Magnesium plays an important role in many functions of the human body. It has been linked to helping prevent osteoporosis, diabetes, anxiety, migraines, indigestion, constipation and other ailments. Magnesium is also important for activation of cellular energy(ATP,Adenosine triphosphate). While magnesium is one of the most common elements in the human body most people do not intake enough magnesium on a daily basis.

Those with digestive problems will be looking towards using magnesium for it’s laxative properties. Magnesium is a mineral that attracts water to itself, this is mainly where it’s abilities as a laxative come from. It should not be considered a stimulant laxative. This means that it’s milder, better tolerated & the body is less likely to build an immunity to it.

Which magnesium supplement is more potent?

There are two main types of magnesium used for supplements: magnesium oxide & magnesium citrate. Usually magnesium citrate is considered to be more potent.

Nature’s Bounty Magnesium tablets use only magnesium oxide, while Nature’s Way Magnesium Complex uses a blend of both magnesium oxide & magnesium citrate.In this battle Nature’s Way Magnesium Complex comes out slightly ahead due to the inclusion of magnesium citrate, but they do not specify how much of it is included in the 500mg.

Which magnesium supplement is easier to take?

Nature’s Bounty 500mg Magnesium tablets are smaller & have a coating on them to make them easier to swallow. Keep in mind this is only for their 500mg version. Nature’s Bounty also offers a 250mg version that does not have this coating which gives those tablets a rough texture & makes them start dissolving almost immediately when they come in contact with water.

Nature’s Way is in capsule form. The capsules are rather sizable & may be hard to swallow for some. If you find it hard to swallow you can open the capsule & pour the powdered magnesium into food. This is something that is harder to do with the Nature’s Bounty 500mg Magnesium tablets as you’d have to crush those & crushing coated tablets can be a bit of a pain.

Keep in mind that magnesium has a slightly sour taste & very chalky texture. I would not recommend mixing it into most foods.

Which magnesium supplement is vegetarian safe?

This is where Nature’s Way fails as they use a gelatin capsule which is derived from animal products. Nature’s Bounty on the other hand does not have any animal products & is vegetarian safe.

Which magnesium supplement is a better value?

As far as pricing goes on Amazon.com, Nature’s Way Magnesium Complex barely eeks out a win over Nature’s Bounty 500mg Magnesium tablets. Magnesium is pretty cheap regardless of who you get it from.

How much magnesium should I take?

This really depends on what kind of benefit you get from magnesium. I am currently taking two Nature’s Way Magnesium Complex capsules along with six Nature’s Way Psyllium Husk capsules & two Custom Probiotic CP-1 Adult Formula capsules. It would probably be best to start off with one 500mg tablet or capsule & then maybe go up to two or three later on. I would recommend taking the magnesium with fiber & probiotics to aid in their traversal through the digestive system.

Are there any other brands of magnesium you’d recommend?

Though I haven’t tried it personally, Solgar’s Magnesium Citrate tablets may be better than Nature’s Way Magnesium Complex or Nature’s Bounty 500mg Magnesium tablets. It’s 400mg of pure magnesium citrate in tablet form & vegetarian friendly. If I do try it I’ll post a review about it later.

If you’ve tried magnesium supplements for yourself, feel free to leave a comment & let others know if they’ve helped at all.

Related posts:

1. Review: Nature’s Way Psyllium Husks
2. Review: Custom Probiotics CP-1 50 Billion CFU Adult Formula
3. Review: Iberogast for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Psyllium husks come from the seeds of the psyllium plant. Psyllium husks are hydrophilic meaning they are attracted to water & readily absorb it. When saturated with water psyllium husks produce mucilage which is a thick gooey substance. Mucilage creates a film over mucous membranes, such as those found in the intestines. This film can help with the passage of stool as well as lowering inflammation by reducing the chances of irritation.

Psyllium husk is not digestible so it can be thought of as a “bulking agent”, meaning it will help add size to stool potentially increasing the chances of properly formed stool, which can aid with proper bowel movements.Psyllium husk is often advertised as a laxative, but it’s not a stimulant & can be used on a daily basis for those who want to try adding fiber to their their daily diet or treatment regimen. Fiber supplementation can be helpful for things like chronic diarrhea or constipation related to Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Inflammatory Bowel Diseases like Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis.

