Frequently asked questions
Is there a specific diet to eat during the course?
If you are feeling stable with your current diet then stick with it.
That being said, Elixa V6 appears to work particularly well with the following meal outline:
- The protein: Normal, unprocessed sources: i.e. chicken, beef, fish, eggs.
- The 'carbs': A moderate amount of easily-digested starch. An ideal form being well-boiled, soft, short grain rice (arborio, paella, 'sticky rice').
- A source of vegetation. It just so happens that vegetables along the lines of broccoli work very well with Elixa V6 (the current version of Elixa).
You do not have to eat every meal according to the above outline. But for every meal you replace with the above outline, it will be a benefit to you. Importantly, eating simple, easily-digested starch (rather than complex, fibrous starches) and the addition of a small volume of chunky veg (e.g. broccoli) with each meal (rather than lots all at once) will benefit the action of Elixa. Leafy greens or fibrous/complex carb sources are less helpful and sometimes problematic while correcting of the dysbiosis is still underway.
In general try to minimise alcohol, sugary food/drink, and dairy. If you can completely avoid alcohol during the Elixa Probiotic course, that is ideal.
But remember: If you are feeling happy and stable with your current diet, don't modify it during your first round of Elixa. If necessary you can always modify it in a subsequent round.
What do I do after completing the course?
Continue taking 1 sachet of prebiotic per day; first using what you have remaining in your Elixa course, and then continuing with the Elixa Prebiotic 1-month supply of sachets. This will stabilise the improvements you accrued during the course and will even lead to further improvements over time.
However - if you judge your gut still has room for improvement, embark on one further round of the full course. In serious and longstanding (multi-year) cases of gut dysbiosis, consider a 16-day course.
Please try to maintain whichever diet is most conducive to you feeling physically energised and mentally happy. On that last point I am referring to mental happiness throughout the entire day; not brief moments of fulfilling a craving followed by feeling bad later in the day or the following day.
When do I repeat the Elixa course in the future?
After you've gained as much improvement as possible in the first round (see FAQ 'What do I do after completing the course?') I recommend that people only need to repeat the course on an 'as needed' basis. In other words, take another course only when you experience a regression in gut health (for whatever reason - holiday eating, overdoing alcohol, taking antibiotics, excessive stress, diet mishaps).
If you anticipate an assault on your gut health (e.g. you're about to travel to a country where food/water contamination is common or take antibiotics or experience significant stress) then you can preventively take Elixa, if you wish to.
Asides from that, take the Elixa Probiotic course on an 'as-needs' basis rather than a predefined schedule. It is the most cost-efficient strategy.
Is the 8-day course enough for me?
I recommend all new users start with the 8-day course. It is the most cost-efficient and time-efficient method to see the results of Elixa for yourself. From there you can either cement your results with the prebiotic only – or – you can take another course if you are tackling a stubborn and substantial gut dysbiosis.
Should I take the daily prebiotic on an ongoing basis?
Yes. 1 sachet per day.
Here's some elaboration:
If the Elixa Probiotic course has been effective for you then it would be helpful to continue with 1 prebiotic sachet per day on an ongoing basis. However, missing the occasional day or week is not a problem. A healthy gut should be able to maintain itself; even in the face of brief stints of less-than-ideal diet and lifestyle. The aim with Elixa is to achieve robust, long-term improvements that begin in the gut and propagate throughout the body. We are not here to achieve fragile improvements that would regress at the slightest hurdle- no thank you!
So the reason for needing a prebiotic on an ongoing basis is to simply stack the cards in your favour when it comes to the ongoing and unavoidable problematic factors of modern lifestyle and diet which act against gut health. Put another way: we don't all live in situations where we can replicate the hunter-gatherer diet and lifestyle!
The daily prebiotic acts to provide a safety buffer to help avoid your gut going off the rails again – an important consideration for those who have suffered with gut problems for years on end and just want to be done with it and get on with a healthy life and other pursuits.
This is getting a bit beyond the scope of an FAQ answer but something that is important to consider is that the health benefits of resolving gut dysbiosis begin quite rapidly in the gut and some other systems of the body. However, for them to propagate fully through all the systems which the gut dysbiosis had been negatively affecting, it takes time. And you want that 'timer' to start ticking as soon as you resolve your gut dysbiosis. Ergo, you want to avoid disrupting this process with blips in gut health. Put another way: It is important to aim to maintain as perfect gut health as possible - for at least 2 or 3 months - after the course is finished - so as to allow all the affected systems in the body a chance to recover completely. After that is done you can be a bit more lax with things.
Which probiotic species does Elixa Probiotic contain?
