Ultimate Flora Probiotic Review Summary: Renew Life are a well respected company and Ultimate Flora is one their best selling products.

Targeted towards occasional digestive discomfort and immune support – Ultimate Flora is a well rounded product.

However it could be argued that it doesn’t really compete at the very highest level and falls behind similar products such as Complete Probiotic Platinum

Ultimate Flora Probiotic from Renew Life Review

Ultimate Flora Extra Care 50 Billion is a gut-wellness supplement manufactured in the USA and distributed under the Renew Life brand name.

According to the manufacturer, one dose per day provides 50 billion live cultures from 12 different strains of probiotic bacteria. 

The marketing material is not particularly informative but it states Extra Care 50 Billion is for people who want to restore their digestive balance and for people who occasionally experience digestive discomfort.

The Extra Care 50 Billion sales page on the Renew Life website is more annoying than helpful. There is a brief product description followed by numerous pictures of individuals posing with bottles of various Renew Life products.

As you scroll down the page, it keeps loading more. Most of the pictures are not relevant to the product the page aims to sell.

At the top of the page, beneath a title that states “About this Product”, a line of bolded text points out, “Renew Life Probiotics Were Voted #1 in Consumer Satisfaction in 2018.” Again, that’s not about the product. It’s about the brand.

The claim refers to a Consumer Lab Survey. Information provided at the Consumer Lab website does not wholly support the claim but Renew Life is one of several supplement companies that get a mention on the list of top supplements for that year.

Although Renew Life was one of the brands the company analyzed for inclusion on its list the following year, Renew Life failed to earn a place on Consumer Lab’s list of Top-rated Vitamin and Supplement Brands and Merchants for 2019.

Who Makes Ultimate Flora?

Renew Life was founded in 1997 by Brenda and Stan Watson. The couple became interested in digestive health through Brenda’s struggle with chronic illness.

When Brenda began to understand how changes within the gut can affect the health, she became inspired to help other people. That’s when she and her husband began formulating supplements.

In 2016, the Watsons sold Renew Life to the Clorox Company, which is best known for being the manufacturer of Clorox bleach.

Extra Care 50 Billion is one of many Renew Life probiotic products. At the time of this review, the official site was showing 30+ different probiotic options including a probiotic for babies and probiotic gummies for kids.

In addition to probiotics, Renew Life also distributes fish oils, supplements that provide digestive enzymes, detox formulations, and fiber-providing supplements.

Renew Life products have won several awards from retailers and magazines. There can be no doubt the brand has earned a lot of respect.

However, a number of recent customer reviews mention quality issues and problems with orders. Unfortunately, the problems don’t end there.

On May 3, 2017, the company had to recall many of its Ultimate Flora products after it was discovered they were wrongly-labeled dairy-free.

This is a serious error because the presence of dairy in a product has the potential to make some people seriously ill and may also trigger life-threatening reactions.

Why Are Probiotic Bacteria Important?

The guts are alive with bacteria. Some types are bad and, if they build up, they can endanger the health.

Probiotic bacteria is the good type. It reduces the level of hostile bacteria in the gut and prevents it from reaching harmful levels.

Probiotic bacteria also helps provide a strong immune system by aiding the production of the T-cells that are part of the body’s frontline of defense. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25017466/)

In addition to these things, probiotic bacteria help maintain the integrity of the intestinal barrier that stops harmful organisms from seeping through the intestinal walls and entering the blood. They are also good for digestion.

These and various other roles the bacteria serve optimize the body to attain/maintain good mental and physical health. By supporting efficient energy metabolism, probiotic bacteria also fight obesity and help you to stay slim.

What Is Ultimate Flora Probiotic Extra Care 50 Billion?

Renew Life Extra Care 50 Billion is a capsule-type supplement that provides probiotic bacteria. The probiotics inside the capsules come in the form of a powder.

The capsules are designed to delay the release of the bacteria. This should help it survive the harsh digestive acids and allow it to make it safely to the gut.

What are the Benefits

• Helps relieve occasional digestive discomfort
• Promotes digestive and immune health
• Helps you maintain regularity
• Delayed-release capsule ensures the live bacteria reach your gut intact
• The presence of multiple probiotic strains reflect the natural diversity inside your gut
• Quality, purity, and potency guaranteed through expiration

The Ultimate Flora Probiotic Formula

According to the supplement facts on the back of the box, each capsule provides 30 billion bacteria from the Bifidobacterium family of bacteria. It also provides 20 billion bacteria from the Lactobacillus family of bacteria.

A Closer Look at the Ultimate Flora Probiotic Probiotic Blend

Most probiotic products contain bacteria take from the Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus families of bacteria and the formulation provided here looks good.

