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 |
19 comments
Reviewing Digestive Advantage-IBS and Align
After approximately ten weeks of using Align ™ probiotic caplets, and filing my objective reports of the experience, I thought it was a pretty good product with some real problems in pricing and supply. {See my Align reviews}
Four weeks ago this past Monday, I started Digestive Advantage-IBS ™ (DA) in caplet form. {See my earlier DA reviews.}At that time, and for a year at least before then, the caplets were readily available through Amazon.com and other online sources, and the chewable tablets could be purchased at the CVS across the street. The price of DA was about half that of Align ™. I knew that DA had the problems of pricing and supply licked.
Problems with GERD on Align
What I didn’t report, in the ten weeks or so that I took Align ™, was that I had ever increasing (and recurring) problems with GERD. After all, Align was a probiotic aimed at affecting digestion in the large intestine. Toward the end of the time on Align, I was taking Prilosec ™ OTC as well as Ranitidine 150 mg. on a daily basis to control GERD.
Prilosec ™ is only supposed to be taken for two weeks, and I had just started DA when the two weeks were up. My GERD was under control for the moment, so I thought, I’ll continue with the Ranitidine and wait and see on the Prilosec, expecting that “any day now” I would need Prilosec again.
IBS and GERD All Clear, on Digestive Advantage-IBS
The “WOW!” in the title is that during the four weeks on Digestive Advantage-IBS ™ I have never needed to go back on Prilosec ™. Align ™ gave me ever-increasing problems with GERD; the NSI probiotic 15-35 that I took before beginning Align also gave me problems with GERD. I thought it went with the territory. Four weeks plus without GERD is amazing to me.
Otherwise, Digestive Advantage-IBS ™ (plus diet, exercise, all that good stuff) has controlled my IBS tummy very well. I have begun to add fruits and vegetables–sometimes cautiously, sometimes not,. When I’ve added a fruit or vegetable that doesn’t work too well for me, and have an evening of a slightly rocky tummy, I take a second DA caplet. Generally in a half hour, and certainly by morning, I’m fine.
Subjective vs. Objective
My report is only subjective, and certainly not a scientific study. In spite of reports to the contrary, Digestive Advantage-IBS does have adequately controlled scientific studies that show significant results for IBS pain and bloating. In addition, my comparison of Align ™ with DA indicates that, while both are a little bit constipating to my system (with IBS-C), DA is slightly more so, making it potentially better for people with IBS-D. The constipating effect can be countered, if desired, by half a teaspoon more of Heather’s Organic Acacia Tummy Fiber ™ or Fibersure ™ or a guar gum Soluble Fiber Supplement.
Summary: A Probiotic for IBS *and* GERD
So, for the purpose of taking a probiotic, and for taking a probiotic that is easily available, and for taking a probiotic that is cheaper than most others on the market, I have a summary comment below.
Bottom Line
Not only a Digestive Advantage, but also a competitive advantage.
October 19th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Probiotics, Align, NSI Probiotics, Digestive Advantage - IBS |
6 comments
Into the third week with Align
The state of my tummy is degrading a bit. I am thinking that Align offers less probiotic than the NSI 15-35 formula I had been taking.
What do I mean by “degrading?”
I am more sluggish–that is, constipated. Also, I have had something like four episodes of reflux in five days. I’ve “medicated up” with both Ranitidine 150 (Zantac ™ 150)) and Prilosec ™. That means that the cost of using Align has gone up, from no cost trial sample to the cost of Prilosec. I have also added ginger tea from Yogi Tea, to enhance elimination. It has been effective.
Is there still an advantage to using Align?
Align has many advantages, starting with its
- FDA approval. That means that you will get a consistent product with a lot of quality control along the way.
- Single small capsule taken once a day — not necessary but nice
- Lots of online support, at AlignGI.com.
- Extensive information at various levels, also at AlignGI.com.
In a word, there are advantages to choosing Align.
Related Posts
The following review of Align begins by examining the packaging, goes on to talk about starting to take Align, and concludes with an offer for a $5 discount Code for ordering Align on the web, plus a call for best suggestions for naming the 1 to 4 scale of reactions to Align.
Examining the Package
OK. We know that Align ™ shipped this reviewer’s first month’s supply in good time. It reached me five days after the shipping date I had been given. But, there was only one month’s supply. (You will remember that I was recruited as the owner of an IBS blog, and promised a two-months supply.) I have held off on reviewing the material and packaging, until I got my doctor’s okay, and the package for the second month had arrived. The package did arrive today, and now I can compare the two packages, which are very different.
