Dear Friends,
In this letter, we’re going to review something that could make a big difference in the effectiveness of your probiotics, which is how they’re packaged.
Now that might not sound exciting — but stick with me — because the truth is, your probiotic may not be doing what you’d like it to if it’s losing potency before you ever open or finish the bottle.
Let’s start with the problem. Probiotics are living organisms, and they’re incredibly sensitive to moisture, light, and heat.
Even just a little bit of moisture inside a bottle can cause probiotic strains to start breaking down and dying off.
That means the number of live cells — or CFUs, which stands for colony forming units — drops below the amount promised on the label. This happens slowly over time, even while the product just sits on your shelf.
But here’s the kicker: it gets worse once you open the bottle and start using it.
Every time you open the lid, you let in more moisture and air, accelerating the breakdown of the probiotic strains and cells inside.
That’s why for years at NatureCity, we didn’t use bottles at all for our TrueLife PB probiotic and prebiotic blend.
We used individual blister packaging — where each capsule is sealed in its own chamber to help protect the probiotics from the elements that can harm them.
And that worked well - but last year we found something even better.
Not Your Typical Probiotic Bottle
It’s called the Activ-Vial™ bottle — and it’s a major innovation in how probiotics can be packaged, stored, and protected.
This bottle doesn’t just hold your probiotics. It actively protects them.
Inside the outer bottle, there’s a built-in protective sleeve that absorbs moisture and helps regulate temperature.
The sleeve lines the entire bottle and is made of special material that absorbs moisture before it can reach the capsules, reducing what’s called water activity levels on the inside.
This helps maintain a stable microclimate that protects the live probiotic strains.
In addition, the outer layer of the bottle helps minimize moisture and light transmission.
You may be used to seeing desiccant packets added to bottles, these packets help absorb moisture and humidity. We use them for supplement products that contain hygroscopic ingredients or botanicals.
Hygroscopic means the ingredient tends to absorb moisture from the air.
This packet does an excellent job of helping products with hygroscopic ingredients stay fresh, but it doesn’t offer enough protection to keep probiotic cells alive over time.
So instead of a loose desiccant packet floating around, the sleeve in the Activ-Vial™ bottle surrounds the contents — giving you 360-degree protection from moisture.
And this isn’t just theory, it’s been shown in scientific studies.
Studies Confirmed Superior Protection
In these studies, probiotic capsules stored in the Activ-Vial™ bottle were tested over 2 years — and retained much more potency than probiotic capsules in blister packs, standard bottles or glass bottles.
When I was first introduced to the Activ-Vial™ bottle, I said… “well that data looks very compelling for stored, unopened bottles, but what happens when we start using the product and open the bottle every day and expose it to the elements?”
Does the bottle still protect the live probiotic cells?
Coincidentally, there was a study underway to answer this question, using what’s known as an open package test.
Over 4 weeks the bottle was opened for 15 seconds every day – like how you would use it at home.
Although the water activity inside the Activ-Vial™ started to climb each week, the live probiotic cell count didn’t meaningfully drop after 4 weeks of use.
In other words, the Activ-Vial™ bottle was able to maintain the probiotic potency, which is what we wanted to see.
How did the regular plastic bottle fare in this test?
The probiotic capsules inside the regular bottles lost nearly 50% of their potency in the same timeframe!
This underscores what we’ve been sharing with our clients for many years – even if the bottled probiotic is potent when you first open it, by the time you get to the end of the bottle after opening the cap each day, your probiotic supplement may lose a lot of its potency.
That’s a big deal. Because if you’re relying on probiotics for immune, digestive, or gut health support — you want to be confident they’re alive and ready to go to work.
Together these studies illustrate the importance of the Activ-Vial™ bottle innovation.
That’s why we made the switch.
Made A Great Probiotic Better
TrueLife PB is now packaged in the Activ-Vial™ bottle — and we believe it offers better protection than anything else available today.
No need for refrigeration. No fussing with foil packs. Just grab the bottle, take your capsule, and you’re good to go.
Now let’s talk about the capsules inside the bottle — because even if the packaging’s great, the contents matter too.
Just like with the packaging, we were careful with the details of the formulation.
Each TrueLife PB capsule features 30 billion CFUs from 6 documented probiotic strains, chosen for their health benefits and complementary functions.
But that’s not all. Often overlooked is the ability of the probiotic strains to bind and colonize in your intestines – else the strain isn’t of much value to you.
All the strains in TrueLife PB meet this criterion, and also important they are compatible with each other, and won’t destabilize the entire probiotic formula.
These may sound like small details, but they’re important if you want to maximize results.
Better yet TrueLife PB contains 2 prebiotics that provide nourishment for the probiotics and help them survive and thrive in your intestines.
Also important, we use a delayed-release capsule, which doesn’t release the probiotic powder until it’s leaving the stomach and entering the intestines.
The delayed release capsule helps ensure the probiotics aren’t destroyed by stomach acid or other digestive fluids, and survive the journey through the stomach and reach your intestines alive — like a well-timed parachute drop into friendly territory.
TrueLife PB has been one of our most popular products for many years, and if you’re already using it, rest assured we’ll never be complacent and always look to improve it where possible – like with the Activ-Vial™ packaging.
And if you’re new to probiotics, this is a smart place to start — with strains, potency, delivery, and packaging that give you the best chance of achieving the health results you desire.
Yours for Good Health,
Carl Pradelli
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