Let’s take a look at a couple of the bacteria types present.

• Bifidobacterium lactis – Aids digestion and immune function.
• Bifidobacterium bifidum – Synthesizes vitamins and battles hostile bacteria.
• Lactobacillus casei – Aids digestion and controls diarrhea.
• Lactobacillus salivarius – Aids carbohydrate absorption, lowers cholesterol, and reduces inflammation.
• Lactobacillus bulgaricus – Helps maintain the integrity of the intestinal barier that prevents harmful bacteria from entering the blood.

All the bacteria present in the blend are beneficial. So, if quality standards are sufficiently high and the capsules can get the specified quantities of bacteria down to the gut, all should be well.

How Does Ultimate Flora Probiotic Compare to Other Probiotic Products?

Hype aside, the product looks good but there is nothing that makes it appear to have any notable advantage over alternative probiotic formulations.

How to Use Ultimate Flora Probiotic

The dose is one capsule per day.

Ultimate Flora Probiotic Customer Reviews

Customer reviews are a mixed bag. Some people heap praise on the product’s probiotic abilities, others complain about quality issues.

A lot of customers also claim to have tested the product and discovered the bacteria were dead.

Here are some positive reviews from customers

Here are some complaints and negative reviews from customers

Potential Side Effects and Other Health Considerations of Ultimate Flora Probiotic

Probiotic products are very popular and can offer many health benefits. However, people who have weak immune systems should not use this type of supplement unless a doctor approves it. Some probiotics could cause side effects.

Some people find probiotic products upset their stomachs when they first begin using them but any problems of this nature generally subside quickly as the body adapts.

Unfortunately, a lot of customers report additional problems they attribute to using this product.

These include:

• Acne
• Anxiety
• Panic attacks
• High blood pressure

Some customers say they believe the problems they experienced were due to the lack of refrigeration during transport.

Where to Buy Ultimate Flora Probiotic

Extra Care 50 Billion is available to buy via many popular supplement providers including Lucky Vitamin, Swanson Health Products, and Vitamin Discount Center. You can also find it on the shelves of many branches of Walgreens.

However, there are several pack size options and a lot of suppliers don’t stock all of the sizes. Needless to say, the manufacturer’s website does.

If you buy direct from the Renew Life website the size options and prices look like this:

• 14 Capsules – $18.69
• 30 Capsules – $33.99
• 60 Capsules – $57.79
• 90 Capsules – $76.49

A Look at the Renew Life Guarantee

Renew Life Promises a 60-day money-back guarantee. On the face of it, that seems pretty good. Don’t take this company’s guarantee at face value.

If you examine the details of the guarantee, you will find the following line of text:

“If you wish to return a Renew Life product because of poor quality in manufacturing, we offer a 60-day Complete Money Back Guarantee (minus shipping and handling costs).”

That may be handy if you receive a bottle of pills that show signs of damage or is only half-full. However, if you find the Extra Care 50 Billion doesn’t work or causes you to experience side effects, a guarantee like that doesn’t mean a thing.

Ultimate Flora Probiotic Review Conclusion

As far as the probiotic formulation goes, Extra Care 50 Billion doesn’t differ much from many alternative products.

Although with 50 billion probiotic bacteria per capsule, it does provide significantly more bacteria than a lot of probiotic products do, in theory anyway.

Unfortunately, a lot of customers say they believe the bacteria in their capsules were dead.

We also found many complaints about empty packages, broken or improperly sealed bottles, and other quality issues. Some customers also say using Extra Care 50 Billion caused them to become ill.

There certainly appear to be a lot more reports of problems since the couple who started Renew Life took the money and ran.

Is Ultimate Flora Probiotic a good probiotic supplement to buy?

At the time of this review, it’s not a product we can endorse. There are too many reports of problems and the manufacturer’s guarantee is not as good as it looks.

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Probiotics or Prebiotics?

What are probiotics and prebiotics, how do they differ, and why should you care? If those are the questions presently running through your mind, this article will provide you with the answers you seek.

In all probability, you will already have a pretty good idea what probiotics are because it a subject that people talk about a lot these days and it’s hard to ignore all those probiotic products sitting in supermarket chillers.

As you may have noticed, “probiotic” and “prebiotic” are very similar words. The only difference is one has an “o” for the third letter and the other has an “e.”

However, don’t make the mistake of thinking the two words are interchangeable or mean the same thing. This is far from being the case.

Laying it out as simply as possible, probiotics are beneficial bacteria that live in your gut. The word prebiotic refers to a type of indigestible fiber you get from certain foods.

The human digestive organs cannot process prebiotic fiber at all so it passes from the stomach to the intestines untouched.

