Elixa Probiotic – a new UK manufactured, high-strength probiotic

Elixa Probiotic – a new UK manufactured, high-strength probiotic

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I’ve recently learned about a new probiotic supplement called Elixa, manufactured here in the UK. I heard about Elixa on the Free The Animal blog in a blog post entitled Gut Bugs, Probiotics, Prebiotics…And how our microbes make us who we are. Elixa is a new high-strength, short-course probiotic, which you take for 6 or 12 days. The short-course approach delivers potent amounts of beneficial probiotic bacteria to your gut each day for the duration of the program. 

 

Elixa was developed by Oxford University graduate Karl Seddon. According to Karl “I got interested in probiotics after my research (on my own IBS condition) lead me to a heap of scientific journal articles about gut microbiota. I realised that this area is not pseudo-science and yet there was still something greatly lacking in the effectiveness of all probiotics that I tried. It was actually fairly obvious where they lacked but the technical solution to that ‘obvious’ problem was very tricky. I still think that a lot of supplement manufacturers simply use the term probiotic based on its popularity/demand rather than their own sincere belief in the effectiveness (or potential effectiveness) of probiotics.” Karl developed Elixa to overcome some of the problems with other probiotics on the market, i.e. low dosage, containing only one or two strains of bacteria, and encapsulation issues meaning with some brands the bacteria do not survive the acidic environment of the stomach to actually reach the intestine.

 

How is Elixa different?

 

  • Elixa delivers 50x more beneficial bacteria per dose compared to the average probiotic supplement – 3 trillion CFU’s per course! This is the highest strength formulation on the market.
  • Powerful blend takes effect in just 3 days
  • Made possible with the new standard in encapsulation technology; Fortress 5 (developed by Karl after completing his studies in Biomedical Engineering in Oxford in 2011). This is absolutely crucial to the effectiveness of Elixa. Without the bacteria making it intact, all the way from the culturing facility to your large intestine, a supplement would be useless.
  • Contains 9 species: Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Lactobacillus Plantarum, Lactobacillus Reuteri, Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, Lactobacillus Casei, Bifidobacterium Bifidum, Bifidobacterium Lactis, Bifidobacterium Longum, and Bifidobacterium Breve.

 
What can upset the balance of our gut bacteria?

 

  • What we eat
  • The medicines we take
  • The stress we experience


These factors can all decrease numbers of good bacteria in your gut. A combination of antibiotics, processed food and a modern stressful lifestyle can wreak havoc on your intestinal flora.

 

An unhealthy gut can result in:

 

  • Digestive disorders such as IBS, IBD, Ulcerative Colitis, constipation, chronic diarrhoea, bloating, flatulence and abdominal discomfort
  • Skin disorders such as rosacea, acne, seborrhoea, dermatitis, psoriasis and eczema
  • Depression, anxiety, lethargy and low motivation


You take Elixa once a day for 6 days (or you can double up and take two 6-day courses back to back if you have severe gut-bacteria imbalances). It should be taken first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. It’s critical to take probiotics with filtered or bottled water; otherwise you’ll defeat their purpose. Chemicals such as chlorine are added to tap water to kill bad bacteria, but these will kill probiotic bacteria as well. After taking the dose you do not need to wait before eating your meal as usual.

The beneficial bacteria will get to work within 3 days of you beginning your Elixa program. They will do this in three stages:

 

  1. First they will enter your large intestine and find a suitable space to inhabit.
  2. Next they will begin to grow in numbers and occupy more and more space on your gut wall.
  3. Thirdly, they will start to produce beneficial substances for your gut and reduce numbers of bad bacteria by creating natural chemicals toxic to these pathogens.


I have bought a 6-day course of Elixa to try and will update this blog post with any results experienced soon! You can buy Elixa from http://www.elixa-probiotic.com/uk/ and shipping is free.


WeightLoss

Update 17/07/15 – this is what I experienced after taking the 6-day course. 

  • Day 1: I took the 10-capsule dose first thing in the morning as directed. Mid-afternoon I had a very upset stomach.
  • Day 2: The only thing I noticed was I had a mild stomach ache. 
  • Day 3: My skin broke out a little bit.
  • Day 4-6: Felt great, slept well and had lots of energy.

 

Read more about Probiotics, Prebiotics or listen in to the Eat Better Podcast – Episode 4 where Tommy and I discuss gut health with Chris Kelly from Nourish, Balance, Thrive.

 

Further Reading 

http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/topic/223986-full-review-of-elixa-probiotic-how-i-solved-my-ibs/