Sustenex Probiotic

I've written a lot about the Digestive Advantage firm, most recently in Digestive Advantage Update and The Power of Probiotics.

So when I kept seeing ads for a new probiotic in the sunday coupon section I decided to check up on it.

The new product is called Sustenex and even has its own website to talk all about it.

Sustenex is an all new, natural supplement developed to help you maintain a healthy, balanced digestive system and boost your body’s immune system. Sustenex™ contains GanedenBC³⁰, a probiotic or “helpful” bacteria that is beneficial to your overall intestinal health.*

*Even the best probiotics are no substitute for good eating habits which can promote intestinal health.

The site, which is too extensive to cite, attempts to make the case for using a probiotic rather than relaying on yogurt:

The Problem with Probiotics:

▪ The cells don’t survive high heat and pressure inherent in the manufacturing process.
▪ The cells die quickly while on the shelf.
▪ The cells cannot survive stomach acids to populate the colon.
▪ The cells are very sensitive to bile and various enzymes in the gut.

Yogurts

In recent years, yogurt and other cultured dairy drinks have become a popular source of potential probiotics. The challenge is, cultured dairy drinks using traditional probiotics have some of the lowest counts of viable cells. Furthermore, the lactic acid cultures added to aid in the fermentation of the milk components offer little residual benefit. Even fortified probiotic yogurts that add significant levels of bacteria after fermentation have a problem surviving in significant numbers. For example, Consumer Reports did a study in 2006 showing that less than 1% of the bacteria in a leading probiotic yogurt survived to reach the colon. This was considered good when compared to others yogurts and fortified products.

A review on the Walgreens.com site makes an interesting point:

I usually have bad side effects when taking antibiotics, nausea, diarrhea. I had to take a ten day course of antibiotics and took one Sustenex each day. I had absolutely NO side effects the entire 10 days!!! It was wonderful

Doctors often tell patients to eat yogurt to counter the effects of antibiotics, but this had only partial success for me the last time it was necessary. A product that would do better would be a comfort.

Please let me know your experiences with this product so I can share them.