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

Mississippi State University is reporting that, “TaTonka Gold”, their living dog mascot had to be euthanized due to a number of health problems, one of which was Inflammatory Bowel Disease. This reminded me of an article I saw a few weeks back: “Treating inflammatory bowel disease in dogs” from the Washington Post’s website. That article involved a pet owner writing in about their dog’s digestive problems, the answer they received back was too look into the possibility that their dog has IBD.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease in a pet mainly manifests itself as chronic vomiting, chronic diarrhea or both along with gas and/or a bloated appearance. An endoscopy with biopsies is usually required to confirm the diagnosis. The endoscopy may also reveal lesions or ulcers along the pet’s lower digestive system similar to Ulcerative Colitis. While gender, sex & age don’t often play a part in the diagnosis, the mean age for IBD in dogs is 6.3 years while in cats it’s 6.7 years. There is a chance that German Shepherds, Yorkshire Terriers, Cocker Spaniels, and purebred cats have a higher incident rate, but any dog or cat breed can develop IBD at any age. Often the cause of the IBD is unknown & may be related to autoimmune disorders.

Initial treatment is often a change in the pet’s dietary habits. The pet is often given food with a new & more pure protein source. This may involve the pet owner making the food for the pet out of something other than chicken or beef, e.g. lamb or venison. If the pet has a known food allergy to the available alternative protein sources, changing protein source may not help, but finding a purer form of the meat they are used to eating may help.

One thing I am going to rant about here is the horrible quality of most brand name pet food. For a long time I was using Pet Promise which was a product that had no byproducts & sourced it’s meats from local farms. Unfortunately Pet Promise closed it’s doors in January 2010. It’s a real shame because they produced a quality pet food that was only a few dollars more than the stuff full of chicken feathers & corn flour. The best alternative available now is Blue Buffalo which is considerably more expensive & may not be available locally. But you can find it on Amazon, Blue Buffalo for Cats – Blue Buffalo for Dogs.

If dietary changes do not help, the same medications available for humans with IBD are available for pets as well. These drugs are mainly corticosteroids, anti-inflammatory & antibiotic drugs. Caution should be taken when dealing with corticosteroid drugs as they work by suppressing the immune system. There are also probiotics available for pets, which could provide a benefit similar to that seen in humans.

Like with humans, there is no cure for pet IBD, but diet management, use of drugs when appropriate & lots of loves, usually allows the pet to continue to live a good quality life.

Related posts:

1. Genetically Altered Probiotic May Help Inflammatory Bowel Disease
2. Study on Antibiotics is Related to Inflammatory Bowel Disease Not IBS
3. BioLineRX’s TLR-9 Immunotherapy For Inflammatory Bowel Disease

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

This opens brand new avenues to treat various autoimmune diseases of the gut, including inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer, all which can be triggered by imbalanced inflammatory immune responses[.]

The results have not been tested on humans yet and some people may be hesitant about taking a genetically modified organism, though I am sure those who have dealt with an Inflammatory Bowel Disease for long enough probably wouldn’t care where it came from, so long as it worked. This may also open doors for those with other kinds of digestive problems such as those with Irritable Bowel Syndrome or even Colon Cancer.

Unfortunately there is no word on when a human study may take place or when we might see this modified probiotic on store shelves.

Related posts:

1. Study on Antibiotics is Related to Inflammatory Bowel Disease Not IBS
2. Differences Between The Irritable Bowel & The Inflammatory Bowel
3. Accutane Linked To Crohn’s / Ulcerative Colitis / Inflammatory Bowel Disease

The main difference between the two is that Irritable Bowels Syndrome is a functional disorder, meaning there is little to no physical evidence of the disorder besides it’s symptoms. Inflammatory Bowel Diseases are not functional disorders and are diagnosable based off of physical evidence. Irritable Bowel Syndrome is usually much less severe than Inflammatory Bowel Diseases. Additionally “Inflammatory Bowel Disease” is not the actual name of a disease, but a classification for bowel diseases of an inflammatory nature. The two main Inflammatory Bowel Diseases are Ulcerative Colitis & Crohn’s Disease. They are not the same thing, though they have similar symptoms & treatments.

I made this handy chart below so people can get a better idea of the differences.