You see, the packaging that the first shipment came in–the box, basically–is a light pea soup green with a yellowish tone. It looks like a cross between the vomit of the possessed girl in the Exorcist, and the yucky yellow material in the colon that one sees in a colonoscopy. Not the most hopeful of associations for a person with IBS.
Now I can report that others must have had had the same perception, apparently. The outside box is in the bright and hopeful yellow with dark blue accents that you also see on the Align gi website. The “Daily Digestive Tracker,” an insert found in each of the boxes, is in different colors.
Inside the first month’s packaging, the predominant color is pale yellow with a somewhat yucky tone reminiscent of the comparison to a colonoscopy, and the “Digestive Balance Tracker” echoes those green and yellow shades.
This first record-keeping chart has you entering from a choice of numbering 1 through 4, on how you /your tummy felt that day; also you are given “additional factors” to enter–T Travel, S Stressful day, SP Spicy Problem food, DM Digestive medication (laxative or antidiarrheal, I would think), MC Menstrual Cycle, and NAT No Align Today. It’s a tiny chart with tiny spaces and a brochure with small print. Easy to lose in your kitchen, purse, or desk. Also, “Spicy Problem food” may not be a problem in IBS, except that IBS gets lumped together with other digestive disorders in the physician’s mind. Heather van Vorous suggests that most spices are well-tolerated by people with IBS.
The brochure that came with my second month’s supply is much much more usable. One side of the fan-folding brochure carries all the backgound FAQ / benefits of Align kind of stuff which I will discuss at another time. The other side is devoted to a 9 1/2″ long, by 5″ high, simple “Progress Chart” covering four weeks. It’s a decorative chart you could stick to a kitchen or bathroom cabinet, and fill in as you go. The chart is designed in the following way.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Good!
X X X X
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Not Bad!
X X X
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Better
X X X
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ugh!
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 <--- days on Align, etc.
The words on the side are my translation of their 1 to 4 rating scale for the IBS quality of life on that day.
Please comment with your suggestions for words that match the numbers!
There is green here as well, but it is a soft nice spring green, and the pamphlet is in slightly larger type size and in much stronger contrast.
So you have a nice chart of what they think will be your progress in controlling IBS with Align.
I want to stress here that the reason for the chart is a good one. It emphasizes that Align is not a pill to take only on days when you don’t feel so good because of IBS. In order to do its work and help your body cope with IBS, Align has to be taken every single day. If you travel, take it with you. Take it at the same time of day, every day. Before you leave home in the morning is good. Before bed at night is also good. Each of these times often gets a ritual attached to it; make Align part of the ritual of coping with IBS.
Back to the all-important question of packaging and appearances. In the first month’s box, Align is included in the form of a white plastic vial of small capsules with a black band across the middle. In the second package I received, Align is included packaged in four seven-day blister packs. Each pack has the seven days of the week indicated around the edge, with clear sectioning to match each blister pod with its day of the week.
This packaging resembles birth-control pills in being matched to a woman’s menstrual cycle. For those of us who are past menopause, or male, there seems no point. And I do not understand why menstruating women need 28 Align capsules a month rather than 30 or 31! IBS is not a menstrual disorder, and IBS is not something confined to women. Why would that matter in packaging? My answer, in the absence of any literature justifying their choice of 28 days, is that they get to charge $30 for 28 pills. Most supplements, whether for IBS or not, are sold in multiples of 30. Over the course of a year, Align makes $25 on the more frequent purchase of their IBS supplement.
Starting Align
I got my doctor’s okay on Tuesday, and started taking Align yesterday, and took it again today. Yesterday I felt worse than I had in eight months or so, with IBS symptoms of bloating and constipation and gas, and that kind of pain where you just want to eat something that will make your IBS tummy feel better! Today, this morning and afternoon, also, I felt pretty bad all over, like nausea except I didn’t need to vomit, and didn’t have the sense that vomiting would help. Still constipated.
Since I’ve been taking a probiotic for six months or so, my IBS has been under control. That is, I avoid all the IBS triggers except for a small amount of coffee, and the occasional time that I don’t read the label on a new product that has IBS triggers. And I take a daily 35 to 45 grams of fiber. It’s been good, pain has been gone 95% of the time, I’m not usually C (for constipated).
So, with Align instead of my “high-power” 15 strains of bacteria in 35 billion Colony forming units from NSI, I could, possibly, report
No Difference
Worse than past six months
Worse than past six months and worse than before
In other words, the best outcome by taking Align for my IBS would be “no difference.” Okay, a super super best outcome for my IBS would be the ability to eat yogurt and cottage cheese again. Lettuce would be good, too. I’ll settle for broccoli, though.
