What are beneficial intestinal bacteria?
We all have billions of bacteria in our intestines from the day we are born.  Most of these bacteria are beneficial and contribute to our health.  However, it is now known that when the beneficial bacteria begin to be outnumbered by the more undesirable types, our health can suffer and, in many cases, this leads to:
• Depressed immune function
• Increased dysbiosis and intestinal disturbance
• Increased in severity of inflammatory condition and allergy
• Decreased digestive function and integrity

Benefits of Probiotics

Probiotics provides one of the most effective and natural ways of boosting our health and preventing disease.
By taking probiotics, you start to restore the healthy dominance of ‘good’ bacteria in the gut.  It is particularly important if our own intestinal flora has become depleted.  Some factors that cause depletion include:
• Age
• Stress
• Illness
• Infection
• Dietary/ Lifestyle changes
• Use of antibiotics or other medication
• Digestive disorders

Four Functions of Probiotics
1. Strengthen digestive system:  Probiotics helps the digestion of food, the absorption of nutrients, and facilitates excretion.  Many studies have shown that Bifidobacteria are able to resist the gastric juice in the stomach and inhabit in the intestine, suppressing the growth of ‘bad’ bacteria.
2. Establish a good gastrointestinal environment:  Once baby starts taking in food, bacteria (no matter good or bad) will enter the body together with the food and inhabit the gut, gradually forming the gut microflora.  Normally, the bacteria are dynamically balanced.  But as the some of the strains would compete with each other.  By taking probiotics, the good bacteria outgrow the bad ones, and thus helps established a better gastrointestinal environment.
3. Improve the imbalanced gut microflora after the application of antibiotics:  A lot of studies show that antibiotics are quite effective at killing off the bacteria that make us sick, but they also kill off the good bacteria, disturbing the balance of gut microflora.  And science has shown that the bad always grows back more quickly.  Taking probiotics can actively rebalance the microbial population of your intestine.
4. Strengthen the immune system:  Lactobacillus and Bifidobacteria help facilitate the synthesis of Vitamin B complex (B1, B2, B6 and folic acid), fortify the immune strength.
 

Clinical Evidence of Benefits of Probiotics

• Six DPPC trails have demonstrated significant reduction in duration of gastroenteritis in infants through the use of Lactobacilli/ Bifidobacteria

• Five trails have shown significant reduction in the duration of infant diarrhea

• Two trials have shown that Lactobacilli/ Bifidobacteria significantly reduced the risk of developing rotavirus diarrhea in infants.

• In the control group, 31-34% of the infants developed diarrhea against only 6.7-7.0% of those infants receiving Lactobacilli/ Bifidobacteria.

• Four Studies have shown significant protection against traveler’s diarrhea- however, three similar trials showed no effect.
 

Effectiveness & Advantages of Pharmax HLC Probiotics

Advantages of HLC Probiotics
Market Leaders
HLC probiotics have been the market leader in the U.K. and Europe

Ultra high potency
Contains 8 billion of viable cells, even up to 12 billion when stored in fridge; products will retain full label specification for a minimum of 3 months at ambient room temperature

More:

Manufacturing Innovation - Improvements in Stability and Yield

Recent advances in manufacturing technology now mean that significant improvements have been made in both stability and yield of the LAB4 consortium of probiotics bacteria.

1.  The Stability of HLC probiotics

Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria are fragile microorganisms when freeze-dried, with increased temperature and moisture levels substantially increasing their instability.  While it is always best to store the HLC probiotics in refrigerated or frozen stage, the improvements in stability of the HLC probiotics now mean that all products can be stored at ambient temperatures for a minimum of three months without compromising the label claim of potency.  This shelf life is possible because of the improved stabilization process used and also because a 50% ‘overage’ is included in the HLC probiotics at time of manufacture.  This means that HLC High Potency, which has a label claim of 8 billion per capsule, has a potency of 12 billion at time of manufacture.  So, if the product is stored refrigerated or frozen until consumption, then the level of intake will be approximately 12 billion!

l           Minimum 3 months ambient storage

l           50% higher potency if stored refrigerated until consumption

2.  Increases in Production Yield

Increase in yield means that the potency of the HLC range has been dramatically increased.  This is in line with current research and the results of Pharmax independent trials, both of which indicate that the combination of high numbers and effective probiotics strains results in more consistent and faster clinical effects. 

Survive and ‘colonize’ the human intestine
The foundation of performance of the HLC probiotics in clinical trials stems from the physiological characteristics that enable the LAB4 strains to strongly attach to epithelial cells and are able to survive through stomach acidity.

More:

Physiological Functionality

1.           Attachment to Human Epithelial Cells

The LAB4 consortium of organisms has been shown to attach to CaCo₂ cell line epithelial cells as well as directly excised human epithelial cells. 

2.           Survival through Stomach Acidity

The key to ensuring survival of HLC probiotics through the stomach is to administer the probiotics at the same time as food.

This is because the pH of the empty stomach is approximately 1.8-2.5, whereas food intake effectively buffers event eh increased acid production, resulting in the pH of the full stomach being approximately 3.5-4.2.

Independent studies have shown that the HLC LAB4 consortium shows virtually 100% survival through the stomach under these condition. 

Contain only clinically-proven human strains
The HLC probiotics contain the most important beneficial bacteria found in the intestine.  The HLC LAB4 Consortium of Strains contains the clinically proven strains which have been systematically developed and improved upon over the past 15 years.

More:

The HLC LAB4 Consortium of Strains

Pharmax is continuously isolating and evaluating new strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium.

Over the past 10 years this has led to the current use of two strains of Lactobacillus acidophilus together with Bifidobacterium bifidum and Bifidobacterium lactis, which are now termed as the LAB4 consortium.

These are the clinically proven strains used in recent and on-going trials:

Lactobacillus acidophilus (CUL 60)

Lactobacillus acidophilus (CUL 21)

Bifidobacterium bifidum (CUL 20)

Bifidobacterium lactis (CUL 34)

Dairy and gluten free
HLC probiotics are suitable for those allergic to dairy and gluten, as well as vegetarians and vegans

Quality Assurance
HLC probiotics are manufactured under ISO9001:2000 certification and GMP standards and are independently tested to guarantee potency

More:

Quality Assurance – Guaranteed

Due to the inherent fragility of most probiotics organisms, especially if stored incorrectly, it is imperative to have a comprehensive and committed Quality Assurance program which ensures that the consumer obtains the highest possible quality product- every time.

To achieve this, ever since the introduction of the HLC range, Pharmax has pursued the policy of having every batch of product independently analyzed.

Manufactured in UK
 

Instruction & Supplement Facts

Features:

l        1 billion Lactobacillus innovatively freeze-dried into each of the individual straws, the probiotic are mobilized and ingested as the liquid passes through the straw into the mouth.

l        Easy and convenient to use, especially for children;

l        Each straw individually packed; 

l        Suitable for children of 3 years upwards and adults.

Recommended intake:
One or more straws can be used with cool drinks. The inside of straw is lined with probiotic organisms which are consumed when straw is used.

Discard straw after use

Storage:
Keep refrigerated.  Once removed from refrigerator, product will maintain label potency for 3 months at room temperature.

Supplement Facts:

Supplement Facts Serving Size 1 straw Servings Per Container 60
Amount per gram	%DV
L acidophilus (2 strains)    1 billion viable cells
Lactobacillus acidophilus (CUL 60) Lactobacillus acidophilus (CUL 21)	﹢
	﹢
﹢Daily Value not established

                Other ingredients: None