Activia’s 14 day challange
A couple of months of ago, I find myself watching TV and see Danones commercial promoting their Activia yogurt and 14 day challenge. To be perfectly honest on first viewing I had a little laugh to myself. All yogurts contain culture. I was pretty sure it was smart marketing, but marketing none the less. I am a leery consumer, always on the watch for smart marketing, trying to convince me I need something I really don’t. Then the word probiotics starts to appear on more labels in the grocery store and I see an article in a magazine. Now that my attention has been caught, I do a little research and decide that indeed I should try this 14 day challenge.
I am sold. Activia has earned a permanent place in my refrigerator. I have a finicky digestive system to say the very least. In addition I suffer lactose intolerance and IBS like symptoms. I was amazed at what an incredible difference eating a daily serving of Activia’s yogurt made on my health. Daily serving here is the crucial part of the equation. I did take the 14 day challenge and noticed an incredible difference. After about three weeks however, I missed a couple of days, having not made it to the grocery store in a timely fashion, and after a short three days of not taking I noticed symptoms starting to re appear.
I was intrigued and decided that since probiotics, at least in Danone’s yogurt did as it suggested that I would try some prebiotics and see how this affected my body. To be fair and somewhat scientific I quit eating my daily yogurt for over a week. I wanted a somewhat accurate comparison. For prebiotics I decided on chicory root, which research had told me was high in inulin. I simply had two cups a day instead of coffee. Again I noticed a difference in regularity. The results for me were somewhat more subtle. Definitely it didn’t help with lactose intake, as Danone’s yogurt had.
At the end of it all, I have decided that it is definitely worth taking both prebiotics and probiotics. Thank you to Danone for having made a difference in my daily health, and allowing me to enjoy milk products once again!
For more information on probitics
For more information on prebiotics