Health Canada authorizes claims for DDS-1 Probiotic strain found in Opti-Elite Probiotics
Probiotics are beginning to be implicated in virtually all aspects of health, including having an impact on blood sugar, insulin, and blood lipid profiles.
For example, a 2020 meta-analysis published in the nature journal, scientific reports, analyzed 32 different randomized controlled trials involving people with type II diabetes.
As stated in the abstract: "Data analysis showed a significant effect of probiotics on reducing total cholesterol, triglyceride levels, CRP, HbA1c levels, fasting plasma glucose, fasting insulin levels, and both systolic and diastolic blood pressure values." (See: nature.com/articles/s41598-020-68440-1).
CRP or C-Reactive Protein is a marker often used to gauge overall levels of inflammation in the body. The more reactive and inflammatory you are in the presence of high blood sugar, the more glucose reacts with your hemoglobin causing in a process called glycosylation, increasing HbA1c, or glycosylated hemoglobin. (Remember AGES?...Advanced Glycation End Products)
Inflammation worsens insulin function, making your receptors less sensitive to its message.
In turn, the less sensitive to insulin you are, the more of it your body produces in an attempt to clear all the blood sugar in your blood stream. And the higher your blood sugar stays for prolonged periods, the more inflammation is created in a vicious cycle.
Probiotics help alleviate this cycle, among other reasons, because they decrease inflammation in the gut, which in turn calms inflammation in the bloodstream, liver, and the rest of the body. As there is more immune tissue surrounding your gut than anywhere else in the body, it is the most likely place for inflammation to begin
When it comes to calming inflammation, we knew Opti-Elite Probiotics worked before we made it part of our line in 2017. This was because I had been using and recommending DDS acidophilus products ever since 1993 for such things as:
- allergies and histaminic responses to food
- Candida yeast overgrowth
- gut disturbances: gas, bloating, poor digestion, and constipation
- part of basic health maintenance, etc.
In fact, we had been using a formula virtually identical to ours from a Canadian supplier who went out of business, before getting ours approved.
And what many don't know about the DDS-1 acidophilus strain in Our Opti-Elite Probiotics strain is that it is:
- of human origin and
- that such strains show increased benefits relative to others.
[2018 Study: A human origin strain Lactobacillus acidophilus DDS-1 exhibits superior in vitro probiotic efficacy in comparison to plant or dairy origin probiotics] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6036100/
I will write more about this study (and others on DDS-1) , as it tested two of the strains in the Opti-Elite formula, demonstrating good adherence, and an anti-inflammatory effect.
Therefore, we were happy, but not particularly surprised, when Health Canada recently approved the following claims for DDS Acidophilus at a dose of 10 Billion CFU/day:
You can achieve this dose simply by taking 2 capsules of Opti-Elite Probiotics a day, which provides a minimum of over 17 Billion CFU of DDS-1 (8.66 Billion per capsule). Though if you are looking for help with gut or allergy problems, I often recommend doing this twice a day, when you get up and at bedtime.
Many will say, "Well, 10 billion doesn't seem like a very large amount", but remember, it is the potency and characteristics of a probiotic strain that is of more concern than the amount, as not all probiotics are equal by a long shot.
After all, you are adding billions of bacteria to your gut, which contains many trillions of colonies. It is like adding a handful of sand to a sandbox. At that point it is potency and activity that matters more than the amount.
With the DDS-1 strain in Opti-Elite Probiotics, along with three strains of Bifidobacterium, many find that the results speak for themselves. All you have to do is try it.
If it is general health and maintenance you are after, then taking it with food is fine, and it has been my experience that many find that it helps their digestion.
Yet, if it is an anti-allergy, anti-histaminic effect you are after, I have found that it only works if you take it away from food or on an empty stomach. The more empty your stomach, the faster the result. (If I am reacting to something I usually bite one of the capsules to break it open in my mouth before I swallow.)
I also find Optimum Immunity works extremely well in tandem with our probiotics for food reactions, and for moderating immune responses in general.
Hope this helps!
Be well, John