PGX by Natural Factors, WellBetX Plus Mulberry, 180 vegetarian capsules, 180 Capsules

Does fiber quality matter? What is the difference between Metamucil and this product?Part of the reason why fiber is high-quality is the length of the fiber. PGX has the longest fiber in the business. Long fiber strands, feed your probiotics for the longest amount of time. Short fiber is too easily digested by your probiotics and it is easily digested by much less desirable inhabitants of the gut.Four years ago I got some advice from my friend that Metamucil was the standard brand, well researched and well understood. I should not trust my probiotics to some obscure fiber like WellbetX PGX. So I used Metamucil the whole time. And for the entire time, I had diarrhea. Unrelenting diarrhea. Then I switched to glucomannan, which is actually a form of PGX. It's just not as carefully processed to preserve the length of the fiber as PGX. And my diarrhea improved although it did not go away. Then finally my new doctor insisted I upgrade to PGX and I did. My diarrhea disappeared. What just happened? The problem is I have some sort of gut infection. The Metamucil was feeding the infection as well as my probiotics. Glucomannan was a vast improvement , but the superior fiber in PGX feeds your probiotics to the maximum extent possible while starving any infectious organisms in your gut.Now fixing the gut is a big story and there's more to it. First, my digestion was broken. I was not producing enough stomach acid and the enzymes needed to digest anything. So I supplemented with HCl and digestive enzymes. If your digestion is broken, this is a great strategy. However if it's not, taking extra HCl and digestive enzymes is a great way to eat a hole in your stomach. Consult your doctor.Symptoms of low stomach acid and enzymes include: constant heartburn, GERD (the low stomach acid is insufficient to convince the esophagus to close), gas (food starts to ferment in your stomach), bloating, stomach/gut cramps, diarrhea. Alas, the low stomach acid allows nasty critters to proliferate in your gut and there could be gut infections and intestinal parasites complicating the matter.How does digestion become broken? There are many potential causes including proton pump inhibitors (yup), antibiotics that kill off your helpful probiotics (yup) which then allow opportunistic critters to take over.(yup). Some of these unhelpful organisms will directly damage your gut, destroying your ability to produce acid and enzyme (yup). Other causes include your genetics (yup). For example, high stress or high inflammation (a plethora of medical conditions, alas) (yup, yup). tilt the balance in favor of impaired gut function and opportunistic infections.Your gut needs to heal. Collagen is a major protein that's required to heal the gut. You can find collagen in bone broth or in collagen supplements.Glutamine is an amino acid which is found in large quantities in the gut, it is a precursor to GABA , and it's required for the production of glutathione. Glutamine is used by the gut as a source of energy and its required for many of the gut's functions. Glutathione is the master enzyme that regenerates all of your other antioxidant enzymes. In times of stress, it is very possible to strip all the glutathione in your body. GABA is a neurotransmitter in your brain , and fluctuating levels can alter your mood. In times of stress, or trauma to the gut, your body's need for glutamine exceeds any normal amount found in the diet. Doctors and other authorities recommend about 2 to 3 g of glutamine daily during such periods. Glutamine can only be absorbed on an empty stomach. You don't want to exceed 2 to 3 g daily because it might alter the levels of GABA in your brain which can affect your mood. However when experiencing extreme gut pain, I increased glutamine to about 6 g daily but only for short periods of 2-3 days. I did experience immediate relief from pain the next day when I did this.Resistance starch also feeds the probiotics in your gut Resistant starches to not raise your glucose level. Some of the byproducts from resistant starches, include butyric acid. Butyric acid is highly beneficial because it fights gut inflammation, and feeds the gut. Uncooked potato starch is just about the most concentrated resistant starch you can find. Bob's Red Mill unmodified potato starch is readily available resistant starch. The recommended dose is 1 tablespoon up to three times per day. If you're not used to this you might want to start off very slowly at about 1 teaspoon.Saccharomyces boulardii is a probiotic that will heal the inflammation in your gut. When it comes to probiotics, sometimes more isn't better. The probiotics are fighting it out in your gut for a very limited resource, the fiber. If your gut is damaged, then S. boulardii is the right probiotic because it will help it heal. Don't bother with any of the others. That's what my doctor told me. Once your gut is in balance, the advice is rotate your probiotics every few months.And my doctor had it absolutely right. I was already using a variation of this protocol for almost a year. I was just using junk mixed with quality. When I dumped the junk Metamucil fiber, got rid of the competing probiotics that were swamping the Saccharomyces boulardii, after about three or four weeks my major gut symptoms were all under control. So don't trust the major brand, it's pretty much garbage. Their extensive research is just paid advertising.Finally, in order to heal, you must initiate protein synthesis. You can't produce new enzymes, new muscle, or new anything, without initiating protein synthesis. Healing is pretty much by definition, the production of new materials to replace damaged materials. To initiate protein synthesis you need to eat 30 g of proteins in one sitting. Nutritionists recommend eating 30 g of protein three times a day if you're trying to heal from major trauma. This is an unfortunate amount of protein. For example you pretty much need almost 5 ounces of boneless chicken or 5 large eggs to hit that mark. I find it difficult to eat that much protein unless it's coming from meat, and I often have no room to eat anything else. But it works. The first thing I noticed when I started eating like this, was my hair started growing at double the normal rate. I have also been healing from my various disorders although way more slowly than hair growth.

