I have an immune system like freaking Superman. Working in an urgent care clinic for five years allowed me to develop antibodies to just about every disease known to man. Because of this, having to test Astro BioBest Maximmunité seemed like an exercise in futility. What it did allow me to do, is a little research on the claims that probiotics are a necessity in our diets. They’re popping up in all sorts of products and everyone and their brother is telling you that they are an essential part of a balanced diet. Clever marketing ploy? Or legitimate healthy endeavour? We’ll see…

Every single day I’m bombarded by reports about the healing powers of different foods, or things I need to do to prevent disease. It’s so overwhelming. Last week I had no knowledge of said reports and I thought I’d be just fine. If I actually followed every recommendation brought forth by these studies, I’d never leave my house or eat anything that I didn’t grow myself. And considering that I can’t keep a plant (let alone an entire field of crops) alive for longer than a week, that denotes that I wouldn’t eat at all. So where do we draw the line?

Astro is telling me that their new yogurt is one of these essentials. With ten billion active acidophilus & bifidum probiotic cultures per 94 ml container, Astro contends that this is the Cadillac of Probiotic yogurts. They claim that Maximmunité has ten times the amount of probiotic cultures of its competitors.

In layman’s terms, probiotic supplements are kind of like taking a multivitamin that’s directed specifically at your intestines. They help keep your counts of “good bacteria” up, aid in the absorption of nutrients, and help inhibit the growth of “bad bacteria.”

I took a trip to my local grocery store and became lost upon entering the yogurt section. It’s incredible how many different brands and types have hit the market in the last ten years. They actually had a section of the shelves that was dedicated specifically to probiotic yogurts. The market is really growing for health foods and this was no exception. Available in packs of eight or four in strawberry, vanilla, or açai berry (I don’t know what that is either), they’ll run you about $6.50 for eight and $3.50 for four.

You know Yop? That’s what this stuff reminds me of. It’s a little bit of that yogurt creaminess mixed with milk and it’s delicious. The real unfortunate part is its size. I feel like I would have to drink at least three of these to feel like I was having a snack, or at least a substantial beverage. I tried the strawberry and it tasted really good. Considering I was brought up on no fat, no taste yogurt, anything with a little bit of sugar and I’m head over heels in love. With that comes the calories however and each mini bottle packs about 75. To me, it’s not worth the cals to indulge in a delicious yogurt beverage. To each his own though.

Here’s the rub. In my research into probiotics, I found that they work almost exactly like multivitamins in the sense that if you stop taking them, they stop working. So really, you’re paying this premium to enhance something that your body does naturally anyways. There are certain times when a supplement like this might be of use in regulating your intestines or replenishing your bacteria supply. After travel to Mexico (come on, we’ve all been there), taking a cycle of antibiotics, or on your doctor’s orders (ladies, you know what I’m talking about). But as a daily supplement? I can’t see paying for a daily shot of yogurt being worth it. For most people, this is something that your body will do anyways.

I’m sure that you could find 50 scientists who would call me a fool for taking such a simple view of something like this. But I am a simple person, not a scientist, and in order to wade through the masses of reports and studies I read about that tell me every way I’m shortening my life expectancy, my only way to cope is to try and make sense of things by dumbing them down.

So, the verdict is in. If you like doing yogurt shooters, or you’re going through a short period where a beefed up immune system would be a benefit (hello Montezuma), then a doctor may be able to convince me of the merit in shelling out the extra dough for some Maximmunité yogurt.

For this regular (every pun intended) gal however, I’ll save that money for some extra margaritas and just not drink the water.

Do You Know…

The difference between probiotic and prebiotic?

* Probiotics replenish the supply of good bacteria in your body.
* Prebiotics feed the good bacteria that are already there in order to maintain the levels your body already has.

What we’re working on…

Vitamin C to neutralize chlorine? Stasia’s got The Goods on a shower filter which claims to be good for your skin, hair, and health!

Got a great new product that you think could make it on Stasia’s shopping list?
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