Greenteaspoon CSO: ‘We’re convinced polyphenol prebiotics will play a huge role in advancing our understanding of the importance of the gut mucus layer in health and wellness’
A daily dose of Greenteaspoon Inc’s Preliva polyphenol blend was found to produce significant and sustained improvements in multiple symptoms in a study with 244 subjects with upset stomach, gas and bloating, diarrhea, or heartburn, compared with placebo, according to results published in the World Journal of Gastroenterology.
“Many supplement companies market products that have not been subject to any clinical testing,” Rob Wotring, founder and CSO at Greenteaspoon Inc, told NutraIngredients-USA. “As a consumer, it is difficult to understand which products are backed by reputable science.
“At Good Gut Daily [the company’s finished product brand], we felt it was important to test our active ingredient Preliva to the highest standard of clinical research before we made our first sale. We wanted to know exactly what natural digestive health benefits we could share with our customers.”
Preliva is a proprietary blend of pomegranate, green tea, goji berry, bilberry, chokeberry, grape, cranberry, mangosteen, apple, and blueberry.
Products and availability
With the clinical trial finished and published, it is now making sales of three different liquid supplement products: Good Gut Daily Digestive Health to promote daily digestive wellness; Good Gut Daily Immune Health to strengthen immunity and support overall wellbeing; and Good Gut Daily Rescue for multi-symptom relief from digestive distress. The products are available as 2 oz shots or 12 oz bottles in several different flavors.
“We hang our hat on a very different experience for consumers with pill fatigue,” said Austin Kiessig, VP of marketing for the company.
Kiessig told us that, as of today, the product is still available online only, but the company is engaged in active conversations with two major national retailers regarding a rollout date, which at soonest would be late 2015 given their category reset calendars.
“The reaction from retail buyers has been extremely favorable towards the study,” said Keissig. “It is clear to us from our conversations with supplement buyers that our data is distinctive vis-a-vis the majority of the category.”
Deep science
The clinical trial is a differentiator for Good Gut Daily, said the team. “The rigor of our clinical study exceeds the vast majority of products in the dietary supplement space,” said Wotring.
So what exactly is happening? “We believe we are affecting the microbiome,” he said. “The myriad of symptoms we’re affecting led us to believe we’re affecting the enteric nervous system. We’re decreasing the noise in that enteric nervous system.
“We believe this effect is a result of enhancing the integrity of the mucosal barrier, and more specifically the mucus layers that are positioned between the epithelial cells and the constituents of the lumen,” he added.
“The sequelae of events that often lead to hyperactivity in the enteric nervous system very often involves breakdown of the mucus layers, which leads to increased permeability of the tight junctions, which leads to leakage of macromolecules like lactulose and lipopolysaccharide, and an activation of enteric nervous system and an inflammatory response.”
“We believe that the critical role of the mucus layers in health and wellness are just beginning to become apparent....and we are convinced that polyphenol prebiotics will play a huge role in the advances,” he added.
“We believe that the role of the small intestine has been widely overlooked,” said Wotring. “This position is largely due to the fact that nearly all nutrient absorption occurs in the small intestine, where the mucus layer is much thinner and more delicate than in the stomach or colon. In fact, the inner gel mucus layer is so thin in the small intestine that many labs have had a difficult time isolating it.
“The integrity of mucus layer is particularly important in this area of the digestive tract for many reasons, including the damage that occurs with the use of NSAIDs and other widely used drugs, as well as during moderate exercise.”
Many questions remain, particularly which bacterial species and strains the polyphenol blend is affecting, but the prebiotic potential of polyphenols is a growing area of research for many, including Greenteaspoon.
“It is incumbent on us to help evolve the conversation on probiotics and prebiotics,” said Wotring.
Source: World Journal of Gastroenterology
Volume 20, Number 34, Pages 12301-12307, doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i34.12301
“Resolution of acute gastroenteritis symptoms in children and adults treated with a novel polyphenol-based prebiotic”
Authors: T. Noguera, R. Wotring, C.R. Melville, K. Hargraves, J. Kumm, J.M. Morton
