Biotivia Florativia 8 Vials

Once again Biotivia introduces a first of its kind supplement that sets a new standard for other manufacturers to strive for.

Florativia is what scientists call a synbiotic, a complex of both probiotics and prebiotics in one supplement that work together to improve the "friendly flora" of the human intestine.

Probiotics are 'good bacteria' that can help us digest our food better, improve our immunity, fight allergies and support a healthy stomach. The result is we feel healthier, livelier and we are better able to resist irritable bowel syndrome and poor digestion. Prebiotics help to increase the effectiveness of good bacteria and also reduce harmful bacteria. Prebiotics and Probiotics are like the two sides of a coin: Prebiotics create a healthy environment in the intestine so Probiotics can flourish.

Only problem is, you can't store Probiotics and Prebiotics in the same container because they react with each other over time. So Biotivia came up with an ingenious Twist 'n Shake jar that mixes the two ingredients in the delicious drink just before you take it, ensuring maximum effectiveness. Florativia gives you 16 billion Probiotic and Prebiotic bacteria in their daily use pocket-size jar ... plus essential vitamins, minerals and a dash of chamomile and green anise.

16 billion Probiotic and prebiotic bacteria with essential vitamins, minerals and a dash of chamomile and green anise.

It also contains some of the following micro-organism strains:

Bifidobacterium infantis : effective in the treatment of the irritable bowel syndrome

Lactobacillus fermentum : natural anti-infective activity

Lactobacillus reuteri: re-equilibrator of gaseous colic of new born babies

Bacillus clausii: regulator of the immune system

See how much probiotic research is being carried out

Increasingly intense research applied especially to the food sector, has led to the typification and functional in-depth examination of many new strains of micro-organisms which make up the probiotic flora that affects human well being.

The philogenetically dominant procaryotae in the colon of human beings belong to two descent lines subdivided into Gram positives, in turn consisting of Lactobacilla and Bifidobacteria, and Gram negatives, subdivided into bacteroides, fusobacteria, enterobacteria, and propionic bacteria.

The intestinal bacteria species known up to the present day are only a part of those considered to be present in the various sections of the gastrointestinal tract.

In terms of quantity, their concentration grows by about one thousand (103) units forming a colony (cfu/ml) in the stomach and the small intestine, to at least 100 million (108) in the first part of the large intestine (ileum), reaching concentrations from 10 billions to one thousand billions (1010-1014) of bacteria cells in the colon.

In terms of quality, this microflora consists mainly of non-sporogenous bacteria, i.e. which do not generate spores, and anaerobic bacteria, i.e. which grow well only and exclusively in the absence of oxygen.

The beneficial properties of the microorganisms contained in fermented foods, especially milk derivates, have been common knowledge for centuries, but the first scientific observation goes back to the Nobel Prize Award Winner Elie Mechnikoff who, in 1907 intuited that eating non pathogenic bacteria through yoghurt had a positive effect on endogenous bacterial flora and on the functionality of the gastrointestinal system.

However, it was not until very recently, thanks to microbiological, epidemiological and clinical research, that light was thrown on the substantial difference between biologically active strains and strains that are ineffective because they are destroyed in the stomach, irrespective of genus and species.

The first range of probiotic products in the form of fermented milk, appeared on the Italian market in 1995, the result of Nestlè‘s research, thanks to which the Lactobacillus johnsonii La1 strain was successfully isolated, characterised and experimented – this strain is particularly resistant to attacks by gastric juices and gall, and adheres excellently to the intestinal wall.

Initially selected due to these characteristics, Lactobacillus johnsonii La1 showed that it was capable not only of re-balancing intestinal flora, but also of stimulating the activity of phagocytes and increasing the production of antibodies.

Today, probiotics are often eaten also by taking in lyophilized (freeze dried) preparations used for preparing capsules, tablets and syrups, containing mixtures mainly made up of genuses Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium and Streptococcus, which are components important for intestinal microflora, and relatively safer. In fact in 2001, WHO and FAO set some very precise guidelines for safe use of ‘probiotic’ microorganisms.