Related posts:

1. Genetically Altered Probiotic May Help Inflammatory Bowel Disease
2. E. Coli’s Relationship With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
3. Study Shows Overactive Inflammatory Response For Those With Crohn’s Disease

I don’t find this terribly surprising as our digestive tract is teaming with all sorts bacterial flora. There is no jack of all trades probiotic that does everything for the digestive tract. There are also many different sub-strains of probiotics out there. If you go to the store you’ll probably see a lot of bottles labeled as being L. Acidophilus, however each company breeds it’s own strain(unless the companies outsourced from same lab) of L. Acidophilus so you might even get slightly different results depending on which brand you choose. There also may be a host of probiotic sub-strains we haven’t discovered yet. This is why something like fecal transplantation is interesting because it takes a working bacterial ecosystem and transplants it into someone who does not have one. It’s hard to slowly rebuild a healthy bacterial ecosystem with only a handful of bacteria, especially when we do not know which bacteria are most effective for each person & we may even be missing some.

Related posts:

1. Genetically Altered Probiotic May Help Inflammatory Bowel Disease
2. Differences Between The Irritable Bowel & The Inflammatory Bowel
3. Fecal Transplantation Helps With Crohn’s, Ulcerative Colitis, IBS, Clostridium difficile Infection.

Step 1. Symptoms & Diganosis

It’s important to know what you have.

Symptoms of a yeast infection:

• Burning
• Itching
• Irritation
• Soreness
• Odd discharge
  

Symptoms of bacterial vaginosis:

• Burning
• Itching
• Irritation
• Soreness
• Odd colored discharge(yellow, grey, green)
• “Foul” odor(examples: fishy, rotten meat or eggs, dirty gym socks).

There are also people who only have chronic itching & irritation only on the exterior of the vagina. This could still be a sign of a yeast, fungal infection or bacterial infection & it would be wise to follow the treatments steps below.

Many times the differences between a yeast infection & bacterial infection is a strong odor, but there are always exceptions to the rule. For accurate diagnosis it is probably best to seek a doctors opinion.

Step 2. Treatment

Bacterial Vaginosis Treatment

You need to treat whatever acute infection is present before you can move on to more permanent solutions of prevention. Usually with bacterial vaginosis antibiotics are given to the patient, which are taken(usually orally) for 7 – 10 days. If you do not want to take antibiotics or do not have immediate access to a doctor you can try a douche mixture of 1 tablespoon(or 15ml)  hydrogen peroxide to 1 quart(or 1 liter) of distilled water. Repeat this for 7 – 10 days. Normally douches are not recommended & it is definitely not recommended you use this as a regular treatment. The bacteria that reside in the vagina normally produce hydrogen peroxide themselves. Douching the vagina will clear out both good & bad bacteria, this method is used to rid yourself of bad bacteria that have overrun the good bacteria. If you do not have a douche handy, you can try Cara Douche Syringe Bulb, it’s got pretty good reviews on Amazon.com.

Yeast Infection Treatmeant

Most stores will offer a variety of yeast infection treatments. You’re welcome to try any of them you like. Many have reported more success with longer duration treatments, for example using Monistat 7 instead of Monistat 3. In some cases yeast can be extremely resilient and may not be knocked out entirely by many of the products on the store shelves. In this situation you might want to try Gyne-Lotrimin 7, which has clotrimazole, a very potent anti-fungal medication(yeast is part of the fungus family). Gyne-Lotrimin 7 is an off the shelf product but is not carried in many stores.

For those experiencing external vaginal itching it still would not hurt to try treatment with Gyne-Lotrimin 7 just to rule out a mild, but resilient yeast infection.

If all else fails you will want to talk to your doctor to see if there is anything more potent or to verify you have a yeast infection.

Step 3. Prevention

If all has gone well you should be rid of your current infection be it bacterial or yeast based. If you are not you may have a yeast infection instead of a bacterial infection, or vice versa, or you may not have either and should seek medical guidance to ensure you are not dealing with something entirely different.

Prevention breaks down into two steps, supplementation & habits.

Step 3a. Preventative Supplements

Vaginal Probiotics (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

Your vagina has an eco-system all it’s own. It’s actually somewhat similar to the digestive tract as it relies on healthy bacteria called probiotics to maintain the healthy eco-system. The most common strain of probiotic found in the vagina is L. Acidophilus. L. Acidophilus creates hydrogen peroxide in the vagina, which kills off bad bacteria. It does so in small, controlled amounts so as to not kill off the good bacteria as well. When you take antibiotics or use a douche usually it will wipe out all the good bacteria as well as all the bad bacteria. This can set you up for chronic recurring problems because your vagina will essentially be defenseless to foreign bacteria or yeast. Even if you haven’t taken antibiotics recently & you do not douche you can suffer imbalances which may cause the loss of healthy bacterial flora.

