Any food or liquid entering your body will encourage the release of stomach acids which can risk the viability of the CFU if the capsule shell is compromised. The less water, the better – use a few drops rather than the whole glass when taking the probiotic. A few drops of tap water would help to swallow the contents and will have no harm on the efficacy of the probiotic. Water is not needed for the release of the probiotic strains.

Probiotics is actual live strains of beneficial bacteria. The Fructo Oligosaccharides (the prebiotic in the 'Physis Bio-Fuel Prebiotic'), on the other hand, is a non-digestible fibre compound which is resistant to breakdown in the stomach. How prebiotics work is, once in the gut, it is fermented and used as fuel by the beneficial bacteria (or probiotic) to improve the growth of this good gut bacteria.

Our Probiotics delayed release quality encapsulation method allows the cultures to pass through the stomach acids offering flexibility to take the capsules before or after meals, morning or evening. If you want to be extra cautious however, we would recommend that you wait 30 minutes before eating or drinking (especially hot drinks). By taking the probiotic on an empty stomach, it minimises their exposure to stomach acid and maximizes the efficacy of the probiotic supplement. Taking it at the right time and in the right way helps to minimise the interaction between the probiotic supplement and your digestive enzymes. It is best to take probiotic supplements at times when stomach acids, digestive enzymes, and bile salts are all at their lowest levels. This will help to dilute the stomach acids and help them to reach the intestines alive.

Yes, the bacteria are live. Utmost care is taken in the production of our capsules in order to ensure that the contents are live bacteria. We refrigerate the probiotics here (at our facility) to keep them viable. To ensure their survival in a capsule, we add an overage to ensure they last for the delivery and shelf life of the product.

Since our bodies normally host upwards of 100 trillion bacteria, it's very hard to overdose on probiotics, or "good" bacteria. You need to keep taking the probiotic supplements for as long as you feel they are working for you. If you stop taking them, your gut bacteria is likely return to their pre-supplementation condition within one to three weeks. And, if your symptoms flare up after stopping the treatment of probiotics, this may be a sign that your diet alone may not provide the beneficial bacteria your body requires and immediate commencement of treatment is reccomended.

The use of prebiotics and probiotics together is called microbiome therapy. You don’t need to take a prebiotic for probiotics to work, but taking them might make your probiotics more effective. The combination of the prebiotic and probiotic ends up producing a by-product called postbiotics. Probiotics, prebiotics and postbiotics together provide a wide selection of health benefits and work together to boost both digestive and overall health. In a nutshell, Probiotics play a key role in gut health and overall well-being, and Prebiotics help fuel these probiotics to improve these health benefits even more. All of our products can be taken as a stand alone product or in conjunction with one another.

Our probiotics and prebiotics do not need to be stored in a refrigerator, but do need to be kept in a cool, dry environment. If the capsule has not melted, and the product is within the expiry date, the probiotic strains will not be affected.

Most of our capsules contain gelatin sourced from bovine, all apart form the following products: - Reformist Probiotic (made from Vegie sourced gelatin capsules) - Bacillus Probiotic tablet - Physis Prebiotic Bio-Fuel If it does not have the vegetarian symbol on the bottle, it is not suitable for vegetarians.

Physis Probiotics are designed to withstand a certain amount of heat. The probiotic does not react to heat unless the tablet or capsule dissolves. If the tablet or capsule has not melted, the efficacy of the probiotics will not be compromised.

Our products use delayed release capsules or tablets which takes more than 30 minutes to disintegrate thus allowing the cultures to pass through the stomach acids. A complex formulation used for encapsulation acts as a delivery system designed to penetrate stomach acids.

We generally do not advise this as the cultures will be attacked by the stomach acids and the effectiveness reduced. Some customers, however, have reported back to us that they do use the content without encapsulation (with a few drops of water rather than the whole glass) and these customers have apparently still felt the benefits. This can also be useful when dosing children who cannot swallow a capsule.

Some customers do feel the benefit almost immediately, others do not feel it for a week or so. Every human body is different and we recommend taking the full course of treatment in the bottle before drawing your own conclusions.

You may take up to 150 Billion CFU in one day for a short period of time provided you chat with a healthcare professional. Prebiotics are made up of carbohydrates that your body can’t digest. They exist as food for the probiotic bacteria that you’re putting into your body and it is hard to overdose on them. In short, your body will eliminate any unused prebiotics and probiotics so instructions given on the bottle are for the optimal dosage,

If the supplements are stored in a cool, dry place, the shelf life after opening will be the same as the expiry date.

If you are asking this you may already be aware that so often the public confuse "Strains" with "Genus". Probiotics are organised by Genus, Species and Strains. In the case of one of our favourite components of our Physis 50 Billion CFU Probiotics: "Lactobacillus Acidophillus" Lactobacillus = Genus Acidophillus = Species LA11- Onlly = Strain In the case of our 50 Billion CFU Probiotics the breakdown is as follows: Lactobacillus Acidophillus LA11- Onlly Lactobacillus Rhamnosus LP- Onlly Bifidobacterium Longum BL88- Onlly Lactobacillus Lactis BL99 Bifidobacterium Bifidum 100 Billion CFU/g - BB47 Lactobacilus Plantarum 100 Billion CFU/g - LP-ONLLY Bifidobacterium Breve 100 Billion CFU/g - BB8 Lactobacillus Casei 100 Billion CFU/g - LC18 Lactobacillus Bulgarius 100 Billion CFU/ g - LB2 Lactobacillus Salvarius 100 Billion CFU/g - LS86

The refrigerated cultures are weighed and sieved and blended in a double cone blender prior to being filled on a semi-automatic capsule filler. The capsules are checked prior to and during production for correct weight and closed shell; they are polished and double bagged before being returned to the cold store.

Yes, our Probiotics are all free from milk derivatives.

Many people have reported improved sleep and feeling “calmer” when taking our product. Some research suggests that episodes of anxiety and depression may be experienced more frequently in patients with gastrointestinal disorders like IBS. Negative emotions, stressful life events, and personality traits like neuroticism have also been associated with colitis and Crohn’s disease. Bifidobacterium longum (one of our strains) has been proven to boost resilience to stress and an improved emotional response. A 2016 double-blind, placebo-controlled study found that the daily consumption of probiotics such as Lactobacillus casei (one of our strains) preserves the diversity of the gut microbiota and may support stress-associated responses of abdominal dysfunction in healthy subjects exposed to stressful situations. So the message is clear: keep the tummy calm to keep the head calm!