Which gut supplement is right for you?
Total Gut Health
Onnit's four-part formula, and the one most people here start with. A single daily dose carries digestive enzymes, betaine HCl, Saccharomyces boulardii and a five-strain bacterial blend - four things people usually end up buying separately and taking at different times of day. We are the official Irish stockist, so it ships from Dublin rather than routing through customs from the US. Shop Total Gut Health.
Digestive Enzyme Complex
The narrower option, for anyone whose issue is specifically heavy or awkward meals rather than anything ongoing. Ninety capsules, taken with food. If you already have a probiotic you are happy with and only want the enzyme side, this is the one to look at rather than the full stack. Shop Digestive Enzyme Complex.
Probiotics 4 Billion Culture
Feel Supreme's straightforward daily, and we are the exclusive Irish distributor for the range, so if you are buying it in Ireland it came through us. Thirty capsules, one a day, 4 billion culture per capsule. The plainest way into this category if the four-part formula is more than you want. Shop Probiotics 4 Billion Culture.
Pilgrim Hydration, if you train
Made in Ireland, and the one on this shelf that is really about what training does to you rather than what dinner does. Each sachet carries four electrolytes plus 1,000mg of L-glutamine and chicory root fibre. Calcium contributes to the normal function of digestive enzymes, and magnesium to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. Glutamine is the amino acid the cells lining the gut wall use as their main fuel, and it has been reviewed specifically in the context of gut barrier function under physical stress. Try the five-sachet pack first, or go straight to the twenty-one if you already know you get on with electrolytes.
The whole-food end of the shelf
Not everyone wants a capsule with a mechanism attached. Organic Supreme Greens is a twenty-five serving powder for people who would rather add something to a smoothie than remember another tablet, and Sea Moss with Bladderwrack and Spirulina is the traditional seaweed route, ninety capsules.
Agaricus Blazei
A dual-extracted liquid from our mushroom range, traditionally taken in Brazil and Japan and one of the less familiar names in the category. It sits here and in our functional mushrooms range. Shop Agaricus Blazei.
Three more on this shelf
Intestinal Cleanse is Feel Supreme's twelve-botanical blend - garlic, olive leaf, clove, pumpkin seed, chicory root, glucomannan and the rest - and it is built to be cycled, four to six weeks at a time rather than taken indefinitely. Release puts apple cider vinegar with the mother, seven live bacterial strains and a digestive enzyme blend into a single capsule, which saves buying three things separately and avoids the acidity of drinking the liquid. Soursop Leaf Extract is the traditional one, Annona muricata, brewed as a leaf tea across the Caribbean, West Africa and Southeast Asia for generations and here as a straight single-ingredient capsule.
Not sure where to start?
Total Gut Health if you want one thing that covers most of it. Digestive Enzyme Complex if it is specifically meals that bother you. Probiotics 4 Billion Culture if you want the simplest possible start. Pilgrim Hydration if you are training hard and losing more than water. Ring us on +353 (0)1 539 0000 or email info@powerful.ie and we will point you the right way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between digestive enzymes and probiotics?
They do different jobs. Enzymes break food down into pieces small enough to absorb, and work in the hours after a meal. Bacterial cultures are about what lives in the gut over the longer term. Total Gut Health carries both, which is why it is the usual starting point. Buying them separately is perfectly reasonable if you only need one side of it.
What is Saccharomyces boulardii and why is a yeast in there?
It is a yeast rather than a bacterium, which is unusual in this category and is the reason it is listed separately on the label. It is included alongside the five bacterial strains rather than instead of them.
When should I take them?
Digestive enzymes with food, since that is what they act on. Cultures are generally taken daily and consistently, and the time of day matters less than not forgetting. Pilgrim Hydration is mixed with 500ml of water before, during or after exercise. Intestinal Cleanse is the exception, as Feel Supreme recommend cycling it rather than taking it continuously.
Can I take more than one of these together?
People commonly do, and the ranges are built to sit alongside each other. Add one at a time so you can tell what is doing what. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, on medication or have an ongoing digestive condition, have a word with your GP or pharmacist first.