They had to satisfy the following requirements:

• to resist aggression by gastric juices and gall and, therefore, be able to survive also in the acid environment of the stomach;
• to firmly adhere to the mucous membrane, colonise it and remain intestinally vital;
• to be identifiable as concerns the strain and the concentration of live bacteria;
• to be well defined in terms of the effective dose and of the therapeutic indications, which must be supported by scientific evidence;
• to be recognised by the host environment, i.e. to normally make up the flora of a healthy intestine;
• to be free of side effects also in immune-depressed patients

Action mechanisms and beneficial effects

Based on the abovementioned characteristics and following in-depth research in recent years, the production companies, in cooperation with the universities, have selected and typified microorganism strains that greatly differ to one another, as regards probiotic effects.

To this multiplicity of effects, as many action mechanisms correspond, and are often complex and difficult to clarify. However, in general, one can simplify, by stating that the action mechanism consists of two stages:

1.    adhesion to the intestinal mucous membrane

2.    interaction with the internal ecosystem.

In fact, some probiotics are effective thanks to the production of substances with an antimicrobic activity, such as bacteriocins, hydrogen peroxide or lactic acid, which stop the growth of pathogenic microorganisms. Others can act by directly reinforcing the intestinal barrier, preventing permeability and the consequent loss of macromolecules, phenomena noticeable in intestinal infections and food intolerance. Others still exert a trophic action on the mucous membrane of the colon or protect the mucus which lines the intestinal wall.

Finally, there are probiotic microorganisms with an immunostimulating function, which act directly on the intestinal barrier, stimulating cells which produce IgA and intestinal epithelial lymphocytes, and modulating the production of IgE and interleukins.

However, these beneficial effects on the organism call for constant prolonged taking, so that the physiological bacterial flora prevails on the pathogenic bacterial flora, consequently guaranteeing good intestinal regularity.

Therapeutic evidence

The therapeutic potential of some probiotic strains, on their own or in association, has been supported both by in vitro scientific evaluations and by in vivo clinical studies.

Recent studies published by the American Society of Nutrition on Lactobacillus acidophilus (johnsonii) LA1, show some very interesting data on the remission of gastritis from Helicobacter pylori following administration of a probiotic in addition to the standard antibiotic cure with

Claritromycin antibiotic (81% remission of pyloric gastritis compared to 71% by the antibiotic cure alone).

Lactobacillus acidophilus is also useful in preparations for the cure and prevention of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome and in the different forms of diarrhoea, especially in association with other probiotics such as Lactobacillus GG rhamnosus and Saccharomyces boulardi.

Lactobacillus GG (rhamnosus), the name of which derives from its discoverers, Dr.Gorbach and Dr.Golden, who isolated it in 1985, and which shows exceptional survival in an acid environment and great power of adhesion to the intestinal mucous membrane, was demonstrated to significantly reduce the severity and duration of rotarovirus induced diarrhoea, and to reduce diarrhoea episodes associated with colitis from Clostridium difficile (an intestinal contaminant).

 Furthermore, there is experimental evidence that it can reduce intestinal inflammation associated with intestinal allergies (including milk allergy of new born babies: breast fed newly borns who take L.GG show significant improvement in atopic dermatitis), whereas studies are under way for its use in curing diverticulitis.

In 9 clinical studies conducted in the late 90s on hospitalised children, treated with Bifidobacterium spp and Streptococus thermophilus and assessed day by day for episodes of diarrhoea and anti-rotavirus antigens, the authors obtained some significant, comforting results: only 7% of development of the diarrhoeic conditions of children treated with probiotics, as against 31% of those treated with a placebo.

A recent study conducted on the strain Lactobacillus casei Shirota, reports its presence in the faeces of healthy volunteers, after three weeks of daily consumption of fermented milk containing 6.5 billion of this bacterium. This shows that L.casei Shirota can tolerate transit through the stomach and reach the intestine in a live and active state, a fundamental pre-condition in defining a bacterial strain as probiotic.

