PRIMESELF Gut Complex Product Review

Irritable bowel, bloating, constipation, diarrhoea, gas, heartburn, reflux. Shits without the giggles and farts of destruction. The problem is real for millions of people. There is a reason why in the US, the number three and number seven top selling pharmaceutical drugs are for digestive problems. You’ll spot them all over when you walk into any pharmacy: there are over 200 over-the-counter remedies for digestive problems, many of which can create all manner of new digestive problems in the process!

Read More: A Quick Guide to Good Gut Health

What the Gut?!

What is(includes) the gut? It's the gastrointestinal tract, which is effectively the tract from your mouth to your butt and includes all the organs of the digestive system.

The idea that your gut is like a second brain has become widely accepted, but the notion that the gut may actually be your primary brain is gaining popularity. Your gut contains more neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) than your brain. The gut and the brain are wired together through what is called the vagus nerve and when the gut and the brain don’t communicate properly, your health suffers.

In fact, if your gut isn’t functioning well, it wreaks havoc on your entire body, with illnesses and diseases DIRECTLY associated with gut problems including arthritis, eczema, autoimmune diseases, dementia, cancer, chronic fatigue, rashes, acne, mood disorders and more.

It's central to your entire health and so much more than just that annoying post-meal heartburn or bloating. Your gut is responsible for absorbing nutrients from your food and for keeping harmful toxins and allergens out, determining the health of your entire system.

Read More: Your Health Starts In The Gut

Gut Bacteria

Let’s consider the bacteria in your gut which we often talk about within the context of a healthy gut microbiome (the microorganisms in your gut environment). The bacteria in your gut need to be in balance in order for you to be healthy. Considering that there are 500 species (weighing roughly 1.3kg) of bacteria in your gut, this balance is key. The chemicals produced by them are responsible for digestion, production of vitamins, regulation of hormones and elimination of toxins. The good bacteria have funky names like lactobacillus and bifidobacterial and you need enough of them and not too many of the wrong ones to maintain optimum health.

Leaky Gut

Ever heard of “leaky gut”? Your digestive system contains a truck load of toxins (that’s its job), but this system is protected from the rest of your system by a layer that is only one teeny tiny cell thick. This “cover” spans the size of a tennis court, but it can get damaged. This results in rampant inflammation and you get sick from the toxins leaking into your system.

How does the gut get damaged?

Given that it all seems to be a rather fragile system, it’s important to understand how damage to the gut occurs:

• Diets low in nutrients, high in sugar, high in processed foods and high in calories result in the wrong bacteria growing in your gut, which damages the entire balance of the ecosystem.
• Toxins such as mercury or mould from the environment damage the gut.
• Certain medications (readily and frequently prescribed) can block normal digestive function (think your favourite heartburn relief medication, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories) and cause damage to your gut.
• Stress is bad for us all around, but it also changes the way your gut nervous system (vagus nerve) works and is a major contributor to leaky gut.
• Inadequate digestive enzyme function. Digestive enzymes are enzymes that break down carbs, fats and proteins in the food that we consume into their smaller building blocks, allowing for the absorption of nutrients. A lack of digestive enzymes is frequently caused by heartburn medications or a zinc deficiency.

Read More: Strengthen Your Immune System, The OPTMZ Way!

Good Gut Health

The good news? Gut issues can largely be mitigated or completely fixed by correcting your diet and/or through smart supplementation (this is particularly important if you suffer from irritable bowel disease (IBD)).

• Eat whole, unprocessed foods. Sugar breeds the wrong bacteria. Whole foods allow the good bacteria to thrive
• Any infections should be treated and testing for parasites can be very valuable in any health journey
• Try an elimination diet. People are so often surprised that foods that they believe that they tolerate well are actually causing them harm. Gluten, nightshades (tomatoes, peppers etc), dairy, yeast etc are all good places to start
• Omega-3 supplementation may be useful for calming inflammation in the gut
• Make sure you aren’t zinc deficient
• Include digestive enzymes with your meals
• Include probiotics (healthy bacteria)

Wait, did someone say include digestive enzymes and probiotics?

That’s why I was so chuffed to come across PRIMESELF's Gut Complex. It’s a very innovative formulation in that it combines digestive enzymes (the patented Digezyme® digestive enzyme complex), probiotics (the patented LactoSpore® probiotic) and rather special Ayurvedic medicinal compound, called Triphala. The combination of all three makes this an impressive formulation for gut health.

