Ingredient Spotlight: All About Livaux

Gastric problems are disturbingly common in New Zealand, with up to 50% of us suffering from digestive pain or discomfort, often with no known cause or medical solution. Enter a bunch of keen nutritional scientists on a mission to create natural products to help our misbehaving guts. One such innovation is Livaux™ (pronounced ‘Liv-ox’), the award-winning prebiotic we included in Puraz Probiotic+.  A ‘prebiotic’ is a substance which increases levels or activity of beneficial microorganisms, in this case, the good bacteria that lives in our gastrointestinal tract.

Livaux™ is made from gold kiwifruit grown right here in New Zealand. A chemical free process transforms these tasty specimens into a precision prebiotic powder which specifically supports the proliferation of the gut bacteria species Faecalibacterium prausnitii (F.prau).  This species is crucial for achieving gut flora balance and in a healthy microbiome makes up 5-15% of the microorganisms present.  Needless to say, a healthy gut is important to a healthy YOU and everybody wants to feel their best. But why the focus on F. prau specifically?

For a start, F. prau is a ‘butyrate producer’, producing short chain fatty acids that help maintain health in many ways, including benefiting immunity, controlling inflammation and fueling intestinal cells. F. prau is  also of interest in the field of functional gut disorders, with low levels of it being present in diseases that are linked with dysbiosis (imbalanced microbiome) such as IBS, IBD, coeliac disease, Crohn’s disease and chronic constipation.

A 2017 Randomised Controlled Trial demonstrated the effectiveness of Livaux™ in augmenting F. prau levels by around 100% in functionally constipated individuals, and these increased F. prau levels were associated with heightened feelings of general wellness in the participants. The ability to increase F. prau through prebiotic supplementation in this way is a breakthrough as this species is too unstable to be consumed as a probiotic supplement.

That having been said, increasing F. prau isn’t the only thing Livaux™ does. Gold kiwifruit fibre in general has also been shown to increase quantities of several other beneficial bacterial species, and increase bowel movement frequency. Gold kiwifruit also contains vitamin C and polyphenolic compounds which may act as antioxidants. In Probiotic+ Livaux™ is there in the role of supporting ongoing digestive health and a healthy gut environment and to nurture the growth of beneficial gut bacteria. If you could use with some help towards increased digestive wellness, we’d suggest putting Probiotic+ on your shopping list right away!