in electronic form, by subscription. You can either email a particular issue to yourself, or subscribe, just below the header.
Locating FMT in DHSB
The place to find the For My Tummy reference is down the right hand side below the fold, in the colored box with the title Patient Perspectives. They excerpted my recent post of the recipe for tuna melt.
The Feature
That feature in the colored box, Patient Perspectives, is not just about irritable bowel syndrome (ibs). The feature editor finds various blogs, and perhaps forum posts, on a number of different Gastroenterological problems, so, no, I’m not going to appear every week/month. Ah well.
August 6th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Food for IBS, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Digesting Information |
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Changes in Protein Intake
Adopting a dietary approach to managing Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) means radically changing your sources of protein. No more red meat or scrambled eggs, for example. No more chicken or turkey dark meat, and no more four glasses of milk.
Examples of Alternative Protein
Soymilk can vary in protein content from a low of 3 grams to a high of 11 or 12 grams. I don’t have a handy milk carton to make a comparison.
There are 21 grams of protein in a 3 oz. can of salmon, and 16 grams of protein in a salmon fillet - go figure. A 6 oz. can of tuna has 13 grams of protein.
Good Level of Protein
You need dietary ways to maintain a good level of protein. What is a good level? Think 40 to 60 grams of protein every day for adults, depending on body weight and stress level. By stress level, I mean still growing, pregnant or lactating, or elderly. Weight lifting makes efficient use of protein, so a larger amount is not needed. Endurance training requires relatively more protein.
High Fiber plus Enough Protein
While the gradual shift to a high soluble fiber diet is critical in the therapy of IBS, the needs of your body for protein should not be neglected.
August 3rd, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS therapy, IBS food, Digesting Information, IBS Diet |
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