The Gut-Supporting Trifecta: The 3 Ingredients You Need to Support Your Gut
Attention: This information is extremely important for those with digestive issues, including constipation, diarrhea, bloating, gas, and more. If this is you, read on!
Dealing with digestive issues? You've probably heard about the importance of your gut microbiome - the collection of bacteria, viruses, and yeasts living in your intestine.
In this report, we'll discuss how the microbiome plays a role in digestive issues (as well as your overall health) and the 3 ingredients that may help support the health of this important collection of bugs in your gut.
All this research was the reason we started Gut Power Drinks in the first place - we wanted to create the easiest, most effective gut-supporting drink to support your gut microbiome.
The Gut Microbiome
If you've never heard of the gut microbiome before, let us introduce you.
The gut microbiome refers to the collection of microorganisms living in your intestine. Don't freak out - it's normal and healthy to have these little critters living inside you!
In fact, the gut microbiome plays a vital role in your digestive and overall health. This role is so important that researchers refer to the microbiome as the "forgotten organ" - just as vital as other organs (heart, lungs, etc) to your overall health, but never quite got the privilege of being called one.
This mass of bacteria, viruses, and yeasts takes up residence in your large intestine, where they do a lot of key tasks to keep you healthy.
These tasks include helping you to digest and get the most nutrients out of your food, assisting in the regulation of your immune system, and even creating nutrients for you to absorb. You've got a factory of critters working for you 24/7 to keep you healthy!
Supporting the Gut Microbiome
But the gut microbiome needs your help so that it can stay healthy, too.
You see, the gut microbiome works its best when it's balanced.
Within the microbiome, you have "good" microorganisms and "bad" microorganisms. A balanced microbiome has plenty of good guys and just a few bad guys.
The way you live your life - the food you eat and the habits you incorporate into your lifestyle - play a huge role in the balance of your microbiome.
So today, we're going to talk about the 3 most important ingredients you can include in your diet to support a balanced microbiome.
Ingredient #1: Prebiotics
Prebiotics definition: According to the ISAPP, a prebiotic is a “substrate that is selectively utilized by host microorganisms conferring a health benefit.”
Plain English? Prebiotics act as fuel for the healthy bacteria living in your microbiome. By consuming them, you increase counts of beneficial bacteria in the microbiome, which in turn keeps the microbiome balanced.
Prebiotics are found in both food and supplements, but when it comes to really making a difference in your digestive and overall wellness, it's best to use a product that has a "therapeutic" level of prebiotics in it.
And not just any prebiotic, either.
The trouble with prebiotics is that many of them can actually cause the kind of symptoms they're meant to help with - bloating, abdominal pain, and bowel problems.
That's why we're obsessed with a very specific prebiotic called Sunfiber.
Sunfiber: The Well-Tolerated Prebiotic
We're going to go into some of the scientific details on Sunfiber here. The data is summarized from a great research article from 2019. If you'd like to access it, click here.
Made from the guar plant, Sunfiber is one of the hottest ingredients in the digestive health world and is known for its unique ability to prove beneficial for both constipation and diarrhea, as well as a host of other symptoms that go along with IBS and other digestive issues.
Here’s what the research tells us:
Sunfiber and Constipation
Sunfiber has been used in many studies to reduce constipation and increase bowel movement frequency. In addition to this, research shows that Sunfiber consumption improves stool consistency, changing it from hard to normal.
Consuming Sunfiber also seems to reduce the need for the use of laxatives and enemas, taking their use from 2 to <0.1 and 7-8 to 1-3, respectively.
Sunfiber taken at 5g/day has been shown to increase colonic transit time (the speed at which your digestive system moves food through it) by about 12 hours in constipated patients, and by about 22 hours in those with slow transit time.
Interestingly, these benefits occurred when using a wide range of dosages of Sunfiber within these studies. Dosages from 5g/day to 36g/day were used, all with significant benefits to constipation.