Six strains from the following species/subspecies of the genus Bifidobacterium:
Bifidobacterium adolescentis
Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis
Bifidobacterium bifidum
Bifidobacterium breve
Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis
Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum
The strain selection is industrial know-how. These are unique and special strains – and that's an understatement. It makes a difference for manufacturing quality and effectiveness in the human gut. It's one of the most important reasons for Elixa's effectiveness.
How was the prebiotic formulated?
Elixa Prebiotic was formulated based on primarily two principles:
- The demonstrated effect of these prebiotics on the human microbiota in studies.
- The chemistry of the prebiotic must match the enzyme genes expressed by the Elixa strains. Gene expression → enzyme production → linkage specificity. In other words, they have to be readily 'eaten' by the strains of bacteria in Elixa Probiotic.
What is your returns/refund policy?
Our policy is generous, no-quibble, and created in good faith. If you change your mind about taking the course, you can return it to us for a full refund. The full policy is available in our 'Terms and Policies' link (bottom right of this page).
Can you take Elixa if you have an ileostomy bag, or have had a total or partial colectomy?
Yes. Elixa can be (and has been) taken by those with abdominal surgeries, including removal of portions of the intestine and terminations at stoma bags. The exception is if you have anything causing blockage in your intestine or if the surgical incisions have not healed yet. If in doubt, check with your medical doctor.
Are there any excipients ('fillers') in the ingredients?
In the probiotic there is some starch to help keep everything dry and a tiny pinch of magnesium stearate to ensure the powder flows well through the machinery that fills the capsules.
In the prebiotic there are no excipients added. The 'galactose' (very small amount) is something that is always present when you produce GOS (galacto-oligosaccharides). We produce and package the prebiotic under very low humidity to avoid needing to add other powders to it (for flow purposes, for example).
Which conditions does Elixa treat?
None. As per regulations/law, probiotics/prebiotics are not allowed claims for curing or treating any medical conditions. Use this information as you see fit. Read scientific studies (use Google Scholar) and read impartial reviews from independent users of Elixa.
How should I decide whether to continue with the prebiotic maintenance or another round of Elixa Probiotic?
If you are tackling a substantial gut dysbiosis and you feel there is more room for improvement after the first course then you can do a further 8-day round of Elixa. If you want to take the prebiotic maintenance for a couple of weeks first, then that is fine: no rush in doing a follow up course of Elixa Probiotic. Take the prebiotic while you assess whether there is room for further improvement.
One exception to this guideline is if your dysbiosis is severe and has been present for years; in which case consider going directly from your first 8 day course to another 8 day or 16 day course.
However, if you are happy with the results of the first 8 day course and wish to maintain those results and see how things go: switch over to the prebiotic only (Elixa Prebiotic). Even for those with severe gut dysbiosis, the first 8-day course combined with the maintenance prebiotic can generate improvements that continue beyond the 8 days and well into the first month as your gut microbiota adapts to the new status quo.
Can children take Elixa?
With previous versions of Elixa I didn't recommended it for children, despite being asked by many parents who had themselves had success with Elixa and despite the fact that children had taken it with no problems at all. I just felt that it did not match the infant/child gut microbiota enough - and this was based on certain probiotic strains I used to incorporate into Elixa Probiotic. They were very potent and effective - but not typical of infant gut flora, for example.
However, all that has changed now: for the latest version of Elixa (which is more than just a minor upgrade) I can confidently say that it is OK for children to take. This is because I have selected strains highly compatible with gut flora of children.
However, please note the following:
(1) I do not actively or officially recommend for under the age of 4. You can get in touch with me for specific guidelines if the need is great for your under-4-years-old child.
(2) For those under 13, reduce the probiotic dose by half and reduce the prebiotic dose by half, for the first 4 days of the course. If they handle it well, continue at that dose or go up to the normal dose if you think their gut dysbiosis warrants it. Always supervise them while swallowing the capsules, please. Do it one-by-one and, as usual, don't use more water than necessary because you don't want them waking up in the night to use the bathroom.
Why is Elixa so effective compared to normal probiotics?
Do people actually ask this question or is it here just to highlight the advantages of Elixa?
Both!
The answer would require an extensive explanation but, in a nutshell, it is due to the targeted anti-microbial approach, made possible by: the ultra-high CFU count, the species selection and the strain selection, the precise formulation of the prebiotic blend, and – last but definitely not least – the capsule shell manufacturing technology.
Those are 4 very solid differences that set it apart from conventional probiotics.
Based on feedback, what is it about Elixa that generally catches people's interest?
- It is a short course. Doesn't need to be taken forever. Just 8 days. This convenience plus the rationale behind why it would make sense to not need to take it forever. (namely; a healthy gut microbiota can generally maintain itself.)
- The reviews they read around the web and on social media sites.
- The unique utilisation of probiotic bacteria: namely the targeted anti-microbial approach, as opposed to 'replacing missing species'.
- All made possible with unique technology. (this is an understatement because it involves industrial know-how.)