Re: Probiotis/VSL3 aggrevating colitis?

Beez--
Were those clinical trials paid for by VSL3? Just curious--I personally am

skeptical of any such tests that are not performed by an independent
agency 
or authority. If, however, there is good evidence that VSL3 reaches the 
intestines, so much the better. This remains, however, a matter of some 
controversy, which is why I suggested the enteric-coated brands--the
enteric 
coating is just another way of increasing the odds of effective colonic 
colonization, not a guarantee of any sort. That's why I quoted the re****t 
from Consumer Union, which is an independent testing authority that takes
no 
advertising money--not from drug companies, not from anybody.

"Beez" <beasdg@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message 
news:0aab5ec9-266f-4e5c-bae6-a1cbf07941a1@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 May 28, 12:51 pm, "anon" <shopatho...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> I became nauseated each time I used VSL3. I have had good results with
> Nature's Way Primadophilus (they make one with Reuteri as well). A major
> advantage of the Nature's Way probiotics is that they are
enteric-coated,
> which means that the beneficial bugs actually have a chance of surviving
> exposure to your stomach acids and reaching your intestines. There is
some
> doubt whether the organisms in probiotics without enteric coating ever 
> reach
> the intestines--they are mostly killed by stomach acids. (I believe that
> Solgar and Jarro-Dophilus probiotics are also enteric-coated--check the
> labels). The respected Consumers Union (publishers of Consumers Re****ts)
> stated in their article on probiotics:
>
> "All the pills we tested disintegrated properly, which means that their
> bacteria are released in the body, but not necessarily in the
intestines. 
> In
> theory, enteric-coated pills may help organisms reach and colonize the
> intestines, experts said."

I'm no ****ll for VSL#3...it works for some, but not others like
virtually every other supplement and drug for that matter. However, it
should be pointed out that VSL#3 has undergone clinical trials that
show the bacteria do in fact reach the colon. How many other probiotic
supplements have undergone clinical trials?

And while stomach acids are certainly the body's first line of defense
against foreign organisms they are hardly 100% foolproof. How did the
flora that colonize the digestive tract get there in the first place?
I think it's funny that some people who would claim that probiotic
preparations have no chance of surviving stomach acid are some of the
same people who are so paranoid about other bacteria such as MAP that
*may* be in their food. You tell them that one single MAP bug might be
in the hamburger they're eating and they will run from it like it is a
flesh eating monster. Apparently it is only the bad boogeymen
organisms that can survive stomach acid...