This means that even at dosages as low as 5g/day, you may notice improvements in bowel movement frequency, abdominal pain related to constipation, and stool consistency.
Sunfiber and Diarrhea
You would think that an ingredient shown to benefit someone with constipation wouldn’t be very helpful for someone with diarrhea, right?
Again, this goes to show how versatile Sunfiber is - it’s been shown to be very useful for acute cases of diarrhea, as well.
Sunfiber significantly reduces the incidence and frequency of diarrhea in those with health issues that make them more prone to this condition.
In a study of healthy adults made to have diarrhea (by giving them a hefty dose of sugar alcohols), 10g of Sunfiber reduced the incidence of diarrhea by a cumulative 82%.
It seems that a higher relative dose of Sunfiber is beneficial for diarrhea — these studies used doses from 5g all the way up to 28g/day with good effect.
Sunfiber and IBS
Perhaps where Sunfiber shines its brightest is for those with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or IBS-like symptoms.
That’s because, unlike many other supplements on the market, Sunfiber has been shown to improve a host of IBS symptoms, such as:
- Bloating
- Abdominal Pain
- Bowel habits
- Flatulence (gas)
- Abdominal spasms
- Quality of life
In addition to this, Sunfiber decreases the concentration of methane in stool. Methane production is known to contribute to constipation. This may be particularly helpful for those dealing with methane dominant SIBO.
The dosages used in these studies ranged from 5-10g/day, but even at the lower dosage Sunfiber was highly effective in reducing IBS symptoms.
One important note here: many of these studies had participants taking Sunfiber for at least 3 weeks, so make sure to give it some time to start working.
Why is Sunfiber So Effective?
It’s thought that Sunfiber's prebiotic capabilities may contribute to its ability to influence gut health so dramatically.
Remember that your good gut bacteria use prebiotics as a fuel source - Sunfiber is just about the tastiest food they can get their hands on!
Research shows that Sunfiber increases counts of Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus — two of the main beneficial bacteria present in your gut.
In addition to this, Sunfiber is highly fermentable. This means that your bacteria can metabolize Sunfiber, and when they do, they produce highly beneficial compounds called short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).
Short-chain fatty acids fuel the cells of your digestive tract, keeping your gut (and your body as a whole) healthy.
To maximize the prebiotic effects of Sunfiber, research indicates taking a minimum of 6g/day.
Gut Power Drinks
We created Gut Power Drinks to help you get Sunfiber (along with probiotics and polyphenols, which we'll get to in a minute) into your diet in a delicious way. Try any of our flavors, all of which include 6g of Sunfiber!
Ingredient #2: Probiotics
Probiotics definition: According to the World Health Organization, probiotics are defined as “live microorganisms, which, when consumed in adequate amounts as part of food, confer a health benefit on the host."
This means that probiotics are live, beneficial bacteria that you can consume for health benefits.
And you've probably heard of probiotics before - they've become quite popular in recent years! But with that popularity, we've lost a bit of the nuance that needs to be understood in order to get the most out of the probiotics you consume.
Here's what you need to remember: not all probiotics are created equally.
Why?
Well, put simply, strain matters.
Probiotic strain, that is.
The Importance of Probiotic Strain
You see, there are many different strains of probiotics - and the strain of a probiotic dictates its function.
That means that one probiotic strain may be great for digestive health, while another is perfect for vaginal health. If you're looking for digestive benefits, the other one may not provide the effect you're looking for.
There are three parts to a probiotic name: the genus, the species, and the strain.
Let’s use our probiotic, Bacillus coagulans GBI 30 6086 (Ganeden BC30), as an example.
The genus is the first word, Bacillus.
The second word is the species, coagulans.
And the combination of letters and numbers trailing afterwards, GBI 30 6086, identifies the strain.
This particular probiotic strain, Bacillus coagulans GBI 30 6086, is known for its digestive and immune system benefits.