Nature’s Way Psyllium Husks comes in capsule form. You get 180, 525mg capsules per bottle. The capsules are vegetarian safe(no gelatin). The recommended instructions are to take 6 capsules along with at least 8 ounces of water, once per day. The size of the capsules are somewhat smaller than the Custom Probiotic CP-1 Adult Formula pills or the Nature’s Way Magnesium Complex capsules I’ve been taking along with the psyllium husks.

While it’s possible to take psyllium husk in a non-capsule form, I would not recommend it. I took the contents of 6 pills & mixed it with about 10 ounces of water, letting it sit for about 10 minutes. The result was not very palatable as it was very bland & had the consistency of gruel. It’s best to just keep the psyllium husk in the capsule.

My current regimen is to take 6 Nature’s Way Psyllium Husks capsules, 2 Nature’s Way Magnesium Complex capsules & 2 Custom Probiotics CP-1 Adult Formula capsules. So far this routine is working out rather well. In the past if I took only the probiotics, I’d often end of constipated. If I took only a small amount of the psyllium husk or magnesium I’d end up with diarrhea, cramping or abdominal pain. Combining all 3 seems keep each of them in balance.

So if you’re looking for an easy way to take psyllium husk, go for a capsule form like Nature’s Way Psyllium Husks capsules. I’d avoid any powdered forms of psyllium husk as drinking that stuff will be quite a chore. Definitely look into combining psyllium husk with probiotics and/or magnesium.

Buy Nature’s Way Psyllium Husks capsules from Amazon.com

Related posts:

1. Review: Best Magnesium Supplement? Nature’s Bounty Versus Nature’s Way
2. Review: Custom Probiotics CP-1 50 Billion CFU Adult Formula
3. New Direction For My IBS Treatment

When I first started looking into getting on a serious probiotic regimen I believed the holy grail of probiotics would be a low CFU(colony forming units) probiotic that you could slowly taper up as you got used to it. CFU is a measurement of the number of colony forming bacteria units inside a probiotic supplement. Supposedly the idea is that the more CFU the higher chances the bacteria will populate the digestive system.

My target at the time was around 1 billion CFU. This is why I reviewed a lot of products like Primadophilus for Children & Align. Part of the reason I was concerned with finding a low CFU probiotic was due to the fact that I often experienced herx reactions(flu like symptoms) & constipation when taking probiotics. My thought was that if I go low & slow, my body will adjust as I taper up. I’ve since learned that any probiotic I take gives me these reactions, so for me, low & slow has failed. I was often not taking probiotics because of the symptoms they produced.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the digestive system has literally zillions of bacteria within it. For someone with a serious bacterial imbalance, a 1 billion CFU probiotic product may cause a negative reaction like herx, but not offer any benefit as the bacteria die off before they can do anything worthwhile.

With all this in mind, I decided I needed to try the opposite of a low CFU probiotic by going with a much higher CFU probiotic. If I was going to have to deal with negative reactions, I might as well make sure I am getting maximum benefit. So I went in search of a high quality, high CFU probiotic that wasn’t going to break the bank. While there are specialty products like Mutaflor or VSL#3 (which has 450 billion CFUs per dosage!), they are also costly, often around $60- $90 for a 1-2 month supply. I was also concerned about going from zero or 1 billion CFUs to 450 billion CFUs. This is where Custom Probiotics CP-1 Adult Formula comes into play. CP-1 contains 50 billion CFUs per capsule, has a variety of different probiotic bacteria & is relatively cheap.

Custom Probiotics was established by Harry Bronozian, a chemist & chemical engineer who treated himself for Helicobacter Pylori & Candida overgrowth with high doses(800 billion CFUs) of the CP-1 Adult Formula. You can see him giving a lecture about probiotics on Youtube, Part 1 & Part 2. He seems to know his stuff & appears to have overall good intentions in spreading the use of probiotics.