Triphala has been used in Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years and as you can tell from the name, is made up of three medicinal fruits which are native to India (Triphala means “three fruits” in Sanskrit). It is a staple of Ayurvedic medicine and well-known for the treatment of stomach ailments. “Tri” also refers to the fact that it supports all three doshas (in Ayurveda): air/space, fire/water and water/earth. Doshas are the elements responsible for physical, mental and emotional health.

Triphala has multiple benefits, believed to help with alleviating inflammation, controlling blood sugar, promoting weight loss, reducing cholesterol, relieving stress and having powerful anti-microbial benefits. But it is most famous for its laxative effect!

At lower doses, Triphala works well as a bowel tonic to alleviate gas and promote healthy digestion. At higher doses, well, it’s a mighty powerful laxative (best taken at night for a morning bowel movement as opposed to during the day, when it might very well interrupt your regular scheduling!).

The combination of these three fruits works synergistically, making them more powerful than they’d be on their own. The three fruits are:

1. Amalaki: known as the Indian gooseberry, these sour berries grow throughout India and contain powerful compounds like phenols, tannins, phyllembelic acid, curcuminoids and rutin.
   

2. Bibhitaki: the fruit of a large tree which grows in Southeast Asia and is a well-known treatment for bacterial and viral infections. It contains tannins, ellagic acid, gallic acid (good for blood sugar regulation), lignans and flavones. All of these make it an excellent anti-inflammatory medicine.
   

3. Haritaki: the small, green fruit from a medicinal tree found in the Middle East, India, China and Thailand. This is a revered compound in Ayurvedic medicine known for treating a variety of conditions like heart disease, asthma and stomach ailments. Haritaki contains phytochemicals like terpense, polyphenols, anthocyanins and flavonoids, bestowing it with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
   

OK so the three fruits have really cool names with unpronounceable properties. But do they work? Hells yes! Triphala has been shown to be effective in protecting against certain cancers (notably inhibiting the growth of lymphoma and inducing prostate cancer cell death), preventing dental disease (due to its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties) and assisting with weight loss (due to blood sugar regulation).

But the real shining glory and the subject of this product review: does it work for your gut?

My Review of PRIMESELF Gut Complex

The gut is a hot topic. No amounts of medical interventions stand a chance if your gut health isn’t addressed first and foremost. The literature on this topic is vast and you’ll be astounded to learn just how many people struggle with IBD and other gut-related illnesses. Inconvenient farts and gas are only the tip of the iceberg!

So, from a holistic, natural (read: more effective than pharmaceuticals) point of view, I think a probiotic product with digestive enzymes and Triphala is innovative, smart and good common sense.

I don’t typically experience massive gut issues unless I indulge in a heavy carb meal. Then life sucks. Per instructions, I took one capsule before each meal. I was really surprised by the difference that this simple intervention made! While I’ve never really thought that I have any gut issues to be concerned about, I now realise that as with anything, everything can be optimised! Even your toilet routine! I just feel better and healthier since taking this supplement.

I used to cringe at those TV adverts of a beautiful woman holding her tummy, joyously exclaiming that she is now regular! Ugh. Well, I now know what she was so excited about! This product is magic! And based on other reviews of this product, it’s proven to be enormously helpful for more serious gut issues ranging from bloating to severe gastrointestinal distress.

If you suffer from any of the laundry list of digestive problems that so many people are plagued with or just want to optimise your gut health, taking special care of your gut health is a no-brainer! This product allows you to do just that, whether your issues are minor to non-existent (to the best of your knowledge) or whether they are more severe, and it’s starting to impact your quality of life or causing serious illnesses related to an unhealthy gut.

Give PRIMESELF Gut Complex a go and give those good bacteria that do so much for your health a happy, healthy home!

PRIMESELF Gut Complex

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• Thea is the founder of Neolaia – Biohacking SA and passionate about all things biohacking, functional medicine, holistic and ancestral wellness. She enjoys the occasional triathlon, is fanatic about yoga and the gym and loves n=1 biohacking experiments more than anything else! Learning about the latest in scientific research for health and wellness and applying this knowledge is what makes her happiest!

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