Take a different strain of Bacillus coagulans and it could have a completely different effect on your body.
Starting to see why strain matters?
When you're choosing a probiotic to include in your routine, make sure the strain you choose will give you the benefits you're looking for. Otherwise, it's a waste of your time and your money.
Let's go through the particular benefits that the Bacillus coagulans GBI 30 6086 probiotic strain may provide.
Research indicates that this probiotic strain may be useful for:
- Reducing diarrhea
- Reducing abdominal pain and bloating
- Increasing immunity
- Properly digesting food
Bacillus coagulans GBI 30 6086 and Bloating & Abdominal Pain
A study examining abdominal pain and bloating gave IBS patients Bacillus coagulans GBI 30 6086 or a placebo once a day for 8 weeks.
The patients rated their abdominal pain and bloating daily for the entirety of the study -- patients taking the probiotic noticed their abdominal pain and bloating was significantly reduced by the end of the study.
Bacillus Coagulans GBI 30 6086 and Diarrhea
In a study, diarrhea-predominant IBS patients received Bacillus coagulans GBI 30 6086 (Ganeden BC30) or a placebo once a day for 8 weeks.
The results showed that the patients’ number of bowel movements (diarrhea episodes) per day was significantly reduced in those taking the probiotic.
Bacillus coagulans GBI 30 6086 and Immunity
A study examined Bacillus coagulans GBI 30 6086’s effects on patients’ levels of immune cells after being exposed to the flu and a respiratory virus.
After being exposed to the sicknesses, patients consumed Bacillus coagulans GBI 30 6086 once a day for 30 days. The patients’ immune cell counts significantly increased in response to consistent consumption of the probiotic.
Probiotics for Digestive and Immune Support
Probiotics can be extremely useful for your health. But remember, strain matters when it comes to the particular benefits you might receive.
Best to be choosy with what probiotic strain you incorporate into your routine!
Ingredient #3: Polyphenols
Polyphenols are compounds naturally found in plant foods. They are responsible for the colors you see in the food you eat - the red of your apple and the orange in your carrot.
So what do polyphenols have to do with gut health?
Research shows that polyphenols do something quite incredible: they act as a prebiotic (a substance that fuels beneficial bacteria in your gut) for the microbiome.
In return, your gut bacteria transform polyphenols into health-promoting metabolites that you’re then able to absorb into the body, providing benefits to body systems outside the gastrointestinal tract.
Because of this exchange, polyphenols may improve microbial balance in the gut microbiome, regulate blood sugar, reduce inflammation, and improve heart health, among other benefits.
In order to gain these benefits, it's a good idea to eat lots of colorful plant foods - as many as you can! In addition to fruits and veggies, don't forget about high polyphenol foods like spices, tea, coffee, and cocoa.
Gut Power Drinks: The Trifecta of Gut-Supporting Ingredients
Our goal at Gut Power Drinks is to make consuming this trifecta of gut-supporting ingredients the most delicious experience ever.
Let's recap what Gut Power Drinks include:
- PREbiotics - the fuel for your healthy gut bacteria. We use the most well-tolerated, most scientifically-backed prebiotic on the market so you know you’re getting the BEST.
- PRObiotics - we specifically chose a strain that has been proven to support both the digestive and immune systems because we know that’s what you need for better gut health. We also chose a strain that is HEAT-STABLE so that you can drink our drinks however you like, hot or cold.
- Polyphenols - polyphenols act as prebiotics and encourage a DIVERSE microbiome (one of the most important things for a HEALTHY microbiome) and are transformed by gut bacteria into beneficial compounds that are absorbed into your system to help in other areas of the body.
All in one delicious cup.
Getting everything you need for a healthy gut doesn't have to mean handfuls of pills or nasty-tasting herbs.
Instead, upgrade your routine and incorporate a decadent cup of matcha or cocoa to get everything you need to support your gut in the easiest way possible.
Try Gut Power Drinks Today
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