The CP-1 Adult formula, as mentioned above, comes in a 50 billion CFU probiotic capsule. You get 90 capsules per bottle. Each bottle is $40. The probiotic mix is the following: L. acidophilus, L. rhamnosus, L. plantarum, B. lactis & B. bifidum. Unfortunately there is no breakdown on how much of each strain you’re getting, perhaps this is proprietary information?

CP-1 does not contain any sugars, colorings, flavorings, soy, wheat or dairy products. Inactive ingredients are: Microcrystalline cellulose, gelatin capsules, magnesium stearate & silica. Refrigeration is strongly recommended to maintain potency.

Custom Probiotics recommends a ramping up slowly starting with a single 50 billion CFU pill in the morning & then a single pill in the evening. Then increasing to two pills after 3 days & then three pills after an additional 3 days. You could continue ramping up as high as you need, though it sounds like the suggested topping out area is at 800 billion CFUs per day or 16 capsules per day. Custom Probiotics offers bulk powdered probiotics, so if you’re planning on mega-dosing you may be better off going with one of those products.

When I first started taking CP-1 I got the typical constipation & herx reactions. I got aches & felt fatigued plus the constipation didn’t help things. It felt similar to when I came home one day and downed two GoodBelly BigShots. Even if you stop taking what is causing the herx reaction, it can take up to a week to “recover”. After this reaction I actually stopped using CP-1 for a couple of months.

Things changed last month as I was going through a rough spell with my Irritable Bowel Syndrome & getting chronic nausea. I decided to try a different tactic. I’ve come up with a bit of a cocktail to make taking probiotics a bit more manageable. I take 6 Nature’s Way Psyllium Husks capsules, 2 Nature’s Way Magnesium Complex capsules with 2 Custom Probiotic CP-1 pills. This helps greatly with reducing the chances of constipation. To fight fatigue I have found a less than satisfactory solution in caffeine. Even worse it’s been through Coca-Cola which I haven’t drank in a long time, but it seems to help with the fatigue. I should probably stop the Coca-Cola and use something like green tea perhaps.

The probiotic, fiber & magnesium cocktail did seem to play a part in improving my symptoms. There were a few other factors going on during this time too. I had a canker sore on my inner lip which always makes me feel more fatigued & can make my digestive system feel bad. The weather was acting very inconsistent during this period of time, often fluctuating between wet & dry weather almost every other day. Fluctuating weather seems to have an affect on my system for some reason. The canker sore cleared up & the weather has improved along with my symptoms.

The only reason I stopped taking this fiber, magnesium, probiotic cocktail was because I ran out of CP-1. I just got my new bottle in today which is why I am writing this review. I have plans in the future to try even higher dosages, I am playing it safe for now. Once thing to note is that the capsules are rather large. In fact the CP-1, magnesium & psyllium husk capsules are all the same size, making it a bit of a task to swallow all of them 1 or 2 at a time.

Overall, I think Custom Probiotics CP-1 formula is a good product & a great deal. I don’t think you’ll find a quality product any cheaper than the $40 they’re offering CP-1 for. For people who just need a basic boost, you might only need 1 capsule a day. $40 for 90 dosages(three month supply) is an insanely good bargain! Plus you have the option to taper up to higher dosages later.

Buy from Amazon or Custom Probiotics Website.

Related posts:

1. Align Probiotics Review: First Glance
2. Review: Nature’s Way Psyllium Husks
3. Align Probiotic For Irritable Bowel Syndrome Update

Artichoke extract is taken from the leaves of the artichoke plant. The leaves contain Cynarine which increases bile production from the liver & gall bladder. Bile is a bitter substance that is used in the lower digestive tract to help digest food, especially fats. Artichoke extract also contains luteolin & apigenin which are flavones. Luteolin looks to have some benefits as far as helping control the immune system & reducing inflammation. Apigenin benefits are sketchy at best, but it is a known inhibitor of the CYP2C9 enzyme which many pharmaceutical drugs rely on to work. So if you rely on one of these drugs, you might need to hold off on using artichoke extract despite the dosage of apigenin being small.

