But first, get up to speed on probiotics, prebiotics, and postbiotics—and how they work in tandem to support gut health.
When it comes to creating products that deliver on their promises, clinical testing and evidence-based research have been our M.O. from the beginning. But as a company made up of, well, normal people—aka consumers, just like you—we also recognize that level of integrity may not always be an industry standard. That’s why we go the extra mile to quantify the impact of our products, whenever possible—so you can rest assured you’re making decisions based on sound science… not stealthy marketing.*
Conducting a scientific study was especially important for Synbiotic+, our daily 3-in-1 gut support supplement featuring prebiotics, probiotics, and a postbiotic designed to support gut, digestive, and immune health. The truth is, there’s a lot going on in the gut—it’s an incredibly complex ecosystem made up of trillions and trillions of microbial cells—and ensuring efficacy isn’t as simple as cobbling together the right amount of ingredients, then popping them into a pill. There’s much, much more at play.* (1,2,3)
After all, what good is a gut support supplement if it can’t get to where it needs to go? If the probiotics can’t survive transit through the stomach and small intestine in a viable form—or if the delivery technology isn’t designed to resist the harsh conditions of the upper gastrointestinal tract (not to mention arrive at the colon, an ideal place for probiotic bacteria to thrive)—what’s the point?
Rhetorical questions aside, you can see how important it is to dig deeper into the data, especially when it comes to these matters. And our two-part study did just that.
Part 1: SHIME® study (Delivery Method)
→ What is a SHIME® study?
Bacteria are living things—and just like us, they’re sensitive to their environments (heat, oxygen, light, water, etc.). Since their delicate nature may not do well without protection from harsh stomach acids or bile, in order to ensure the good stuff arrives intact, we tested our capsule technology using a SHIME® model, a scientifically advanced model representing the physiological conditions of the upper gastrointestinal tract.
So, what does SHIME® stand for? Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem—a mouthful, we know. Here’s the Reader’s Digest version: Think of SHIME® as a method of digestive survivability testing, a way to understand the fate of the primary ingredients—in our case, probiotics, prebiotics, and a postbiotic in the gastrointestinal tract. To be clear, this is not a requirement for probiotics or gut support supplements. That said, we consider it our duty to go above and beyond in demonstrating the nature of our products, so that you can trust that you’re taking a quality formula.*