The Symprove 12 Week Plan: I’m Half Way Through!
Hello everyone. What a crazy few months it has been for me! Where other years I’ve seen ups and downs with work but largely steady eddy in terms of relationships and health, it’s all gone tupsy turvy in 2017.
Something I really saw a difference in was my digestion. And after all, 2017 was the year of the gut, but rather than prettily skirting around what ‘improved digestion’ means, I’m won’t be beating around the bush here.
Firstly, during the break up, I was eating bad food at weird times and sometimes not at all, and I got really thin at one point – and then really bloated soon after as I diligently tried to gain weight by eating lots of white bread, butter, avocados, chocolate, cheesy chips…
Then I was ill, and all I really wanted to eat was salty crisps and bread, so I did. That, combined with anaesthetic, which stays in your body for ages, AND flying all over the place got me constipated.
But when I wasn’t constipated, I went way over to the other side.
And can we all be real with each other? None of us want this. We all just want to go in the morning, it be nice and undramatic, and get on with our day. As a society, we don’t like to admit that we use the toilet. That is, until you’re with your friends and someone starts ‘the chat’ and we all start sharing our horror stories. Romantic weekends away that went wrong thanks to a see-through toilet door in the hotel. Food poisoning half way through a date. IBS playing up on a bikini shoot. The first few weeks of a blossoming new relationship where you have to pretend you don’t even pee. It plays on our minds all the time, and causes a lot of worry and often discomfort in the case of people who suffer with food intolerances, IBS or Crohns.
There is so much chat out there about what we can do to help our gut, and a huge choice of probiotics out there. I had heard the name Symprove pop up time and time again, because it seems to be backed up by real, hardcore science and research and it seems to be helping a lot of people who have suffered for many years.
What Is Symprove?
Symprove is a probiotic that you take for 12 weeks. Unlike what we’re used to: pills or mini yoghurt drinks, Symprove is a watery juice in a big bottle that you take 70ml of a day.
Why Is Symprove Different?
So as I just said, it’s not a pill or a thick drink. This is because Symprove is designed to get past the super acidic environment of your stomach and small intestine. A little yogurty drink will often be seen as food, for example, and is therefore less likely to survive this harsh environment. Plus freeze-dried supplements often aren’t activated in time when consumed and simply pass on through without doing much.
Symprove is like water! So it’s not recognised as food you see. So it passes through and the multi-strain, live and active bacteria can populate your gut and work their magic.
Is it Proven to Work?
Yep. An independent study by UCL showed that Symprove worked the best out of any other products in terms of colonising the gut. I have had friends report that it sorted out their IBS, and it had been recommended to me by a top nutritionist at the Harley Street Medical Group, so I had definitely heard good things.
My Experience So Far
I thought I’d do a ‘half way’ post as 12 weeks is such a long time. Just so you know, when I started taking it my digestion had been ALL OVER the place and actually getting me down a bit. I kept feeling bloated on castings and photoshoots and terrified of what lay ahead on location shoots…
How I Take Symprove
Firstly, I stopped taking any other probiotics so I could judge the effects solely on this product.
You’re meant to take 70ml of Symprove the second you wake up, then wait ten minutes before drinking or eating anything else.
It took a while to get used to the taste. It really isn’t the best. Mine is flavoured with mango and passionfruit, ie there is fructose which is something to bear in mind if you get candida. I had heard it tastes like sauerkraut but it wasn’t that bad. It’s more like…Very fermented, sweet cider. Not amazing but after a week it’s fine.
I start every day with a shot of Pukka’s aloe vera juice and a pint of hot water, which then makes me sweat loads. So I couldn’t take my Symprove, shower, then have my brekkie as I get so clammy again with drinking the hot water. So I’ve started getting up 11 minutes earlier than I usually would, taking my shot of symprove, then doing ten minutes of meditation: something I’ve wanted to get into the habit of doing for ages. I then take my aloe, a prebiotic that apparently works in synergy with probiotics, my hot water and my wake up routine is done.
I sometimes don’t take Symprove first thing. When I have to wake up very early, I find that I get quite nauseous and can’t manage Symprove or even my hot water. In these cases I wait til later in the day. Though morning Symprove is optimal, you can take it two hours after not eating anything and then don’t imbibe anything for ten mins.
How Has Symprove Affected Me?
I saw an immediate effect with Symprove. Just two days in and my digestion had…Mellowed. People with digestive issues just want to be regular, reliable and unintrusive, i.e. they don’t want their digestion to get in the way of their day at all. My friend was talking about his IBS and the fact that every meal, every night out, every day at the office is spent navigating potentially awkward situations. What most people who took Symprove have said is: I just went in the morning and that was that. No drama. It’s great.
My major issue is less digestion and more candida: I get recurrent thrush. When I started Symprove I had also started the pill, which is famed for triggering yeast infections. Since the first flare up of thrush, which I got two months into taking the pill and after around four days or trialling Symprove I haven’t suffered at all. I was worried it could be the sugary ingredients but actually I think it was the pill and that Symprove has really helped keep thrush at bay.
Are There Any Negatives To Symprove?
Yes. My issue is travel. These are big, unwieldy bottles that are totally fine in the fridge. But when I went on holiday I had to put a huge bottle in my hold luggage, which was pretty heavy and a lot less convenient than a packet of pills.
The other issue was fridges. In LA I had a fridge and put it in there right away. But in Mexico, there was no fridge so I was taking warm Symprove each morning and, though I do think it was effective, I was probably affecting the efficacy of the 12 week course.
Worse than this, because of crazy flying times I then went away for another week and couldn’t take a bottle with me. Committing to a 12 week course could be an issue for people like me who live a peripatetic lifestyle at times, limited by hand luggage liquid allowances, and sadly we’re often those in most need of being helped with digestion.
I can’t be the only person to have reported this, so hopefully there will be travel sizes at some point.
I was sad to skip a week of the 12 week course, but I did watch my diet and drink and eat fermented foods during this time so I’m sure I didn’t reverse it too badly. As soon as I started taking it again, I instantly was back to where I was before the week off.
What’s The Verdict?
Basically, I’m impressed so far. This is pricey. But it’s 12 weeks rather than a lifetime of trying different probiotics I’m not 100% happy with. If you have issues with digestion then, 6 weeks into trialling Symprove, I’d say this is definitely an option to explore. I’ll let you know how I feel at the end of 12 weeks…
So a note on cost. You should deffo do the 12 week course to make sure your gut is balanced and repopulated: there’s no point spending the money and then not properly completing it. It is pricey. But it’s an investment in your health.
So you can do a 4 week course, see how it goes, then get the next 8 weeks. This would be £79.00 for four bottles. Or you can commit to the course, buy 8 at £158.00 and you get the last four free.
To get lots of info and perhaps to buy, head to www.symprove.com
Rebecca x
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