Artichoke extract is recommended mainly to improve a person’s digestive health & is recommended for people with things like functional dyspepsia(chronic indigestion) or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. It also appears to help lower cholesterol levels & you may see it advertised as being a supplement for vascular support.

Now Foods Artichoke Extract comes in 450mg vegetarian capsules. The pills are somewhat sizable & they smell like a very strong jar of marinated artichoke hearts(mmm). This extract has been standardized to contain 5% Cynarin, how much someone actually needs is up in the air though. Now Foods’ suggested usage is 1 – 3 capsules daily, preferable with meals.

Inactive ingredients consist of:

• Cellulose
• Potato Maltodextrin
• Silica
• Magnesium Stearate.

So what’s my verdict on them? I took them with meals for about a week. I do believe I saw a difference as far as bile production goes. I am not sure if this is really a good thing as excess bile may have negative consequences, it could be irritating to the digestive tract & on it’s way out it might not be that pleasant. I didn’t really see any improvement in my bowel habits while taking the artichoke extract & it didn’t really help my chronic indigestion. I did feel different, but I can’t really say it was positive or negative. So, unfortunately my results are inconclusive & they could also be marred by other things going on with my health as well. I think the main thing to take away from it is that I felt they did something, possibly increasing bile production. For some people this could be very helpful, for others it may mean nothing & still for others it may very well be a negative.

To sum it up, artichoke extract is cheap & it’s probably something worth trying if you have functional dyspepsia, Irritable Bowel Syndrome or some other digestive ailment. It probably isn’t going to turn your life around, but for some it could make a difference, while for others it may make very little.

Buy NOW Foods Artichoke Extract from Amazon.com

Related posts:

1. Review: DigestActiv Digestive Enzymes From Source Naturals
2. Review: Iberogast for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
3. Align Probiotics Review: First Glance

I recently reviewed GoodBelly BigShot, but for those who do not know about GoodBelly I’ll recap the main idea behind GoodBelly. GoodBelly is an organic, non-dairy, probiotic(Lactobacillus plantarum299v) drink. GoodBelly originally was just a single product but they have expanded their product line to offer GoodBelly BigShot, GoodBelly Splash, GoodBelly Plus & GoodBelly To-Go. The people at GoodBelly were kind enough to furnish me with some samples of GoodBelly Splash which I am reviewing today.

GoodBelly Splash is quite similar to the original GoodBelly, however there are a couple of key difference. For starters, GoodBelly Splash comes in a larger curvy 10 oz bottle. While coming in a larger bottle, it actually has fewer calories overall per serving than the original GoodBelly. GoodBelly Splash achieves this calorie savings partly by using Stevia. Stevia is a natural sugar substitute made from the Stevia plant. GoodBelly Splash still has probiotics in it, a total of 25 billion live and active probiotic cultures per bottle & it comes in 3 different flavors: Mango, Blueberry Acai & Pomegranate Blackberry.

So how does GoodBelly Splash taste? Pretty darn good actually. I couldn’t tell a whole lot of difference between the original GoodBelly & GoodBelly Splash. I tried the Blueberry Acai flavor & my girlfriend tried the Mango flavor. We both agreed that each of them were tasty. Definitely not hard on the taste buds. I noted earlier that GoodBelly Splash has Stevia in it. Normally I am not a big fan of sugar substitutes, especially sugar alcohols like sorbitol because they can cause digestive upset & I can usually detect a flavor difference. This is the first time I’ve had a product with Stevia & I couldn’t really tell it was there. I didn’t actually notice it until a perused the ingredients list.

I think GoodBelly is aiming Splash at people who might normally be stuck with less healthy choices available while on the go. What do you normally see at your local grocery cold drink case? Usually it’s soda, fruit juice, coffee drinks or energy drinks. None of which are very healthy. You could go the bottled water route, but afterwards you might feel a little cheated paying practically the same price as one of those other drinks for plain water. GoodBelly splash gives you something tasty to drink while also not being overloaded with sugar & gives you some vitamins and probiotics. It’s definitely worth a try and is probably one of the healthiest options available in your grocers cold case.

