ActiMint – the probiotic mint that aids digestion
Information on its ingredients

The active ingredient in ActiMint is Lactobacillus acidophilus and the strain we have chosen is called L10. This probiotic strain is designed to retain its beneficial bacteria because of the latest form of encapsulating the colony forming units (cfu), this confers a degree of protection to the beneficial flora as they pass through the stomach to create an optimum environment for digestion in the digestive tract. L10 st arts with 150 billion cfu per gram, (1.5x10 10), which goes into the ActiMint tablet. Ecobrands has carried out further independent in-vitro tests on the ActiMint tablets with Northern Hygiene Laboratory Ltd that confirms a high effective recovery rate of the cfu and supports our packaging claim of 150 Million cfu per tablet, (10 6). This is has been commented on by Professor Glenn Gibson and a remarkably high unit count in tablet form.

One of the fundamentals of good health is probiotic supplementation with acidophilus and other friendly bacteria. These intestinal flora play major roles in keeping the immune system strong, in digestion and elimination, in the condition of your skin, in producing vitamins and much more.

Our diets today don’t include much in the way of live fermented foods. Even most yoghurts have had the bacteria in them killed so that they last longer without going sour, and we are exposed to many toxins, which kill the friendly bacteria in our bodies. Antibiotics, medications, chlorinated water, birth control pills, even the mercury from the dental silver amalgams in your mouth can get into the saliva and destroy your ‘friendly bacteria’. Thus supplementation is beneficial to take care of these issue.

What are probiotics?

The literal meaning of ‘probiotics’ is ‘for life’. Probiotics are a generic term for naturally occurring ‘friendly’ bacteria that are beneficial for health, which differentiates them from the ‘bad’ bacteria such as the well known Escherichia coli and Salmonella, causing diarrhoea and other intestinal problems. The most populous probiotic families are Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Many different types of probiotic bacteria grow in the human digestive tract, and together with other ‘friendly bacteria’ create a complex ecosystem in our intestines called the intestinal microflora. Probiotics are thus a natural p art of our body.

What makes bacteria a probiotic?

1. Safe for consumption

The bacteria to be used as probiotic must be a 'friendly bacteria’ that is safe. By law, only safe bacteria are accepted on the market. However, the law does not yet regulate the definition ‘probiotics’. Anyone can claim a bacteria to be a probiotic bacteria.

2. Measurable beneficial effects on health

There must be scientific evidence that demonstrates the beneficial effects of a probiotic strain on our health. There are many different Lactobacillus acidophilus strains, the strain of Lactobacillus acidophilus L10, we have selected in ActiMint demonstrates proven scientific evidence of the health benefits it contributes to.

3. Survival of the bacteria

The bacteria must be alive when reaching the human gut in order to provide the health benefits. It is important to note that probiotic supplements in which the number of live bacteria CFU is guaranteed until the end of shelf life provide more certainty that you get a sufficient dose of 'friendly bacteria’ than a supplement that only guarantees the dose "at time of manufacturing".

Why do we need probiotics?

Staying healthy - Probiotic bacteria play an important role in digesting food as well as maintaining health. They produce short chain fatty acids, which promote colonic nutrition, help the body in breaking down food, assist the absorption of essential vitamins, and protect against attack from ‘bad bacteria’ such as E. coli and Salmonella.

The important balance of the many different types of ‘friendly bacteria’ is easily disturbed. External factors such as (antibiotic) medication, travel, changes in diet and stress as well as internal influences including microbial interactions and intestinal secretions can have a negative effect. As a result, undesirable ‘bad bacteria’ may invade, bringing symptoms such as diarrhoea, constipation, and other bowel problems. Supplementing the daily diet with probiotics keeps the important balance of ‘friendly bacteria’ in place and thereby helps maintain health.

What makes L10 probiotics special?

They bring the latest discoveries in the field of probiotics - The second-generation screening strategy has resulted in unique benefits such as stability, survival and probiotic health effects.

Dietary supplements

An effective and easy way of ensuring a balanced digestive tract - While dairy foods, like yoghurt, can provide the ‘friendly bacteria’; everyday diet alone may not supply sufficient probiotics to the digestive tract. A daily dosage of more than one billion CFUs (colony forming units; a measurement of the amount of living probiotic bacteria) seems advisable to obtain the desired effects. An effective and easy way to ascertain the sufficient amount of probiotics is by dietary supplementation. The probiotics in ActiMint are specially formulated to be a stable dietary supplement. Through daily ingestion, supplements with the L10 strain help ensure a balanced intestinal ecosystem. An ideal intake may be 2 ActiMint tablets after each meal.

What are prebiotics?

Fructo-oligosaccharide (FOS) Unlike probiotics, which are living micro-organisms, prebiotics are indigestible carbohydrates. They stimulate the growth and activity of ‘beneficial bacteria’ of the intestinal flora and maintain healthy blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

In a normal, healthy digestive tract you would expect to find around 1.4 kgs of bacteria. At best, the so-called ‘friendly bacteria’ make up a third of this population. At worst, especially after the prolonged use of antibiotics, or years of a diet that is too high in refined foods and sugar, levels of the good bacteria may be so low they are virtually undetectable.

Clinical trials on humans have already shown that using oligosaccharides as probiotics works. FOS are sugars that occur naturally in foods such as leeks, asparagus, Jerusalem art ichokes, garlic, onions, wheat, oats, and soybeans.

FOS are not degraded or absorbed in the upper intestinal tract, and so can survive the normally hazardous passage through the digestive system to reach the colon. However, you cannot eat enough of these foods in a normal diet to provide a significant prebiotic effect, which is why you will need to take a supplement.

What is Xylitol?

Xylitol is a sugar-free sweetener that occurs naturally and it also exhibit s prebiotic qualities - it can be found in berries, fruit, vegetables and mushrooms and is commercially made from Finnish birch.

Xylitol offers well-proven health benefits, which include a reduction in tooth decay with long-lasting protection against dental caries; and suitability for diabetics because of a low glycemic index.

The properties of Xylitol are a clear-cut cooling sensation, coupled with a distinctive mouth feel. Xylitol is a long-established, tooth-friendly sugar substitute, now incorporated in high added value sophisticated products such as ActiMint.

Peppermint Oil

Acts as a muscle relaxant, p art icularly in the digestive tract. Peppermint oil is added to dozens of commercial antacid preparations and is associated with providing relief for general abdominal discomforts. Specifically used as a breath freshener because of its clean fresh flavour and known to combat malodorous breath.

Taken daily ActiMint offers an assured benefit to digestive health.

Professor Glenn Gibson, School of Biosciences at Reading University , says that nobody could overdose on ActiMint because probiotics can only contribute to gut and oral health. He recommends taking probiotics before, during and after a course of antibiotics and says that ActiMint is eminently suitable to take as a probiotic addition on a regular basis. He has commented on the wisdom of choosing only the L. acidophilus species, as there is a body of opinion that two or more species mixed together might actually work against each other rather than add any benefit.

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