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Author: J. Prior
Rating: 5
Review: I recently started taking Bio-Kult Advanced Multi-Strain for Digestive System Capsules. I was hoping for general help with dysbiosis and to rebalance my gut, as I'm 58 and think I drink too much alcohol and this might be damaging my gut flora, and knock-on effect is causing further issues with my ageing and immune system, inflammation, aches/pains, etc. Physically I'm fairly fit, eat good food and have a healthy diet, walk my dogs every day, and do fairly taxing manual labour, I'm the right weight for my height (12.5 stone), but feeling a bit old now. I take a daily vitamin tablet. Day 1: I took 2 capsules with my meal on the first evening I received them to give my body a "good hit" to get me started, and no alcohol! Day 2: Took 2 more with my breakfast (probiotic supplements are best taken in the morning with, or just after, breakfast because the acid in our stomach is at its lowest level in the morning, and this acidity is buffered still further with food in the stomach). Bio-Kult say their probiotics are able to pass through the stomach without the acid destroying them. (They also say their capsules have a 2 year shelf-life and do not require storing in the fridge as required by some "live" probiotics products. Bio-Kult contains milk/soya but below levels that would affect lactose intolerance sufferers). With my evening meal I had another 1 capsule. Day 3: Took 1 capsule with water next morning before my dog walk. 6 tablets in total so far. Walking along in the field I noted I must have had a good nights sleep, because even though I was feeling some aches and pains, I was feeling remarkably refreshed and also had quite a clear head. I often have aches/pains next morning which dissipate during the day, and I've had a foggy brain for what seems like years. But there was something else different which I couldn't put my finger on for quite a while. I felt a bit like I had a summer cold, with a slightly runny nose. And then, bang, it suddenly dawned on me that all my hayfever symptoms had gone!!! For the last 6 weeks almost every day I've had the typical itchy eyes, itchy ears, runny and itchy back of nose/throat and congestion, and although its rare for me to get asthma I have been wheezing a bit. I was dumbfounded. So I wondered if it was just a light pollen day? Checking my phone MET office app, forecast says "HIGH grasses pollen peak season, also spores/weed pollen, nettle & pellitory-of-the-wall MEDIUM today", same as yesterday. So I wondered about placebo effect and resigned myself to the idea I would get back home and then the sneezing, itchiness would come on as normal. It didn't. Often if my hayfever gets too bad I will take Ceterizine Hydrochloride which works best for me without me getting too sleepy, but I won't take it if I can manage without it. The last 4 or 5 days I've not taken any, but my hayfever has constantly been there all day at different levels of severity. What!? Why has my hayfever just suddenly and almost completely disappeared at the peak of the hayfever season? I feel quite normal apart from this slight summer cold. I realised the only possible thing different is the Bio-Kult. So I googled "probiotics hayfever" and found some interesting articles about how probiotics can help the immune system and reduce histamine production in the body; Quote: "Lactobacillus Casei has been shown to reduce the immune response in hay fever and also beneficially alter the balance of pollen-specific antibodies in the blood which can lead to a reduction of symptoms. It also contains Bifidobacterium Longum this probiotic can greatly help the immune system. This probiotic is also involved in reducing the number of antibodies that we produce in relation to pollen allergies." Wow! I had just received my own personal proof that these probiotics are having a very beneficial effect on my body. I don't think I can say that this kind of positive reaction could be the result of a placebo effect? Hayfever can be so uncontrollable and worsen so quickly, especially if you get a sneezing fit, and you have no way to prevent it without antihistamines, or relief using nasal sprays, eye solutions, etc. All day long, I've been waiting for the hayfever to come on. I've been working outside on quite a hot, dry day with a mild breeze. I'm sure I can feel the itchy twinges at the back of my nose, but I'm just not reacting to it. I was certainly hoping for probiotics to be able to help with some of my ailments, but this was a completely out-of-the-blue, unexpected and extremely welcome benefit. One other thing I wanted to mention. When I was reading Amazon reviews for various probiotics products, it seemed that a lot of people gave negative reviews related to ill effects after taking them. I wondered how many of them realise that when you start taking probiotics they often kick-start the immune system into a full body detox, where the good multi-strain bacteria begin to oust any pathogen bacteria, fungal infections, candida and other bad stuff. This is called "die-off" and can result in some nasty symptoms if you're going too fast, e.g. nausea, headaches, diarrhea, bloating, gas. You may need to start with a small dose, and slowly increase over a number of days/weeks. Some people are more sensitive and others may have a lot more nasties in their bodies. If in doubt about your current health and taking probiotics, talk to your GP. Here's some info on it:- "Eager to enjoy the benefits of digestive health, you start taking them and suddenly start feeling worse. Before you throw in the towel and swear-off all probiotics for eternity, you might be experiencing the signs that they’re actually working! You might be having die-off symptoms and just need to ease into it and get the combination correct. More commonly known in the scientific community as the Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, or the Herx reaction, die-off symptoms can encompass a wide range of adverse reactions to toxins released by the bacteria and/or fungus that are being killed. First described by dermatologists Adolf Jarisch and Karl Herxheimer in the early 1900’s as side effects from taking antibiotics for the treatment of syphilis, die-off reactions can occur if bad bacteria are being killed by the probiotic strains that you’re taking. While we are used to thinking of probiotics as the good bacteria that lives in our favourite yoghurt that confer a host of health benefits, these powerhouse microbes are actually quite effective at killing off their bad neighbours." Google "probiotics die off" to learn more. My guess is that a truly healthy person would not feel any benefit whatsoever from taking probiotics, on the assumption you would have all the right types of bacteria in your gut already. Although I'm reasonably fit and have not experienced any serious die-off symptoms, the hayfever reduction has proved two things to me a) probiotics work, b) my gut-flora was compromised (probably by alcohol, tiredness/stress, and no doubt I could benefit from improving my diet more). I must have been missing at least Lactobacillus Casei and Bifidobacterium Longum, right? I'm not affiliated with Bio-Kult and this is my genuine review. Yes, really only 3 days after I started taking Bio-Kult, and writing this another 5 days later still no hayfever. There may be other benefits that may yet manifest in time, but I feel this is a very good start. Good luck.