You can grab some coupons for GoodBelly products by checking out out GoodBelly’s 12-day challenge. If you’re interested in some of GoodBelly’s other upcoming products check out the GoodBelly Newest Item’s section on their website.

If you don’t have access to GoodBelly locally you can order some GoodBelly ToGo packets from Amazon.com.

Related posts:

1. Review – GoodBelly BigShot Probiotic Drink
2. Product Review: Goodbelly Probiotic Drink
3. Probiotic Tips: Help Choosing Probiotics

A while back I reviewed the original GoodBelly drink, but for those who do not know I’ll recap the main idea behind GoodBelly. GoodBelly is essentially an organic, non-dairy,  probiotic(Lactobacillus plantarum299v) drink. GoodBelly originally was just a single product but they have expanded their product line to offer GoodBelly BigShot, GoodBelly Splash, GoodBelly Plus & GoodBelly To-Go. The people at GoodBelly were kind enough to furnish me with some samples of GoodBelly BigShot which I am reviewing today.

While the packaging of GoodBelly BigShot looks similar to the original GoodBelly, the contents are quite different. GoodBelly BigShot actually has over twice as many probiotic units in it compared to the original(50 billion colony forming units vs 20 billion). It has no fruit juice in it at all which is probably why it also has less sugar(5 grams vs 9 grams). While the original GoodBelly offers 5 different fruit flavors, GoodBelly BigShot has two: Lemon Ginger & Vanilla Chamomile. Also it’s worth noting that cost-wise, GoodBelly BigShot is about twice as much as the original.

So how does it taste? Well, it’s flavor is probably something you’d have to get used to. While there is no dairy content, it does have a similar flavor to plain yogurt. This is probably due to the probiotic culture & with less sugar it’s not as easy to mask it’s sour flavor. I tried both the Lemon Ginger & Vanilla Chamomile, of the two I think I preferred the Vanilla Chamomile. It seemed as though the Vanilla Chamomile was a bit thicker in texture than the Lemon Ginger.

GoodBelly is leveraging this product as something you can use when you’re in a state of digestive upset, perhaps after a stomach flu or if you’re constipated. While it’s safe to use it every day, I am thinking that some people would have trouble using it as an everyday product unless you’re looking for a hardcore way of getting your daily probiotics.  Also cost has to be considered as at Whole Foods it’s about $8.00 for four(4) BigShots, which is essentially $2.00 per serving. However, I did happen to find a $1.00 off coupon inside the carton, so that’ll help a little bit.

As far as how well it works, I have no doubt in the quality of probiotics GoodBelly puts in their products. Lactobacillus plantarum299v has been researched to show many benefits & probiotics in general are a good idea for practically anyone. My personal experience with probiotics has had it’s ups and downs, sometimes they help, sometimes they don’t. The best way to find out if it’ll work for you is to try it, at least with GoodBelly you’ll know you are getting a quality product and not some dud probiotics.

As a heads up, right now GoodBelly is running a 12-day Challenge promo where you can get some coupons for GoodBelly, plus you can even get a refund if it doesn’t work for you.

If you don’t have access to GoodBelly locally you can order some GoodBelly ToGo packets from Amazon.com.

Related posts:

1. Review – GoodBelly Splash Probiotic Drink
2. Product Review: Goodbelly Probiotic Drink
3. Review: Custom Probiotics CP-1 50 Billion CFU Adult Formula

The solution to this problem is to raise the head of ones bed approximately 3 – 9 inches(8 – 23cm). This allows you to lie down at an angle with your head elevated higher than your feet. The idea is that this should reduce the stress applied to your LES valve and allow gravity to help, rather than hurt. It’s now just a matter of how to accomplish this. Often it’s suggested to head to the lumber store and grab some wood, then stack it up under the bed. This seemed like a lot of work & thus was not my cup of tea which is why I never actually got around to raising my bed until I found these:

Trademark brand Bed Risers

These bed risers are essentially sturdy pieces of molded plastic that are approximately 6 inches high. They look like miniature black traffic cones that had the tops flattened down. You get four per pack which is actually quite a good deal considering they aren’t that pricey(I paid approximately $14 from Amazon.com). The hardest part is lifting up the head of your bed to get them under there. You may need another person to help you out. I was a bit concerned if they’d work with the round feet on my metal frame, but they worked fine as each rounded foot dropped into the dimple on the top of each riser perfectly.

