When I was little I had Salmonella poisoning, the result of a meal in a high-street restaurant, and took a long time to recover. I was off school, being tested every day to see if it had cleared and eventually they just said 'it's almost gone' and that, we thought, was that.
With Barry Smith and Andy Rush
Barry is the entrepreneur behind Symprove, a farmer who originally developed the probiotic for his animals but on the recommendation of a clinician realised it could have benefits for humans too. Andy heads up Business Development.
New research shows that Parkinson's could start in some cases with a particular strain of bacteria in the gut. And as someone who had always had a 'dodgy tummy' for years when I was diagnosed as having PD I thought the symptoms might get worse. But strangely the medication seemed to balance it out as well as helping my movement.
After a period of time though the medication stopped being as effective and my stomach felt unsettled. The effects of the medication would often be felt a lot later or non-existent and I was told I may have Gastric Malabsorbtion, essentially the medication was getting lost in my gut and not absorbed properly or sent where the body needed it.
I heard about Symprove a long time before I actually tried it, mainly because I was sceptical that a probiotic could tackle my complex stomach woes.
Last year Barry kindly gifted me a 12 weeks supply to try it and report back and I'm surprised to say my stomach was reliable again, my medication worked more efficiently and I had more energy.
Recently, since finishing the 12 week plan I feel like I need to top it back up and Barry was kind enough to not only send me some more bottles but invited myself and a colleague to come and meet him and see the production space.
So, what is Symprove?
Symprove is a water-based multi-strain supplement that contains 4 unique strains of live activated bacteria. These include: L rhamnosus, E. faecium, L. acidophilus, and L. plantarum. Normally a healthy gut microbiome would already contain all four of these, along with many other types of bacteria. Diet and lifestyle can cause these to become unbalanced.
I love Symprove, not only because it actually works for me but they are a really human-centred company (check out their Symprove Passions page, it's lovely) rooted in a fantastic story.
I'm excited to feel balanced again.