So the question is, how do you restore healthy flora back to the vagina? Many times you will hear from friends or even doctors to “eat more yogurt” or “take probiotics”. This actually doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. If you are taking these probiotics orally you are very unlikely to see vaginal benefits. The digestive tract is not in anyway connected to the vagina. The digestive tract will not absorb probiotics into the blood stream and transport them to vagina. The only plausible scenario I have heard that allows probiotics from the digestive tract to cross to the vagina is through anal-vaginal crossover. Essentially relying on fecal residue either on the skin or on underwear to find it’s way into the vagina. This is not a reliable or quick way to restore healthy vaginal flora and many many women have found out that eating a bunch of yogurt or taking an oral probiotic has done nothing to improve their condition.

The solution here is introducing probiotics directly to the vagina itself, bypassing the digestive tract altogether. The only problem is that there hasn’t been a lot of research in developing a vaginal probiotic suppository, at least in the USA. If you live in Canada or Austrialia you might want to look for the products EcoVag or GynOphilus. You might be able to find these through overseas pharmacies if you’re in the USA, but it will be costly for transportation.I am not quite sold on EcoVag or GynOphilus mainly due to their cost.

It’s important to realize that probiotics are rated by CFUs(Colony Forming Units), the more CFUs the higher the likelihood the bacteria will set up shop. However, too much bacteria could lead to irritation & be counterproductive. There are many probiotic products on the market that tout they have billions of CFUs in them. Billions of CFUs are fine for the digestive tract as it’s extremely long, many many times longer than a vagina. The vagina needs only a fraction of the bacteria that’s required for the digestive tract. EvoVag & GynOphilus have 25 million CFUs which is an appropriate amount, but again the cost is something to consider. You can easily spend $20 – $30 for 10 doses, which is pretty pathetic when all you’re getting 250 million CFUs worth of probiotics.

The best alternative I have found is Nature’s Bounty Acidophilus. It has 100 million CFUs, which is more than EcoVag’s 25 million CFUs, but not enough to be overwhelming. The size is similar to EcoVag& the cost is much much lower than EcoVag. I am talking orders of magnitudes lower. You can get approximately 400 Nature’s Bounty Acidophilus pills for the price of 10 EcoVag pills. You don’t have to buy this brand if you don’t want to. You can track down a different brand of Lactobacilus Acidophilus or Lactobacilus Gaseri. Just make sure it doesn’t have more than 100 million CFUs in it or any sugars, sugar alcohols or Fructooligosaccharides(FOS).

To use the probiotic pills directly, you will want to insert one capsule, deeply into the vagina, every other night for two weeks. You can then drop back down inserting a capsule once or twice per week. During your period you can stop using the capsule. You can probably keep this regimen going for as long as you’d like. It is possible you may need to continue this regimen long term to maintain vaginal health.

If you have a lot of itching or burning while taking probiotics vaginally, stop taking them. There may be mild itching or burning after insertion, but this should go away & not linger.

Oral Probiotics (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED)

As I mentioned above oral probiotics are not very effective at preventing bacterial vaginosis or yest infections.  It is still probably a good idea to take one though. Oral probiotics aid the immune system & may improve your digestion. Additionally, if there is anal-vaginal bacterial cross-over, having a lot of good bacteria involved is better than not having any at all.

You could actually take the Nature’s Bounty Acidophilus orally, but you probably would need to take quite a few pills daily. I would recommended at least 5. You might look into taking a higher potency probiotic such as Align or Renew Life Ultimate Vaginal Support.

You can also eat yogurt, but you will want to avoid yogurts that are high in sugar or corn syrup, have artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, stabilizers or other weird gunk. Yogurts to avoid are things like Yoplait or Light & Fit, which are essentially “dessert yogurts” & are not going to be keys to healthy anything. Your best bet is to look for an organic yogurt that is lightly sweetened with honey or cane sugar. You could also go about replacing sour cream in your diet with plain yogurt as they have similar flavor profiles.

AZO Natural Yeast Symptom Prevention & Relief (optional)

AZO is an herbal supplement that many women recommend for helping to prevent, as well as relieving, yeast infection symptoms. It’s also inexpensive and worth trying. Good reviews on Amazon.com as well.