As far as results go, I do believe it’s helped me somewhat with my indigestion. It’s not a miracle cure, but I feel it’s been a sound investment. I’ve only had them under the bed for about a week and a half now. We’ll see if more time leads to greater improvement. It’s highly doubtful this will “cure” you, but it may very well make your nights better.

Buy Trademark 6″ Bed Risers from Amazon.com or if you need more height you can buy the Simplify 8″ Adjustable Bed Risers also available at Amazon.com.

Related posts:

1. Review: DigestActiv Digestive Enzymes From Source Naturals
2. Esophyx Procedure Reduces Heartburn For Some. For Others The Results Vary
3. Exercising for Digestive Health

Review: Nature’s Life Betaine HCl – Hydrochloric Acid

Stomach acid(mainly Hydrochloric acid) is an essential part of the digestive process. It is one of the three main things(enzymes,acid & muscle contractions) your stomach uses to breakdown foods into things like sugars and peptides which your small intestine can then absorb.

Hypochlorhydria is a condition where stomach acids are lower than normal or completely absent. The interesting thing about Hypochlorhydria is that the symptoms are very similar to Gastroesophageal reflux disease(GERD). There may be many people out there who are experiencing GERD like symptoms, but the medication they’re prescribed is either not working or actually makes their symptoms worse. This may mean they are experiencing low stomach acid instead of too much stomach acid. Usually doctors do not check to verify if that is the case or not. If you have Hypochlorhydria or you feel you have upper digestive issues related to low stomach acid you can supplement this Hydrochloric acid in pill form.

Today we’re taking a look at Nature’s Life Betaine HCL. There’s not a ton to go over about these pills as they are rather basic. Along with 648mg of Hydrochloric acid you also get 130mg of Pepsin(protein enzyme). They are rather large pills. The pills have a rather funky odor, this is normal though. The pills do use gelatin capsules, so they do not appear to be vegetarian friendly. It appears the bottle I got was mislabeled because the front has a statement that says “1 Daily” however the instructions state to take 1 – 2 pills with each meal. My current regimen is to just take one pill with meals that I feel I might have trouble digesting, such as meals that are large or may have a high fat content. I do believe it, along with digestive enzymes, does help with bloating occasionally. Has it curred all my indigestion & Irritable Bowel Syndrome? No. Has it helped, to some extent – yes.

With everything, your experience may vary. The only way to know for sure is if you try it out. You can buy Nature’s Life Betaine HCl at Amazon.com.

Related posts:

1. Review: DigestActiv Digestive Enzymes From Source Naturals
2. Hypochlorhydria / Low Stomach Acid Can Cause Heartburn & Indigestion
3. Review: Iberogast for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Digestive enzymes are an essential part of the digestive process. They are one of the three main things(enzymes,acid & muscle contractions) your stomach uses to breakdown foods into things like sugars and peptides which your small intestine can then absorb. Some are born with digestive enzymes up the wazoo while others may be deficient or as they age become deficient. Signs of enzyme deficiency are rather generic and may mimic many others issues. Usually the symptoms are bloating, belching, heartburn, nausea or indigestion. Digestive enzymes are used mainly in the stomach & don’t normally affect the intestinal tract, however upper digestive issues can manifest new or worsen existing problems in the intestinal tract.

Today I am reviewing DigestActiv by Source Naturals which is a multiple vegetarian digestive enzyme pill. It’s pretty much a standard mix of enzymes such as Amylase, Lactase, Protease, Pancreatin(vegetable based), Bromelain along with some herbs such as ginger root, peppermint & black pepper extract. They also throw in some Betaine Hydrochloric Acid(stomach acid) for good measure.

