The Scoop on new Golden Circle Healthy Life Juice with probiotics – by Emma Stirling APD

Food Flash — By on August 7, 2012 at 7:36 am

Fine-print to keep it real: This post and monthly activity has been sponsored by Golden Circle and Nuffnang, all comments are my own.

I’m very excited to share this week’s Food Flash post with you.  Firstly we have a really innovative new product.  And secondly, we welcome Golden Circle as a Scoop Supporter for the coming weeks.  Yippee! Golden Circle’s support will help our Sub of the Month mentoring program and a few tweaks we want to do to the site. Isn’t that great?  They’ve even included a fab giveaway, plus a super duper prize to the value of $1000, so make sure you check out the details at the end.

Milk it?

I’m sure most of you (savvy readers) have heard about probiotics? Perhaps you regularly seek them out? But until now, you’ve only been able to get to the guts of good health with a dairy based product or by popping a pill.  Enter, Golden Circle Healthy Life™ Juice, the first dairy-free drink with probiotic cultures in Australia.

 

Cultured society

There’s plenty of talk about probiotic cultures and health – in medical circles but also on many food products – beating the bloat, boosting immunity and more.  And it can get a little confusing.  When assessing a product, dietitians look for things like the research behind the type of strain(s) used; whether there are enough numbers of good bacteria and do they survive or are they viable in the product? That’s once we’ve already checked that the product tastes divine, of course. Did you really think I’d forget that one? Puh-leze.

So to answer some of my questions I caught up with Megan Alsford APD from Golden Circle to grill her (just a little).

Tell me about the strains?

Probiotics are well recognised as having the ability to beneficially modulate immune defences, although the mechanisms of action are not fully understood.  The juice contains Probi Defendum™ – two probiotic cultures (Lactobacillus paracasei 8700:2 and Lactobacillus plantarum HEAL 9) specifically selected to work in combination to support the body’s natural immune defences.  Clinical trials with Probi Defendum™ have shown effectiveness, with the number of episodes, severity of symptoms and duration of the common cold being significantly reduced.  Health professionals can read the full backgrounder on the research and trials here: A scientific update on probiotics and immunity.

Of particular interest is the data when people suffered a second cold.  That is, when subjects in one of the major trials suffered their second cold (poor things), those consuming Probi Defendum™ had a significant reduction in the severity of symptoms.  The study indicates the intervention of Probi Defendum™ helps support natural defences through building immune competence, resulting in less severe symptoms in subsequent common cold episodes.

What about the counts?

Every 200mL serve has been designed to provide at least 1 billion beneficial cultures (1billion cfu), as this level has been shown to be effective.

And to find out about the taste?

I just served up a small glass, at Sunday breakfast (nonchalantly) to Master 7 (fusspot) and Miss 10?  Two words.  “Yum, mum”.

For anyone seeking a dairy free probiotic it definitely gets the thumbs up.  Remember that just like any juice, liquid kilojoules add up so stick to one serve a day.  Check out the nutrition information panels here.   Golden Circle Healthy Life™ Juice has no added sugar, no artificial colours or flavours and is available in Apple Mango and Breakfast flavours in both 1lt and 300ml bottles in the chiller aisle at all major supermarkets in Victoria, NSW and QLD states.

So what do you think? Is that hot or what? Drop us a comment below for your chance to win a giveaway of a GCHL Cooler bag, $50 Woolworth’s gift card and 1 month Fernwood Fitness membership.  We will be picking the most creative comment.  Entries, open to Australian residents, until 5pm EST on 17 August. Read the full terms and conditions here.  All comments will also go into the bigger prize draw, across three blogs, for the chance to win a $1000 lastminute.com.au voucher.  Read the full terms and conditions here.  So do drop us a clever line below.  Go on don’t be shy.  Wouldn’t it be fab if a lovely Scoop reader won a foodie escape or a night on the town?

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  • Renee

    It is exciting to see probiotics getting more attention in the food industry, but equally good to see that the probiotics being used are the ones that have been scientifically tested, rather than food companies throwing in any strain of “good bacteria” and claiming that it must therefore do what all the other probiotics do.

    Encouraging a healthy microbiota through the addition of extra probiotics seems like a good idea, but it is of course important that we don’t rely on these quick fixes for good health; rather that we consume a healthy balanced diet which would encourage the bacteria that is already in our gut to work to it’s best capacity!

  • http://foodtechnologylearningjourney.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/social-networks-and-mobile-technology.html Jeannette James

    Probiotics in a juice! Now, that is easy to swallow :)

    For those lactose intolerant dudes, this is a “fermenational” news! (yes, know that is not a word) Can’t have yakult as body can’t stand cow’s milk protein? Have a juice-with the added bonus of Probi Defendum™; 1 BILLION in fact!

    BTW: Very interested in the news about cold symptom reduction as 3/5 people in our family have colds at present. Am heading straight to the supermarket tomorrow to try some! Instead of a coffee treat, I shall try the GC Probiotic juice. Now that’s a step in the right direction. Flourishing my gut flora :)

  • Tom

    Sounds like a good way to soldier on, so to speak, this winter. I reckon it also sounds like a good thing to use in combination or closely following a course of antibiotics to help restore the balance. I’ve been hit by two colds already this winter, but I don’t seem to be able to get over them properly because I can’t afford the time to rest due to my Uni commitments. Definately worth a shot.

  • Teri Lichtenstein

    I gave my 2 year old a drink of this new juice today and told her about all the “good bugs in her tummy” and what they do. She replied “mommy, will all the insects in my tummy help me grow?”" Sweet :)

  • Hannah

    We’ve just tried the apple mango and it was delish! My 8 year old is on his 3rd head cold for winter, so we’ll see if the juice reduces the severity of this one.

  • Michelle

    This is a juice I will defiantly be trying! Thanks for the post!!

  • Jenna

    Really interested to try this!
    Especially appealing to all those that are lactose intolerant or don’t like dairy foods but still want to get a little culture in to them ;)

  • Hannah Gilbert

    From first-hand experience, here is the perfect recipe to boost the immune system and maintain hydration status when bed ridden with the cold. Blend 200mL of the apple mango variety with half a tray of ice, 2 x mango cheeks, half a banana and 1 grated apple. Serve in a tall glass and top with a cocktail umbrella and wide straw. An immune boosting frappe!

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  • http://www.scoopnutrition.com Emma Stirling

    Congrats to Renee! The winner of our Fernwood gym pass giveaway pack. There’s still time to enter our big prize draw – open until Sep 29 – so keep those comments coming.

  • http://www.wholesome-cook.com Martyna @ Wholesome Cook

    Whenever I take the little miss (8 years old) grocery shopping she points to the little Yakult bottles – can we get some? I like that drink. So, knowing that there is a fruit juice full of probiotics makes me really excited, because both kids like to add a dash of juice to their water at afternoon tea time before they go off to sport! And apples and mangoes are their favourite fruit! Soudns like a winner all around!