Why you need enteric coating on your New Roots probiotics

I’ve dabbled with probiotics on and off for a decade. Maybe longer. My overall opinion on them, before now, was: “Meh.” But guess what? Turns out all those good bacteria probably weren’t even making it to my gut. And that’s why you need an enteric coating on your New Roots probiotic capsules.

Let me explain: as you probably know, probiotics (good bacteria) help support intestinal and gastrointestinal health and could promote favourable gut flora. But harsh stomach acid can kill off your probiotics before they even get to their destination. Obviously, they need to make it to your intestine alive so they can get to work. 

That means you need something that’s stable enough to pass through gastric acid but will break down and release properly when the time comes.

What is an enteric coating?

What is enteric coating and why should your probiotics have it? Let me explain…

I’ve learned a lot about my insides while doing research for this post.

Like DNA, everyone’s gut “microbiota” (also called your microbiome) is unique. There are, however, certain bacterial combinations that healthy people have in common. And health experts have been telling us for some time that good intestinal health extends far beyond “just your gut.” 

There are still a lot of unknowns, but one thing most doctors and scientists agree on is that good gastrointestinal health is important. 

If you get sick, having good bacteria on your side may get you feeling better faster. And probiotics could help.

But dead probiotics don’t help anyone.

I probably hadn’t found much success with probiotics before because my stomach acid was destroying all of the good bacteria before they could do their job. Stomach acid, after all, is about as acidic as battery acid.

Basically, I was just swallowing all the money I spent on those probiotics. (Figuratively, that’s a hard pill to swallow.)

That’s why a probiotic with enteric coating is key and, more specifically, where GPS Enteric Coating technology comes in. New Roots Herbal probiotics feature GPS Enteric Coating, a scientifically proven method that protects your probiotics to ensure they survive merciless stomach acid en route to the gut where they’ll get to work.

Studies have shown that an enteric-coated capsule delivers 100 per cent of the probiotics because they get past the starting line and into the small intestine. From here, they’re slowly released and have an opportunity to work their magic.

From where I sit, there doesn’t seem to be any reason to buy a probiotic without enteric coating. Anything else seems like a waste of money.

But maybe you’ve heard of enteric coating before and you’re thinking, “Um, this ain’t new.” No, enteric coating itself isn’t, but GPS Enteric Coating is. It’s a natural, water-based way to create an enteric-coated tablet or capsule — while, in general, an enteric coating could be made of anything from fatty acids and waxes to shellac or even plastics. Yuck.

Look for gastro-resistant New Roots probiotics featuring GPS Enteric Coating in the refrigerated section of your local health store. And remember to keep them in the fridge when you get home! 

Acidophilus Ultra is an enteric-coated capsule from New Roots

Three cheers for good gut flora! 

Our guts play host to billions of good bacteria that support crucial bodily functions. Most of us know that digestion is one of those functions, but did you know that it also supports good nutrient absorption and a healthy immune system, too? 

While I believe our bodies come built to do a lot of hard work, I also know that supporting it with various tools — like good nutrition, exercise and sometimes high-quality supplements — tends to keep the machinery running more smoothly.

I’ve only been taking the New Roots Herbal Acidophilus Ultra* (a gluten-free probiotic with a blend of 11 probiotics and 11 billion live active cells) for a couple of weeks, so it’s hard to say if I’ve noticed any substantial differences, but at least this time I know that all those billions of cells aren’t just crashing and burning in stomach acid.

Look for probiotics with enteric coating from New Roots.

Enteric coating is the protection that gives New Roots Acidophilus Ultra its versatility. While many probiotics need to be taken with food, I like that I can take these on an empty stomach OR with food. Because sometimes I’m doing a little intermittent fasting and other times I wake up early to workout but feel puke-y if I eat beforehand.

Acidophilus Ultra ultimately delivers more than what you could get through fortified yoghurts, tablets, powders or capsules without enteric coating. 

About New Roots

New Roots Herbal is a Canadian nutraceutical company based in Quebec. Every product is created in Canada in the company’s own research and development laboratory using leading-edge testing and analytical equipment. In fact, New Roots does more than 600 hours each week of testing devoted to product quality.

From its beginnings in the ‘80s, New Roots wanted to create the most therapeutic nutraceutical formulas on the market. And now, more than 8,600 stores sell New Roots products worldwide. 

Sourcing ingredients from around the globe is no small feat, but New Roots is committed to bringing in the best of the best from some of the world’s most unspoiled ecosystems. And then they still test each ingredient (right down to its specific genus and species!) in its lab to confirm quality — looking for pesticides, solvent residues, peroxides and PCBs — and potency, and to ensure that every product ultimately adheres to Health Canada’s strict guidelines. No exceptions.

The in-house New Roots scientists specialize in biotechnology, enzymology, chemistry, biodistribution, sterility, microbiology and protein chemistry — several of whom have been published in peer-reviewed journals.

It’s these guys (and gals) who undertake all of the quality-control testing that ensures ingredients are contaminant-free, fully potent and haven’t oxidized in transit.

They even do something called “disintegration testing” when it comes to a probiotic product like Acidophilus Ultra. Since it needs to dissolve in the intestines, the testing process actually mimics the human digestive system so the scientists can study how the product dissolves. Did it happen at the right time? How about in the right place? 

Those are tip-of-the-iceberg observations made every day at the lab so you can feel good buying New Roots products, knowing that what’s on the label is what’s in the bottle.

*To see if this product is right for you, read and follow the label; for a summary of claims and cautions please click here. 

DISCLOSURES: This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the physician advice with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. New Roots Herbal is a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)-compliant, manufacturer of natural health products (NHPs). I have participated in a paid partnership with New Roots Herbal; opinions in this post are my own.