To Take a Probiotic or Not? This Was Our Experience

To Take a Probiotic or Not? This Was Our Experience

OK, you’ve heard us talk about the microbiome, probiotics, and even s*%t. We are big believers that our health is interconnected, and we should do more than achieve PRs. But should you take a probiotic? What can it do? We took Seed’s DS-01™, a 2-in-1 prebiotic and probiotic, and this is how we felt—unedited, no filters. For more official information and a link to try for yourself, keep scrolling to the end:

Fritz Nugent, Nutrition Coach, Invictus Coach
“Ahh, I finished my bottle on Sunday morning. I enjoyed the supplement. It kept me regular and softened things up. This week, things haven’t been as pleasant since ceasing supplementation. It could be due to all the cheese, though. I would like to continue supplementing with SEED and would recommend the product :)”

Nick Hawkes, Invictus Master Coach
“I really like this product. I found that my sugar cravings pretty much went to nil, which is YUGE for me. And like a few have mentioned the poo cycle was regular and smooth. I did notice that I needed to eat within 30 minutes of taking it or I would have a slight upset stomach. But with something else in my stomach there were no issues.”

Jenn Ryan, Nutrition Coach, ER Nurse, CrossFit Games Champion
“I still have one week left with this, and so far, here are my thoughts:

1) Regularity has improved, which I have been surprised about because my work schedule changes my sleep schedule twice a week. This had been changing my regularity, which was frustrating The last week and a half in particular I noticed that even if I was in a rush in the morning to get to training, I was still able to have a full elimination. Very happy about that 🙂

2) I took mine as soon as I woke up and just waited a bit to eat. No adverse effects noticed from waiting a bit to eat so far.

3) The Seed University course is helpful when I recommend the product to others. The price can stop people sometimes because there are plenty of less expensive, commercially available products. What the general population doesn’t know is that a high percentage of them are not actually doing them any good, so that money being spent is a waste anyways. The education provided by the company on why this is a superior product is a nice resource to have so people can make a more informed decision.

After I finish, I’m definitely interested in using Seed further!”

Kim McLaughlin, Nutrition Coach, Invictus Coach
“I love the knowledge portion of the product. I love that there is a place I could send a client where they could find out more information. Seed University is a great knowledge tool and the presentation via social media was interesting. I would love for there to be a Seed University on Instagram that I can send people to that does not include the part about becoming an ambassador or posting on social media but that’s a minor thing and I can tell them to skip that part or I can direct them to the webpage itself.

Love, love, love the packaging and the sustainability of everything that they are doing. The message is great and I appreciated that attention to detail. 10 points for this part.

As far as the product, I found it challenging to take on an empty stomach — not because of the effects but more because I take my other supplements with food and I would just forget to take this one at a different time so… I often times would take it with food. I don’t know what that did to the effectiveness but I just couldn’t get my shit together enough to do it when I wasn’t eating.

I noticed a slight decrease in bloating but my diet while I traveled was terrible so it may have been a combination of the supplement and going back to a normal diet. All in all, I like the product and would definitely continue taking it. I wasn’t blown away by any noticeable differences between day 1 and day 20 but I still have 10 days left and maybe I’ll notice a difference when I stop more so than anything else.”

Charissa Sutliff, Nutrition Coach, Invictus Coach
“I like the science and the university they have online. As for the product, it seems like this improves my digestion, better and regular movements 😛 I tried taking it in the morning and in the evening. I think I prefer taking it in the evenings.”

Kirsten Ahrendt, Invictus Master Coach
“Marketing/branding/packaging was ON POINT! I loved reading about the inner/outer capsule.

Taking it on an empty stomach has been difficult because I usually take my daily vitamin with food… maybe I shouldn’t? And most of the time when I remember to take the pills, I’m about to go eat or have done so already.

Enjoy the resources for education they have, and it will contribute to making informed customers.

I didn’t even think about price because I don’t take probiotics before this… but I feel in this day and age, you “pay for what you get”, and more people realize that.

Haven’t noticed any significant changes over the 2 weeks – but I didn’t have any issues that I was particularly concerned about to begin with. Will pay closer attention as the month ends.

If science says it’s good for me, I’d enjoy continuing to take it.”

What did they try?

Seed DS-01™ Daily Synbiotic

If you could support a healthy microbiome, why wouldn’t you? That’s the idea of DS-01™, Seed’s 2-in-1 prebiotic and probiotic. A prebiotic is defined as “substrates selectively utilized by host microorganisms that confer a health benefit” and the official definition of a probiotic is “live microorganisms that, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host”. DS-01™ combines 24 probiotic strains that have been clinically and scientifically studied to support benefits for gastrointestinal function, gut barrier integrity, cardiovascular health, gut immune function, micronutrient synthesis, and dermatological health. The probiotic strains that make up DS-01™ have been clinically studied in 16 strain-specific, published human trials, as well as 13 in vitro (outside of the human body) mechanistic studies. That’s good science, supporting the idea that this probiotic can support your systemic health.

How does it work? Seed’s proprietary ViaCap® capsule-in-capsule delivery technology was designed to protect the probiotic organisms inside DS-01™. The inner capsule housing 24 probiotic strains is nested inside an outer capsule that contains prebiotic powder; this separation of probiotics and prebiotics helps ensure shelf stability and bacterial viability—which are both vitally important to an effective probiotic. 

How do we know it works? Well, the ViaCap® design has been tested in the Simulator of the Human Intestinal Microbial Ecosystem (SHIME®), which demonstrated a maximal release of living probiotics for complete delivery to the colon, maintaining the full value of the starting dose. 

Oh, and one last thing of note for CrossFit athletes. While most prebiotics on the market today fall into the category of dietary fibers like fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS), galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS), or inulin, the Microbiota-Accessible Polyphenolic Precursor™ (MAPP) included in Seed’s product uses a patented, plant-based, non-fermenting prebiotic class of compounds called punicalagins, which are concentrated from Indian pomegranate. Certain gut bacteria can metabolize punicalagins into molecules called urolithins. Fun fact: One type of urolithin, urolithin-A, when orally administered in a pure form to older humans, creates a “signature” in muscle associated with greater fat oxidation and metabolic and mitochondrial health. 

To try it for yourself, use code INVICTUS on seed.com for 20% off.

We don’t endorse anything, unless we believe it will make a difference.