DigestActiv is a good starting point when trying out digestive enzymes because it contains lower doses of these enzymes than some of the other brands. Taking too many digestive enzymes may have the opposite effect of what you’re trying to achieve. The pill size, while not small, is about the same size as a quality multi-vitamin capsule. The serving size on the nutrition info is 2 capsules, but I usually only take one.

Source Natural’s touts that DigestActiv is “Bio-Aligned™” what this means is pretty unclear, it has something to do with their other buzzwordy “SystemiCare” system which seems to be filled with foo-foo words about bodily harmony. Ultimately “Bio-Aligned” & “SystemiCare” seem more like marketing mumbo-jumbo than anything of real value added to the product. I am not going to knock the product on the marketing though as the contents of the pills seems to be of quality.

The pills do have a funky odor to them, but this is kind of normal for digestive enzymes or hydrochloric acid pills. The stomach doesn’t smell pretty, neither should the pills.

My personal experience with these pills is that they do help from time to time & don’t have the overwhelming effect like some of the other digestive enzyme pills I’ve taken in the past.  I’d suggest these for anyone who has never tried digestive enzyme pills or who has but experienced a mild-worsening of symptoms(heartburn & or nausea, etc..), which might have been a symptom of taking too many enzymes. If you’re dealing with Gastroparesis, heartburn, indigestion or Irritable Bowel Syndrome, these are definitely worth a shot.

Buy DigestActiv by Source Naturals from Amazon.com

Related posts:

1. Digestive Enzymes & Irritable Bowel Syndrome(IBS)
2. Review: Nature’s Life Betaine HCl – Hydrochloric Acid
3. Review: Iberogast for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Zoi Greek Style Yogurt Strawberry

The Rise of The Greek Yogurt Empire

Today we’re reviewing Zoi Greek Yogurt.

Zoi Yogurt is made by Auburn Dairy Products. It’s a regional brand found in the Pacific Northwest(USA). The packing is simplistic but charming. It advertises itself as having a “Great Taste – Fit For The Gods”. You can get Zoi in the following flavors: Plain, Vanilla, Honey, Strawberry & Blueberry. One of the best things about the fruit flavors is that they have “Fruit on the Bottom”, which I feel lends to the use of higher quality ingredients and allows one to mix the fruit in or slowly make their way to the fruity explosion awaiting at the bottom. I initially didn’t even know that there was fruit on the bottom(failed to read the label), there was the essence of fruit flavor throughout the yogurt even before I hit the bottom, so the fruit on the bottom was an extra bonus.

Greek style yogurt is a yogurt that has been strained to reduce moisture content. It also has a higher fat content. Those two properties causes it to have consistency similar to a high moisture cheese. I would say it’s half-way between a firm sour cream & a soft cream-cheese. Even that doesn’t quite describe it properly, as the texture is pretty unique.  Basically, it’s thick. If you stick a spoon straight in, it’ll hold the spoon up. The texture is much more satisfying than a lot of the goopey mass marketed yogurt you’ll find  on store shelves.

Zoi Yogurt has Vitamin A & D3, as well as live cultures(S. thermophilus, L. bulgaricus, L. acidophilus, B. lactis, L. rhamnosus & L. casei). This is a cow’s milk yogurt. As far as I can see it looks as though the ingredients are all natural. One thing that might be concerning is the fat & calorie content. For example the Strawberry flavor contains 5g of fat(3.5 of which are saturated fats) & 200 calories per 6oz cup. I actually don’t think that is a big deal as the cups are very satisfying & can easily take the place of your breakfast or lunch. At least you’re getting 7g of protein out of that as well. Also because the texture and flavor is so good, I could easily see someone using it to substitute for something much worse like cheesecake or ice cream without feeling disappointed.

Overall, I really like the product. You can find it at QFC, Haggens, Winco or Top Foods. There is a $1.00 off coupon on their website.

Related posts:

1. Product Review: Goodbelly Probiotic Drink
2. Review: Iberogast for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
3. Review – GoodBelly BigShot Probiotic Drink