activia yogurt

[tgubb]

howdy - i'm wondering if anyone's tried Activia yogurt, the enthusiastically-advertised new probiotic product from Dannon ... and if so, what their experiences were? this is for a story i'm working on

-TG

[alanamoana]

i bought it since i had a coupon...part of the pr blitz going on with the stuff...

funny that it is sweeter than other fruit yogurts. i think a little too sweet.

it also gave me the runs...sorry if that is too much information, but thought you might like to know. so i threw the rest away (i probably ate 5 out of the 8 containers before i made the connection). nothing violent, just uncomfortable.

[tgubb]

that's not too much information at all. it's exactly what i was wondering about.

[avocado]

My mom said it gave her terrible gas, so she didn't stick with it long enough to see any positive effects.

[alanamoana]

i love that it is directed at women...as if we have more problems (digestively) than men...then again, linda carter was a spokesperson for irritable bowel syndrome...wonderwoman, no less...

[Katie Nell]

My mom said it gave her terrible gas, so she didn't stick with it long enough to see any positive effects.

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it also gave me the runs...sorry if that is too much information, but thought you might like to know.  so i threw the rest away (i probably ate 5 out of the 8 containers before i made the connection).  nothing violent, just uncomfortable.

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What is the active ingredient that causes these conditions in the yogurt?

On the commercial, it's basically saying it will help you stay regular, so I would think that your effects from it would be somewhat expected.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Activia® also contains Bifidobacterium lactis -- BL™. Danone’s researchers added the BL™ strain to Activia® owing to its beneficial effects on colonic digestion. No other yogurt contains this unique probiotic culture  BL™ is a probiotic culture scientifically proven and clinically tested to survive passage through the digestive system, arriving into the large intestine as a live culture that stays active. Each serving of Activia® contains over 1 billion live, active BL™ bacteria

source of information (paid ad...)

One billion live ... but who is counting?

[alanamoana]

What is the active ingredient that causes these conditions in the yogurt? 

On the commercial, it's basically saying it will help you stay regular, so I would think that your effects from it would be somewhat expected.

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i agree, it should be somewhat expected, but it is a four ounce serving and i thought it would work more like prunes (fiber)...you know, a little boost...not a SHOVE!

seing as how the little guys are alive (as it should be in yogurt...) it doesn't surprise me that the effects are more pronounced. who knows if they multiply...i love the name they trademarked bifidus regularis

[jsolomon]

Something like this tends to disrupt the ecosystem in your digestive tract which must then adjust.

When the ecosystem is disrupted, well, populations aren't the only things that shift and move.

[tgubb]

the ingredient that dannon has trademarked is (artlessly) called "Bifidus Regularis". regularis, Latin for "regular"? pretty dopey

[therese]

i agree, it should be somewhat expected, but it is a four ounce serving and i thought it would work more like prunes (fiber)...you know, a little boost...not a SHOVE!

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Fiber works as a bulking agent: it actually draws water from the surrounding tissues into the lumen of the large intestine, stimulating the intestine to, um, "move things along." Enough fiber, along with sufficient water, can produce a very definite "shove" in many people, particularly those with low baseline fiber intake.

Bacteria are very important to the health of your gut, and Dannon bills Bifidus regularis as one that produces relatively more gas than others, purportedly because it survives better in the large intestine. Your intestine interprets the increased volume (essentially stretching of the gut wall) associated with the gas produced by Bifidus regularis the same way it interprets increased bulk from water-logged fiber from bran, etc. and will "move things along" appropriately.

The pdf scientific summary on the site (which summarizes the medical literature on the topic reasonably well) points out that people with initially slower transit times will generally experience the largest change, and the change tends to be more marked in women and the elderly (who are, by the way, more likely to have slow transit times). Consumers with "normal" transit times didn't report any difference.

I'm guessing I wouldn't notice any difference. In the interest of science and the common good I will make a point of trying this produce next time I get the chance.

[bleudauvergne]

Strange that this topic comes up now, I just begain using this product a couple of weeks ago, it was because they were out of regular yougert. Yesterday I chose this product again. It's funny that the effect of this product seems to come from more gas, because the benefit I seem to be feeling is less gas! We do eat a lot of fresh vegs and things, especially so in Springtime, so I thought maybe this just helps my system break that down, but from what I see in the link above, it is reducing transit time, maybe reducing the time things stay in the system? I was assuming that the culture is helping me to digest more thoroughly. We do eat a lot of fermented things anyway, raw milk cheese, etc. The change is not really very dramatic, but I do notice that I feel my system is running more smoothly. A few months ago I had to take antibiotics, and the doctor also prescribed a course of added cultures to keep my system in balance. We do need a certain balance of bacteria and yeasts in our systems to keep healthy.

[annecros]

I have eaten this regularly (IBS issues) and at first, yeah it will knock your tummy out of whack for a while. But anything you introduce into your gut tends to do so, settling down after a couple of weeks in my experience. I eat it about once every other day, and am doing fine with it. I like it better than the probiotic tablets that I was taking every day.

Ironically, some things that make you "regular" can quite often work for both eds of the spectrum of irregularity. Fiber is one of those. My gastroenterologist explained it to me, but I am sure you don't want me to go into the graphic detail that he did. My IBS is of the split personality type, alternating from one extreme to another.

I seem to be ablt to normalize by digestion by using a combination of probiotic and fibre supplements, but I still have those days.

[hungryCAT]

My hubby and I swear by this stuff!

For the past year or so, I'd noticed that after eating (and even sometimes in

between meals) I just had this heavy, unsettled feeling in my middle, as if

digestion was slowed to a crawl.

I saw an ad on TV for Activia and from the way it was described it was helpful

in aiding digestion with those fun, little bacterial agents.

I started eating one a day 3 weeks ago and noticed a change after one day.

I had no diarhea and no extra gas (TG!). The funky feeling in my gut disappeared

immediately. My hubby (who detests yogurt) decided to try it, and now he eats

it every day. He says he noticed a change as well.

[andrewB]

they had a marketing campaign here in Slovakia last year, something like 'the two week challenge'. they guaranteed satisfaction if you drank one Activa yogurt drink a day. Well i tried it, and have continued with it. From my experience, it improved my digestion, removed the sometimes sluggish 'gout' feeling after breakfast, and gave me more energy. Could be all in my head, but i would recommend it...

[LindsayAnn]

they had a marketing campaign here in Slovakia last year, something like 'the two week challenge'. they guaranteed satisfaction if you drank one Activa yogurt drink a day. Well i tried it, and have continued with it. From my experience, it improved my digestion, removed the sometimes sluggish 'gout' feeling after breakfast, and gave me more energy. Could be all in my head, but i would recommend it...

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Man am I dispointed. I ate purchased Activa a while ago, ate two within a few days and noticed nothing...but I am going to try again. Maybe I just missed the change, or manybe I didnt give it enough time!

Starting on these, once again, today!

[sanrensho]

I noticed zero differences from eating Activia--but I wasn't expecting anything either. However, it is a tasty yogurt so I will continue to buy it.