So we took our own blend, made a dry version of it, and gave both the same problem.
What we did
Same fifteen strains. Same dose. One batch pre-hydrated in our juice, one left as dry powder.
Both went into hydrochloric acid at pH 1.5, held at body temperature, with an accredited laboratory counting what was still alive at zero, thirty and sixty minutes. Three replicates.
What happened
| In our juice | The same blend, dried | |
|---|---|---|
| On contact | 3,200,000 | 64,000 |
| 30 minutes | 25,900 | 7 |
| 60 minutes | 5,100 | 2.33 |
Living cells per gram.
50x on contact · 3,700x at thirty minutes · 2,188x at sixty minutes
More surviving cells than the same blend as dry powder.
Why we think it happened
A dry culture arriving in the stomach has to rehydrate before it can do anything, and stomach acid is a poor place to rehydrate. Cultures already suspended in liquid don't have that problem. They arrive hydrated, and they arrive in a mildly acidic juice rather than in nothing at all.
That's the mechanism as we understand it. The study measured the outcome, not the reason.
What this study is, and what it isn't
In vitro study. Probiotics in hydrochloric acid at pH 1.5 and 37°C, three replicates, enumerated by Certified Laboratories.
It measures what survives in simulated gastric conditions. It is not a clinical trial and it describes the product, not an outcome in the body.
Three more limits worth stating plainly:
The comparison is ours against ours. We dried our own blend. This is not a test of anyone else's product, and it doesn't tell you how a competitor's formula would perform.
A beaker is not a stomach. Simulated gastric conditions are a standard method and a real one, but a stomach has motility, mucus, food, timing and enormous person-to-person variation. None of that is in a flask.
Surviving acid is not the same as doing something. This study answers one narrow question: how many cells are still alive after thirty minutes in acid. What happens after that is a different question and this study doesn't answer it.
Who ran it
The study was authored by three of Doctor's Biome's founders and funded by the company. The laboratory work and cell counts were performed by Certified Laboratories, an independent accredited lab.
We'd rather tell you that than have you find it in the footnotes. Company-funded research is normal in this category and it's also a reason to read carefully, which is why the method and the limits are above rather than buried.
Kamarei AR, Robins HF, Finkelstein E. Juice-Based Living Probiotics Survive Stomach Acid Significantly Better than Dry Powder Live Probiotics. Journal of Biochemistry and Physiology, 2024;7(4).