Living Flora

Most strains of bacteria have been used as dietary supplements. Some companies advocate the widest variety possible, while others suggest one at a time.

At Pure Essence, we combine six strains, so that a single supplement can support the entire digestive tract. These strains are all native to human beings, have been proven safe by research, and are specially prepared to survive the acids they encounter on their trip through the stomach.

Probiotic potencies are expressed as cell forming units (CFU’s). Each CFU is an organism that can live and reproduce in the human body. Research shows that one billion CFU’s per day maintain healthy probiotic populations.

While probiotic labels often claim many billions of CFU’s, these claims are potencies at the time the product was made. Because heat, air, moisture and light kill probiotics, most companies start with huge amounts, knowing that few will survive through production, shipping, storage, and so on. In a test conducted by an independent consumer group, one third of all products tested contained less than one percent of the number of CFU’s claimed.

Most probiotics are packaged like vitamins: as loose tablets or capsules in glass or plastic bottles. Although glass is better than plastic at protecting probiotics, it is still inefficient. Each time any bottle is opened, air, moisture and light get in. Because these things kill probiotics, it is important to protect the tablets or capsules from them.

Capsules are really just tiny “bottles” into which loose powders are poured. Because of this, all the nutrients placed inside them are constantly exposed to air, light and moisture (the shells of capsules themselves contain about 18% moisture). Since tablets are highly compressed, only the outer surface is exposed, so that their nutrients are better protected.

Despite this, probiotics are usually offered in capsules, because traditional tabletting processes generate enough heat to kill them. Now, however, a new, patent pending, “cryo-tabletting” technology permits probiotics to be compressed into tablets without being exposed to heat. This type of tablet provides better protection than capsules.

FlorAlive contains various strains of probiotics so that it can protect the entire gastro-intestinal tract. However, containing these strains would be of no value if we could not control when they are released within the body. If released too soon, some of the strains would be killed by stomach acids. If released too late, others would already have passed the part of the tract they protect.

Controlled Delivery Technology (CDT) is a patented process that enables us to program the MiniCryoTabs to release different strains at different times. Thus, the lactobacillus salivarius is released shortly after ingestion, in the stomach. The lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus lactis, lactobacillus bulgaricus, and streptococcus thermophilus later, in the small intestine. The last of the species to be released is the bifidobacterium bifidus, in the lower intestinal area. This superb new technology combined with Cryo-Tabletting and the packaging advances provide the finest probiotic product ever offered.