Cranberry Extract (optional)

Cranberry extract is mainly helpful for preventing urinary tract infections. It is not directly related to the treatment of yeast infections or bacterial vaginosis, but lowering the chances of urinary tract infections will also lend to a healthier vagina. Reducing areas where bad bacteria can propagate and cause problems is always a good thing. AZO makes a cranberry extract, which also has good reviews.

Multi-Vitamin (optional)

If you are not already taking a multi-vitamin, then now would be a good time to start. There are many multivitamins on the market. You could try Rainbow Light’s Women’s One or whatever is available at your local store. I’d suggest getting one online that has good reviews. Taking vitamins will help boost your immune system, which may help fight off or prevent infection.

Step 3b. Preventative Habits

Preventative habits are things you can do to help prevent future reinfection.

Hygiene Habits

• Do not continually use a douche.
• Do not use vaginal wipes or products like Vagisil, as these only mask the problem.
• Wipe front to back after bowel movements & urination. Being sure to avoid the vagina.
• Avoid scented tampons, pads or pantyliners. Look for hypoallergenic products.
• Switch to sanitary pads instead of tampons, at least during or after treatment.
• Avoid overly washing the vagina.
• Avoid deodorant soaps around the vagina. Look for castile soaps which are made from natural oils.

Clothing Habits

• Avoid tight restrictive clothing, especially around the crotch area.
• Wear cotton panties, avoiding synthetic fiber based panties.
• Change panties daily.
• During treatment it may be a good idea to invest in some cheap cotton panties which can be washed in hot water with bleach. Be sure to rinse well & dry well. This should ensure bacteria / yeast are killed. Warm laundry water is lukewarm & laundry soap is usually not anti-bacterial.
• Use an unscented/allergy sensitive laundry soap.

Sexual Habits

• Avoid sexual activities during treatment.
• Avoid risky sexual behavior such as anal sex or multiple sexual partners shortly after treatment.
• Even after treatment if you engage in risky sexual behavior you may be more susceptible to recurrent infection.
• Ensure your sexual partner(s) are clean and not suffering from yeast, fungal or bacterial infections themselves.
• Avoid lubricants that contain Glycerin as bacteria & yeast can feed off of it. Try Astroglide Glycerin & Paraben Free or Pjur Silicone Lubricant.
• Bacterial vaginosis, yeast infections & urinary tract infections are usually not caused by sexual activity unless one engages in risky behavior. You do not need to be sexually active to obtain an infection. Bacteria & fungi are all around us, there is no need to assume someone is involved in risky behavior because of an infection.

Health Habits

• Reduce sugar intake. Sugar can be absorbed by the blood and sugars do show up in the vagina. Avoid sugary sodas, juices or coffee drinks. Bacteria & yeast love sugar just as much as we do.
• Exercise regularly. Exercise will burn off sugar as energy, ensure proper blood flow to all parts of your body & is good for overall health.
• Be sure to shower & dry immediately after exercising.
• Avoid public pools, hot tubs & exercise equipment while doing treatment.

Conclusions

If you still do not have relief after going through these treatments, then you may have an issue that needs to be looked at by a dermatologist to see if you might be suffering from a skin disorder such as Vaginal Lichen Planus.

Hopefully this information has been useful to you and if you have anything to add, please do leave a comment below.

Related posts:

1. What Is The Best Probiotic Supplement For Gastroparesis?
2. Giardia Infection Linked to Irritable Bowel & Chronic Fatigue

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

This is a follow-up to my post “Align Probiotics Review: First Glance“. I did have some time to try out Align Probiotics and see how they worked out for me. Check out below for a week by week run-down.

Week #1

Week  #1 started out pretty well. I did notice that I was dealing with some aches and fatigue, possibly due to Align clearing out toxins or possibly due to something else entirely(I am known to get sinus infections randomly). Within a few days these aches and pains stopped. I think I did start to see some benefit from Align almost immediately. Improvements such as not having to go to the bathroom as often, bowel movements feeling more complete & perhaps even less gas/cramping. Having the pills labeled by the day of the week was pretty handy to keep on top of taking it. I tried to take it the same time each day.

Week #2

Continued improvement, but maybe not as large a leap as the first week. Things seem pretty stable. Maybe a small amount of constipation this week ,but not too bad. I think Align is probably a bit more gentle due to only having 1 billion colony forming units versus other products promoting having 6 billion or sometimes 20 – 50 billion colony forming units.

Week #3

This is where our story goes a bit south for Align. I started having chronic constipation again and even started getting some mild lower abdominal pain. Mild nausea also, probably from being constipated. This is pretty typical for me when my body has decided to go south on the probiotics. Also during this time I was under some stress, so perhaps this played a part in it as well. So ultimately I do not blame Align probiotics for fouling up, but rather I just have a touchy system.

