What Is Activia?
And how long does it stay in my body?

This popular brand of yogurt contains Bifidobacterium animalis DN-173 010. Many people have found that it helps gastrointestinal problems but many have also found that it simply "didn't agree" with them. Some of the reactions have been minor discomfort but many have also been more severe.

So for those suffering miserably after having eaten it and wanting to know "how long does Activia stay in my system?" here is what I've been able to find out.

In some of the studies 10 days is used as a "clean-out" period in between trials and I wondered if that meant all side effects would finish in that time. However further research indicates perhaps not.

Research shows that the Bifidobacterium family in general does not colonize the intestinal tract. Studies show that as long as people take Bifidobacterium it will be found in their faeces but as soon as they stop taking it, it is no longer there.¹

At first glance this looks as if perhaps adverse reactions might clear quickly but another study showed that the beneficial effect of Activia could remain for 2 to 4 weeks after the people stopped eating it.

So a reasonable assumption could be that unpleasant side effects could last for a similar time.

Although many people have had a bad reaction, remember this IS a probiotic and hundreds of thousands of people eat it with no unpleasant results. In fact, according to Dannon, every second 185 people eat a cup of Activia!

A small segment of the population does react badly to it but most people do not.

I found this on an old message board before Activia became so well known. There, almost everyone loved it but the occassional person had problems. One person wrote: "After two weeks I thought I was a little toooo regular, so I stopped. Six weeks later I still had persistent diarrhea. Two days of Immodium D seems to have solved the problem."

I can't give you any advise from personal experience because it is not sold where I live (New Zealand). And despite having pages of mostly unfavorable reviews on this website, I will certainly try it - but cautiously -when I get the chance.

Ingredients in Activia

This is for the 4oz strawberry cup.

Cultured grade A reduced fat milk, strawberry, fructose syrup, sugar, contains less than 1% of fructose, whey protein contentrate, corn starch, modified corn starch, kosher gelatin, natural flavor, carmine (for color), sodium citrate, malic acid.

It also contains Live and Active cultures of L bulgaricus, S thermophilus and Bifidobacterium animalis DN-173 010.

Like to read reviews on this contraversial yogurt?

REFERENCES

2. C. Picard, J. Fioramonti, A. Francois, T. Robinson, F. Neant, C. Matuchansky. Review article: bifidobacteria as probiotic agents – physiological effects and clinical benefits. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, Volume 22, Issue 6, Pages 495-512, Published Online: 13 Sep 2005

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