Jump to content
  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

activia yogurt


tgubb

Recommended Posts

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

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

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.

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.

"Many people believe the names of In 'n Out and Steak 'n Shake perfectly describe the contrast in bedroom techniques between the coast and the heartland." ~Roger Ebert

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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? :hmmm:

Melissa Goodman aka "Gifted Gourmet"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

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 :blink:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

I always attempt to have the ratio of my intelligence to weight ratio be greater than one. But, I am from the midwest. I am sure you can now understand my life's conundrum.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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!

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.

Can you pee in the ocean?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

:rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

My hubby and I swear by this stuff! :wub:

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.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...

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!

"One Hundred Years From Now It Will Not Matter What My Bank Account Was, What Kind of House I lived in, or What Kind of Car I Drove, But the World May Be A Better Place Because I Was Important in the Life of A Child."

LIFES PHILOSOPHY: Love, Live, Laugh

hmmm - as it appears if you are eating good food with the ones you love you will be living life to its fullest, surely laughing and smiling throughout!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...