Week 4

Unfortunately, at this junction I decided to discontinue taking Align probiotics, in hopes of reliving some of the constipation. Also the stress eased up in my life during this time as well.

Conclusion

I do not think that Align is a faulty product and actually it’s been the most successful probiotic I’ve used. I have a very touchy system and have had much less luck with other probiotics.  I definitely think Align probiotics are worth trying, especially if you’re suffering from Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

[Buy Align Probiotics from Amazon.com]

Special thanks to Proctor & Gamble for supplying the samples of Align Probiotics.

Related posts:

1. Align Probiotics Review: First Glance
2. Review: Iberogast for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
3. Product Review: Goodbelly Probiotic Drink

Align Probiotics Review

Buy Align from Amazon.com

Recently Proctor & Gamble’s marketing department got in touch with me to take a look at their flagship probiotic, Align. While I haven’t actually started taking Align yet, I’d like to share some of my first thoughts on the product.

I’ve seen Align advertised before & it has received good reviews on places like Amazon.com. I am a little skeptical on mass marketed products that have slick packaging. In some cases the word probiotic is used to attract people to a product that has little digestive benefit. In one case I got some terrible breakfast bars that supposedly had “probiotics” in them, but they were barely a step above sweetened laminated cardboard. I don’t think this is a goal of Align since they are strictly focusing on a probiotic supplement where the cardboard is only in the packaging, not the actual product.

Packaging

As I said above the packaging looks very nice. I received some sample sized versions which have a little fold out flap with information about Align & it even has a nifty 7-day calendar to track your progress. The capsules themselves come in a flat blister pack for 7-days. You can tear each capsule away from the sheet before opening it. Each capsule has a day of the week listed on it. I am not quite sure if this is how the retail 28-day supply is packaged, but I’d imagine it is similar. Additionally Align promotes the use of the AlignGI.com website, which has an online digestive tracker. All these ways to track your progress, I feel are helpful. One of the hard parts about taking probiotics is taking them consistently and at a regular time. Anything that makes it easier to remember to take your probiotic or to really be able to track your progress, I see as a good thing.

Contents

As for what’s in Align, it goes 100% with the B. Infantis 35624 strain of bacteria for it’s probiotics. There are a lot of products that mix it up and go for a bunch of different strains. I am not too worried about only one strain of bacteria being in there, it may even be beneficial to focus on producing a single high quality strain than to put in a mix of different, but lower quality strains. B. Infantis 35624 has been shown in studies to improve Irritable Bowel symptoms.

Align contains 1 Billion Colony Forming Units(CFUs) of B. Infantis 35624, this is considerably lower than other probiotics on the market. Again I don’t mind this so much as I think CFUs are overrated. Really it’s about quality. If you have 20 billion CFUs but they all die before hitting your gut or are contaminated with other things, it’s not going to do you any good. Also a lot of people have problems tolerating high doses of probiotics. Going low & slow may be the best approach.

Another positive is that it would appear Align uses a vegetable based capsule(not geletin), so vegetarians probably shouldn’t have any problems taking this. There is no lactose, gluten or soy in Align either. There is “Milk Protein” listed as an ingredient, but trace amounts are found in other probiotics as well.

Criticisms

One thing that does bug me is the use of Titanium Dioxide & FD&C Blue #1. Perhaps this was something that came out of focus groups or something. I would have preferred no artificial coloring in the product at all. I am sure there’s only a tiny bit in there, but if I am only going to see the capsule for a few seconds before popping it in my mouth, I shouldn’t care if it’s “white” or “off-white”.

Cost & Money-Back Guarantee

Align is some what pricey, especially when you are dealing with only getting 1 billion CFUs per capsule. However, if it does turn out to be higher quality & works for you, then I am sure it’ll be worth the money.

Align is offering a Money-Back Guarantee, which is actually pretty sweet. Try it for one month, if it doesn’t work, take them up on the refund.

Where To Buy

• Buy Align from Amazon.com
• Find a local store.

Disclosure:  I was supplied by Proctor & Gamble with samples of Align. The positive or negative outcome of this review is not based on receiving these samples.

Related posts:

1. Align Probiotic For Irritable Bowel Syndrome Update
2. Review: Custom Probiotics CP-1 50 Billion CFU Adult Formula
3. Review: Nature’s Way Primadophilus for Children