There lies the benefit because probiotic bacteria feed on prebiotic fiber. It nourishes the bacteria and helps it multiply in our guts.

Many people eat probiotic products because they provide the guts with extra probiotic bacteria. The bacteria in these products is still alive.

Other people prefer to consume prebiotic foods and products because doing so is a little like providing a plant with fertilizer.

Which the best option? Probiotics, or prebiotics? It’s hard to say but there is nothing to stop you deliberately topping up with both.

Why Are Probiotic Bacteria Beneficial?

Your guts are home to many different strains of bacteria, some of which can be damaging to the health.

Probiotic bacteria, also known as gut microbiota, is the “good bacteria” that wages war against the harmful types of bacteria and prevents it from attaining an unhealthy prominence that could have negative repercussions for the health. 

Probiotic bacteria further encourage good health by aiding the T-cells that play an important role in the human immune system. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25017466/)

Additionally, probiotic bacteria also appear to help regulate inflammation and the benefits this busy type of good bacteria provides does not end there.

Probiotic bacteria also ferments carbohydrates into short-chain fatty acids and converts nitrogenous compounds in microbial protein.

Probiotic bacteria can create and activate Vitamin K and B Vitamins too. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2754357/)

Among other things, the aforementioned activities can aid energy metabolism. Real-world benefits include extra vigor and less tendency to gain weight and it can also help aid digestion.

Though it’s important not to lose sight of the fact many of the benefits probiotic bacteria provide may not be so readily apparent.

For instance, the short-chain fatty acids they produce are the main nutrient necessary for forming the cells that create the gut barrier. 

This barrier is important because it prevents viruses, bacteria, and other undesirable microbes from passing through the intestines into the blood.

The Complex Relationship Between Diet and Gut Microbiota

The food choices you make can have a profound impact on your gut microbiota. As touched upon earlier, consuming prebiotic food and/or supplements can nourish your good bacteria and make it stronger.

However, when you eat a lot of food that is high in fat or sugar, it can hinder the good bacteria and feed the less-friendly kinds, helping it to multiply to unhealthy levels.

Needless to say, this is not a situation you want.

There are many arguments for trying to maintain a healthy diet and lifestyle, nurturing a healthy gut microbiome is just one of them. 

When the gut microbiome is thrown out of whack, be it due to bad diet or any other reason,   apart from making you more susceptible to disease it may also cause you to gain weight.

This relationship between gut bacteria and bodyweight may surprise you, but scientists have noticed people who have a healthy gut microbiome are often leaner than people who do not.

They believe this may be because the harmful types of bacteria cause you to absorb extra calories from food.

Some research shows fruits and vegetables that have been treated with pesticides may have a negative effect on the gut microbiota.

Further study is necessary but it could be argued your probiotic bacteria may benefit from a switch to organic food.

Which Foods are Probiotic?

Ask someone to list a few probiotic foods and yogurts will probably sit at the top of the list. That’s not surprising because it’s the probiotic food that has the benefit of a marketing department behind it.

However, lots of yogurts are probiotic whether they are marketed as such or not. If they contain live bacteria, as many yogurts do, it will be the probiotic kind.

Certain other foods are probiotic too and few of them are dairy-based.

A few probiotic food options (that are not yogurt) include:

• Sauerkraut
• Pickled gherkins (non pasteurized)
• Kombucha tea
• Kimchi
• Kefir
• Tempeh

Which Foods Are Prebiotic?

Although you can do so if you want to, there is no pressing need to buy prebiotic supplements. It’s an option, not a necessity. You can get plenty of prebiotic fiber from food. 

Many different types of fruits, vegetables, and legumes contain this probiotic bacteria-boosting fiber.

Good prebiotic foods include:

• Asparagus
• Oatmeal
• Apples
• Bananas
• Barley
• Berries
• Peas
• Beans
• Jerusalem artichokes
• Onions
• Garlic
• Leeks
• Dandelion greens
• Chicory root
• Wheat bran

There are, of course, many other prebiotic foods but adding any more would make the above list unnecessarily long. The list’s main purpose is to point out adding prebiotic food to your diet is not a difficult thing to do. 

Differences Between Probiotics and Prebiotics Summary

Probiotic bacteria are the friendly type of bacteria that helps keep you fit and well. Consuming food or supplements that contain probiotic bacteria is a popular way to attain and maintain good health.

Prebiotic foods and supplements feed probiotic bacteria and, in so doing, support a healthy gut microbiome.

The human body is complex. Good health depends on many things.

Probiotic bacteria but one of the many important cogs in a very advanced biological machine. But it’s an important cog so it makes sense to take care of it so that it can continue taking care of you.

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