However, it was observed that the LcS strain does not permanently adhere to the intestinal walls and therefore, 2-3 weeks after the last consumption, it is no longer present in the faeces. This suggests the need to continue restoring the probiotic every day in order to maintain a sufficiently high quantity of it inside the intestine.

New emerging strains

Both medical research and companies operating in the nutritional field are involved in seeking knowledge of probiotics. The aim is to find bacterial strains which can scientifically (and not only through empirical observations) improve human health. There are already many research projects which authorise the promotion of given bacteria.

Bacillus clausii: regulator of the immune system

Although it is not a bacterium resident in intestinal flora, it has for some time been used to prevent alterations of intestinal flora, or to restore altered microbiotic balance, the cause of meteorism and abdominal pain. In a recent Italian study on the treatment of the Syndrome of Intestinal Bacterial Contamination (SIBO), 60 patients were split into two random groups: spores of Bacillus clausii were administered 3 times a day for one month to the first group, whereas to the second group, an antibiotic pharmaceutical with a disinfecting action of the intestine. The results would demonstrate that the effectiveness of the two treatments can be superimposed.

 The germination of the clausii spores leads to a regulation of the immune system and an effect of antagonist competition with the pathogenic microflora. The capacity of Bacillus clausii to stimulate the immune system in the small intestine, when is in the germinating phase, seems to play a role also in relieving the allergic symptoms, especially in atopic children, both by directly influencing the synthesis of antibodies such as IgA, and by influencing the activity of the intestinal lymphoid tissue.

Lactobacillus reuteri: re-equilibrator of gaseous colic of new born babies

This is one of the few species of endogenous lactobacilli of the gastrointestinal tract in man. It positively influences intestinal colonisation, and was found in the bioptic samples from the stomach, duodenum, and ileum, where it performs an immuno-modulating action. In a recent study published by the Pediatrics magazine (January 2007), the strain was investigated to evaluate its efficiency in the treatment of infantile colic. 90 sucklings affected by infantile colic aged from 21 to 90 days, and exclusively breast fed, were recruited.

They were split into two random treatment groups based on Lactobacillus reuteri in drops (108 cfu per day), or Simeticone (an anti-foam pharmaceutical against gaseous colic in doses of 30 mg 2-4 times a day), for 28 consecutive days. The Lactobacillus reuteri supplement proved to be more effective compared to treatment with Simeticone, in significantly reducing not only the duration, but also the intensity and frequency of the colic.

Lactobacillus fermentum : natural anti-infective activity

A new therapeutic ambient where probiotics are arousing great interest, concerns the treatment of uro-genital infections. A considerable part of intestinal microflora is destroyed by antibiotics, which enables the creation of conditions favourable for the development of pathogenic organisms such as Candida albicans and Clostridium difficile, which can lead to infections, sepsis, colitis and diarrhoea.

A study at the department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, reports the first evidence of total clinical remission of infections of the uro-genital tract following oral consumption of probiotics. The significant aspect is that, although the probiotic is consumed orally, after a week of treatment it is possible to isolate, in the vaginal mucous membrane, the strains of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GR-1 and Lactobacillus fermentum RC-14 used for the therapy.

Bifidobacterium infantis : effective in the treatment of the irritable bowel syndrome

In a vey recent study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology by a team of researchers of the Department of Medicine of Manchester University, a highly significant improvement (more than 20%) was noted in the reduction of abdominal pain, swelling, tension, incomplete evacuation and reduction of the gaseous mass in the faeces of women.

The clinical trial was conducted on a vast scale on 362 patients affected by IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) split into two random groups, treated every day for 4 weeks with capsules containing 1Xof 108 cfu of Bifidobacterium infantis versus placebo.

The considerable improvement was not associated with significant adverse events, and therefore the clinical effectiveness of the probiotic treatment recommends its use in medical practice.