Anyone actually feel they get any benefit from these type of drinks? Actimel, yakult etc? I've tried actimel over the course of several weeks and didn't notice any benefit. (I get IBS type symptoms from certain foods, aliums cause me a lot of trouble!)
Just eat normal natural yoghurt to get the same good bacteria. When I lived in Germany there was a big legal case and they ended up being forbidden from advertising as being especially beneficial to health as they have zero scientific basis for saying so (over and above any other generic yoghurt.) It is pure marketing bluff.
There’s been a fair amount of stuff in the news recently regarding research that shows that at best those ‘supplements’ have little to no benefits, and at worse can have harmful effects on the guts own native microflora.
A proper balanced diet should provide all the nutrients one needs.
Those drinks only have one or two types of bacteria in them so unless you are lacking those they won't make any difference to you. You can get a more diverse gut bacteria and there are studies that show benefits to conditions like ibs from improving your gut diversity.
To improve gut diversity foods like kefir, kimchi and sauerkraut can help but they need to be homemade version's not supermarket versions as these have usually been pasteurised. I make kefir. It's really simple and contains dozens of bacteria, yeasts and viruses that live in a symbiotic colony.
The other is to live a healthy lifestyle of wholefoods, lots of veg and minimal processed stuff, good sleep and reduce stress.
I've found my digestive health has improved since taking kefir. No more diarrhea.
If you're on Facebook UK fermented foods is a good place to learn.
It may depend on what your own microbiome is like in the first place.
And anyway - wouldn't you only need to drink one to get the bacteria living in your gut?
A lot of those Actimel type products are high in sugar, which may offset any other health benefit they provide.
Huge waste of plastic as well. It's as if they intended to maximise plastic packaging when they designed the product. Most of which just ends up being dumped in the sea in the Far East on it's long journey from a 'recycling' bin in the UK.
Yeah I get it's all just marketing bumpf, I suppose it's a placebo for some people who want them to do something!
I'll start eating noted natural yogurt I think. I've just been reading about prebiotics, found in banana's, oats, leeks, onions and garlic. Well I can't frigging stand banana's, I eat plenty of oats and leeks, garlic and onions are exactly the things which trigger my symptoms and I actively avoid!
I've also just read that avoiding these foods can itself have a negative effect on gut flora, making the whole situation worse!
I had a pre-packed chicken Caesar wrap today, think there was garlic in the dressing 🤔😰
I had some whilst on some pretty heavy duty antibiotics that made me feel pretty rough. Had some sugar free, unflavoured ones, they made me feel less shit.
wouldn’t bother normally though.
I have had a poor digestive system for ever, I cannot eat beyond 7.30 in the evening without really bad reflux and my facial skin is not the best. Tried the actimal/yakult suff for many months, no difference then started cultivating my own kefir, it was a bit/lot of a faff but I could tell the difference then noticed these in Sainsbury's
One each morning and the difference is truly there to be seen, reflux signifcantly reduced, skin the best its been in a very long time and I have a lot more energy - my only worry is if Sainsbury's don't sell enough to continue stocking them.
An old housemate of mine once charmed a free 7-pack of Yakult from someone giving samples away on the street. He drank the whole pack in one to try and cure a hangover. He was the opposite of successful in this endeavour.