Gut Microbiome

[Biff69]

I went to a lecture tonight by Synergy International & though they were very careful not to claim cures I was left with the impression that they could fix most chronic problems including Parkinson’s with their products to flush out toxins & improve the gut flora. Has anyone else been to these lectures or more importantly tried the protocol & did it work. I seem to be having some success with B1, mannitol, vitamin D, magnesium & Co oxy Q10. But I could still be better & am always searching. Any comments gratefully received. Keep fighting

[MBAnderson]

Did you mean "Synergy International" -- a software company? Did you mean synergy health and wellness or do you know the exact name of the company giving the seminar?

[Biff69 in reply to MBAnderson]

They said Synergy International but looking at the logo they are synergyworldwide.com/en-gb

[MBAnderson in reply to Biff69]

I, of course, was not at the seminar so I don't know what they said, but I have looked at the ingredients of several, but not all of their products.

I'm leery of phrases such as, "flush out toxins." Sounds like something we would all want, but what does it mean?

You said they said they could "fix" most chronic problems. The word fix means pretty much the same thing as the word cure. I can tell you with absolutely certainty there isn't anything in any of their ingredients that's going to fix Parkinson's.

Yes, some of it might improve your micro biome depending upon your micro biome which neither you nor they know anything about.

It looks to me like a highly polished, sophisticated vitamin and skin care products company. Their packaging is certainly nice looking, but you pay for that -- their stuff is expensive.

The ingredients in this product BiomeDT is a unique combination and probably all of them good for you. Whether or not when combined they create a synergy nobody knows. Possibly they do create a synergy, but it is not possible for them to know they do because they haven't done placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover, peer-reviewed studies to prove they do.

The more superlatives they use in their claims, the more I stay away from them.

synergyworldwide.com/produc...

I would evaluate this stuff the same way I evaluate all stuff and that is what do I get, what I am paying for it and what do I know about its value independent of what they say.

The one thing you can be sure of and that is this company does not have any advantage over any other company as far as fixing PD goes.

IMHO

PS. I believe blending ingredients is most often a marketing strategy because "blends" sound like they must be super potent.

The problem with some of these products that are blended for us is that some of the ingredients have very little value. A lot of PWP isolate compounds that we feel are beneficial because they have independent data and we buy them individually and then create our own blends. For example, half of the ingredients in Biome DT have no meaningful value above what you would get in food, such as "30 mg of apple fruit extract" ---- whatever that is. 30 mg? Have a big spoon of applesauce instead.

[Oceanflow in reply to MBAnderson]

You are awesome MBAnderson. Thanks for your all your outstanding and thorough contributions, reviews and responses. I find them very useful!

[Biff69 in reply to MBAnderson]

Thanks MBAnderson. Articulated my thoughts very well. If they don’t know where we are starting from how can they provide a supplement to fix it?

[Cagey84]

Hi - do you have a link?

[Hidden]

If you look at their ingredient list, out of the five ingredients with over 500 mg per daily serving, of the five main ingredients, four of those five, are considered to be fiber or very high in fiber and I believe this should be considered as the main active component of this supplement, fiber. The value of fiber in humans is well established and fiber is considered to be an effective prebiotic which has also shown itself to be health valuable for humans and I am a major fan of fiber and prebiotics in general.

The fifth main ingredient is glutamine, an amino acid that is the most plentiful in humans and is well known to promote intestinal health which is generally much less than optimal in PWPs, so an improvement of the intestinal health would be highly desirable and welcome. The fiber is also noted for gut biome improvement directly and anti-inflammatory and oxidative stress reducing qualities indirectly which would all be good for PWPs also!

The last 10 items are below 35 mg each and do not seem likely to be a high enough dose to produce a strong effect of any kind. The last 9 ingredients total out to only 73 mg/day and even considering that they may have synergy together, does not seem likely to produce an appreciable health effect.

The four main fiber based ingredients total out to 8,032 mg per daily serving by comparison! Given all of this, I would consider this to be a very high fiber supplement at a very high price! Of course the higher dose schedule would give twice the amount of fiber and that may be a problem for some people.

Art

[JohnPepper]

Hi Biff69. I often get ticked off by others on HU for offering alternative methods on strings that don't ask for alternative solutions.

So please forgive me for telling you about the only way I know of to successfully reverse many of the symptoms of Pd.

I am passionate about helping Pd sufferers who appear to be unaware of a viable alternative to expensive medicines or procedures.

[WinnieThePoo in reply to JohnPepper]

Nice short post. I appreciate you believe you have something to offer.

[Pats68 in reply to JohnPepper]

I've read your book. I just wish I felt like doing it

[Eliza-Jane in reply to Pats68]

You don't have to feel like doing it, you just have to do it. I have been walking 6kms 4 times per week for 4 years. I was diagnosed 2.5 years ago. Kept walking. My symptoms haven't changed much. Minimum meds (150mg Madopar & 1mg Azilect) It's amazing what you can do if you put your mind to it. Just push yourself, grab a friend and walk. Sometimes I don't feel like it, but there has never been a time I have regretted it. If I don't walk for a week my body lets me know. Back to walking and back to better health.

[JohnPepper in reply to Pats68]

Hi Pats68. Do you mean you would like to do fast walking but can't motivate yourself to do it?

Don't feel bad about that, as lack of dopamine causes us all to lack motivation.

I found that if I do something, even if I don't feel like doing it, I soon get the benefit of doing it and the lack of motivation disappears.

[WinnieThePoo]

MBAndersons post seems sound. The products seem to be a mix of probiotic, prebiotic and other fibre. Apart from the hype, the main issue would be its an expensive (but convenient) way of doing something to fix the microbiome. As I posted elsewhere, it would be helpful if there was PD specialist advice and monitoring for microbiome management, because there is a good chance (exponentially increasing scientific research evidence) that it makes a very important contribution to the disease progress and symptoms. I don't think their products would do any harm (apart from to your wallet). Maybe we need a thread about microbiome management ideas. I might just start one.

PS forgot the important bit. Whilst supplements can help, you wont fix your microbiome without also addressing diet.

[MBAnderson]

Poo, May I call you that?

We could easily enough develop the list of foods, compounds, and behaviors that are known to be good for one's microbiome, but such a list would be based on what is good for the general population, i.e., for those whose microbiota is in, or close to being in, balance.

All other things being equal, those foods are probably good for PWP, emphasis on probably, because our microbiota is not in balance.

I went on YouTube and watched testimonials of people who had their microbiome analyzed and several of them said they were eating the foods they assumed to be good for their gut health, but when they got their analysis back, they found those foods were worsening their imbalance.

After following the recommendations for several months and then having a 2nd analysis, their gut health was brought back into balance and those recommended foods were then good for them.

[Pats68]

I was here last week, going to participate. parkinsonsnewstoday.com/201...