Last
Now that I’ve posted the first half of my review of Align, I can offer you a promotional code to get $5 off ordering Align on the web. Please make a comment and request the code.
Also, what are your suggestions for the 4-point scale from 1 to 4 with 4 being the best outcome?
July 13th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Probiotics, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS therapy, IBS-C, IBS-D, Align, NSI Probiotics |
8 comments
I received the following email from Nutraceutical Sciences Institute (NSI) at 4:00 this past afternoon. They, or rather their computer, were very quick to misunderstand.
Thank you for contacting us with your NEW PRODUCT REQUEST.
We appreciate your suggestion!
Your recommendation will be reviewed by our purchasing team
when determining what products we will carry as we expand our selection.
Search www.GoNSI.com or contact our customer service team
today for more assistance finding products.
************************
********* NOTE *********
************************
If you have any product questions, need assistance finding
a product, or need a response beyond this message,
please contact customer service at:
http://www.gonsi.com/help/contact.cfm
Best regards,
Nutraceutical Sciences Institute
[address deleted]
Phone : 1.800.###.####
http://www.gonsi.com
As you know, my original email did not make any request for a new product. Apparently the onus is on me to resend my original email, which I will do now.
June 30th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Probiotics, general, IBS, IBS therapy, IBS-C, IBS-D, NSI Probiotics |
no comments
For those who are interested in the claims for other probiotics besides Align, here is the copy writer’s description of the probiotic I use, distributed by VitaCost. It’s an example of the multiple probiotic approach rather than the single-strain approach. I’m not trying to sell this, or Align. Instead I’d like to provide information, and develop information, about the use of probiotics in IBS-C and IBS-D.
Daily support for healthy digestion!
May also promote optimal immune function.
How Does [deleted product name] work?
Probiotics, also known as “good bacteria,” are bacterial cultures which favorably alter intestinal microflora supporting a healthy intestinal balance.
Besides inhibiting the growth of harmful bacteria, these micro-organisms may help promote healthy intestinal activity, good digestion, and colon regularity.
Probiotics may offer the following benefits:
# Aid in healthy digestion and nutrient assimilation.
# Replenish colonies of friendly bacteria that may be destroyed by antibiotics and certain health complications.
# Counter overgrowth of “bad” organisms in the gastrointestinal tract.
# Enhance immune response (A large percentage of cells of the immune system are located in the digestive tract).
NSI® Probiotic 15-35 is a potent probiotic blend containing 15 different probiotics strains, with each strain offering its own unique health benefits. It also features a superior 35 billion colony forming units (CFU’s) in each two-capsule serving.
NSI® Probiotic 15-35 contains NutraFlora® FOS, a highly-concentrated complex of fructooligosaccharides, or naturally-occurring carbohydrates (also known as “prebiotics”) that are indigestible by humans but serve as food/an energy source for friendly bacteria in the intestines, helping to increase their numbers in the body.
NutraFlora® has been shown in more than 200 studies to improve the absorption of calcium, magnesium and soy isoflavones, which may contribute to bone, immune and digestive health. NutraFlora® also provides added fiber. It’s known to be one of the highest-quality FOS’ available and is used in more than 500 food products worldwide.
NSI® Probiotic 15-35 is manufactured using the patented LiveBac® process for an improved probiotic shelf life, even at room temperature.
In addition, we utilize Viablend™ Gastric Acid Bypass Technology. Unlike enteric coated capsules, which can become brittle and crack or chip, rendering probiotics ineffective when exposed to gastric acids, our capsules deliver more viable organisms to the intestinal tract.
NSI® Probiotic 15-35 with NutraFlora® FOS is better because it:
# Each two capsule serving delivers 35 billion CFU’s and 15 different probiotic strains.
# Contains a high-quality “prebiotic” to nourish and sustain existing friendly bacterial colonies in the intestines.
In contrast, Acidophilus is a single formula probiotic, which comes without ad copy and is sold by the chain drug stores — at least CVS has several brands.
The problem is that here we cannot verify the claims, while the Align web site has lots of material at various levels. We can know that the claim of 200 studies is made for probiotics in general, because various NSI probiotic formulations use almost the same ad copy.
The NSI web site is http://www.gonsi.com/. I’ll write them today and ask them to specify the 200 studies–and provide abstracts.
June 29th, 2007
Posted by
tummyblogger |
Medical, Probiotics, IBS, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, IBS therapy, IBS-C, IBS-D, NSI Probiotics, Online sources, VitaCost |
no comments