I read some of the reviews of this fiber on Amazon and wondered if they were written by people who worked for the company or something. I mean, easy weight loss is on the same line of the Fountain of Youth in our culture and there are no short cuts, I had always thought. You eat less, exercise more, and theoretically you start losing weight. For me, I'd do this and lose a couple of pounds, then plateau and get frustrated, and go off my program and start gaining weight again. I also found if I exercised I'd be hungry afterwards and then eat a granola bar or something to offset that, and in the process replace the calories I'd just burned exercising. Like many I found losing significant weight really hard.Until I found these little pills by accident. I read the reviews on Amazon and thought "Well for $20, what do I have to lose?" and ordered a bottle. I started off slow (1-2 capsules a day) and noticed no ill effects. I noticed that I felt more full after taking a capsule. Then I moved to taking 2 capsules before each meal with a full glass of water. That's when I really began to lose weight. I've lost almost 15 pounds taking these capsules. I did keep exercising (same amount as before) so no change there. My diet has changed a bit as these capsules mean no snacking and no cravings for me.This stuff is way too good to be true - again I've been someone that's always struggled in losing weight. I keep thinking something's going to go wrong but the pounds continue to come off. Read my other reviews- I'm an Amazon top 500 reviewer and have reviewed a LOT of products, good and bad. I have no affiliation with this company, so an honest review like all my others.In reading about the principle ingredient of these capsules, Konjac, it seems like it lines your stomach/intestines and prevents sugar absorption. While not diabetic I'm from a family of diabetics and have low blood sugar and blood sugar swings. I think this fiber supplement evens those swings out, prevents calorie absorption, and provides a feeling of "fullness" that makes it easy to skip snacks and eat smaller portions.As they say, your mileage may vary, but these capsules have really worked for me.Update 4/1....still on "the program" and still losing weight though not as rapidly. I'm down a total of 20 pounds now!

I just wanted to say that this is first time I had purchased this item and its unbelievable it actually started working. I started off only taking two pills three times a day just to make sure it would not affect my in any way, that was for the first week. Then the second week I did the recommended dosage 4 pills 4X a day. It wasnt until the second week I noticed my appitite was less and didnt feel hungry after I ate and I didnt feel the need to go back for seconds or even not finish what I had on my plate. I have always eaten healthy and worked out but at my age now (48) nothing worked. I've lost 6lbs in total which is great for me since nothing seemed to work. I am glad I tried this and yes I would recommend to others to use.

A little disappointed