Gastro Girl's 10-day Yoplait Yo-Plus Challenge

Probiotics are becoming the hippest food enhancer since fiber. And for me this isn't a bad thing--if it helps keep my digestive system on track. So I was flattered when the thoughtful folks at Yoplait asked me if I'd like to try their new yogurt, Yo-Plus. The company must have read my mind (or my digestive system) as I've been struggling to keep things moving and grooving for some time. Like a lot of you, I'm trying to manage IBS symptoms including gas and bloating and the inability to stay regular, which have caused me great discomfort over the years.

So you can imagine my excitement when the Yoplait representative generously sent me a ten-day supply of Yo-Plus after I volunteered to take this 10-day challenge.


I'll admit I was a bit skeptical, as I really wondered if a yogurt, specifically formulated to help my digestive system could really do the job.

But when I saw the cups of strawberry and vanilla yogurt (two of my favorite yogurt flavors of all time), I put my objective journalism cap on and began the challenge two weeks ago.


So does it taste good?

Let me just say that I've always been a fan of Yoplait yogurt, as I find this brand to be among the creamiest, even the low-fat versions. Yes, I had expectations for the company's latest yogurt. And boy was my mouth rockin' after one spoonful of Yo-Plus. Yea, baby--the creamy, texture of Yo-Plus did not disappoint this Yoplait groupie. I dived into the strawberry version first and it was delicious--full of fabulous fruity fun.


You would never know this yogurt was packed with probiotics, prebiotics, including three grams of fiber. A yogurt full of fiber? This is a Gastro Girl's digestive dream come true.


And after I tasted the heavenly vanilla version the following day, I knew my 10-day Yo-Plus challenge would be delicious. And if it really helped make my gut happy, well that would be a bonus. By the way, Yo-Plus also comes in cherry and peach.


What's in Yo-Plus that makes it's so special?

The unique Yo-plus blend of probiotics and prebiotics, including three grams of fiber is called Optibalance.

Now probiotics are the good, friendly bacteria that your body needs to stay healthy and prebiotics are the fiber that helps sustain the growth of the friendly bacteria in your digestive tract. We need these two to keep the bad bugs out of our system.


Have more questions? Check out the FAQs on the Yo-Plus site.


Bottom line: Did Yo-Plus help my digestive system?

I will admit that for 10 days, I looked forward to starting my day with the 4 oz. cup of Yo-Plus. Some days, I even had another Yo-Plus in the afternoon. I did notice a difference about day three--I felt a little less bloated, and my gut felt calmer. Now, I didn't conduct a controlled trial or make any significant diet changes. So of course my assessment of whether or not Yo-Plus actually helped my digestive system is totally subjective. Placebo effect? Who knows.

But it's been past the 10-day challenge now, and I'm still getting my daily Yo-Plus on. I liked Yo-Plus so much I went out and bought more--including the Peach flavor, which was every bit as good as the other flavors I'd tried.

For me the serving size was perfect. Additonally, each serving has only 110 calories, and 1.5 grams of fat. Another big plus for me, was that Yo-Plus contains no artificial sweetners--which for some people aggravate their digestive system. Yes, Yo-Plus contains sugar--but with proper exercise and a balanced diet I'm not worried about the sugar!

I agree with Yoplait, that Yo-Plus can help my body to regulate its digestive health naturally. But, as Yoplait states on it's website, "Yo-Plus is not a treatment or cure for any medical disorder or disease. If you're experiencing any difficulty or discomfort with your digestive system, you should contact a healthcare professional immediately."


Yo-Plus gets Gastro Girl's Good for Your Gut approval!

Note: Gastro Girl and Revolution Health were not paid to endorse this product. All opinions expressed here are based on Gastro Girl's independent taste-test and do not represent Revolution Health.

Living With Crohn's? Tune in for Insurance Tips

As you probably know, Michael Moore's new film Sicko has heated up the health care debate. I'm not surprised since 47 million people are uninsured in the United States; and many of them go without health insurance coverage or find insurance companies unwilling to pay for tests or medications because of preexisting conditions, such as Crohn's disease.

Did you know that about 500,000 Americans have Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that causes chronic inflammation of the intestinal tract?
(Note: This photo is an endoscopic image of Crohn's showing deep ulceration in sigmoid colon. Photo released into public domain on permission of patient. Source:Wikipedia.)

Like ulcerative colitis, another common IBD, Crohn's disease can be both painful and debilitating and sometimes may lead to life-threatening complications.

It' s no secret that many people living with a digestive condition such as Crohn's disease are flustered, overwhelmed or just plain angered by insurance companies who refuse to cover pre-approved tests or consider useful medicines unnecessary.

Yes, this is ridiculous. I can only imagine how frustrating it is to navigate the world of health care insurance if you or a loved one is living with Crohn's disease.

But a Health Talk program, "Crohn's: It's My Money," aims to help you deal with your frustrations. The show will air on the Internet on Tuesday, August 14, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. EST (4:00 p.m. PST).
I urge those of you living with Crohn's (or caring for someone that is) to tune into the show for a chance to tell your story and hear helpful advice about what you can do to get the coverage you deserve. You'll learn how to check for incorrect claim statements, find an advocate on the inside to help you and make your voice heard.

You need to register in advance to participate. But when you register you'll also have the opportunity to submit a question to the Health Talk experts, who will also answer questions from guests live during the program.

Feel free to ask your questions in our Revolution Health community forums as well! We have some helpful resources for you, including patient advocate Jill Sklar, who offers insight, support and advice in the Crohn's and digestive health community as well as in her blog, Living with Crohn's.


Listen to a previous Health Talk program on Crohn's and Initmacy


All the best,
Gastro Girl

Colons and Polyps and Preps, Oh My!

Not a pretty picture. The googled-eyed pink blob is a colon polyp. The tall thin green thing is an enema. And the woman to my left is Anka, a former internal medicine doctor turned medical journalist. She's great, by the way and worked hard to keep up with all the news coming out of Digestive Disease Week 2007. I think she has nearly fifty articles to write! See, I told you there was so much news and information coming out of that conference--I know I have an endless stream of topics to share with you here over the next several weeks, perhaps months!

Anyway, back to the topic of colons and polyps.

Here's what you need to know.

Did you know that colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States? Yikes. But when colorectal cancer is detected early, it has one of the highest cure rates. Now that's good news! But IT HAS TO BE DETECTED EARLY!

That's one reason why we need innovative and improved ways to screen for and detect this disease.

When I was at Digestive Disease Week® 2007 (DDW®), there was new research presented there that highlighted several technological and research advances that are helping to decrease both the number of deaths and the number of new cases of colorectal cancer diagnosed in the United States.

This is great news! But remember, early detection is the key to prevention! Colorectal cancer in its early stages usually doesn't cause any symptoms. If you don't get screened, you won't know and frankly, by the time you do decide to get screened, it may be too late. Now, I'm not trying to alarm you here.

In fact, I need to have a colonscopy soon too. Ok. I'll put it out here right now and say, yes, my doctor, a lovely woman (to whom I complained to about my chronic abdominal pain and bouts of constipation and it's counterpart) who urged me have a colonscopy as a precaution. That was back in February and I still haven't made the appointment. Shame on me!

Does my failure to make an appointment for a colonscopy make me a hypocrite? Well, maybe a little. But it also makes me human and highlights the hesitation most of us have about dealing with our health matters. Am I afraid? You bet. Not so much about the end-result and what they may find--more so about the procedure. Basically, fear of the unknown. Anticipatory anxiety. Even a Gastro Girl is a bit scared.

I met with some reps from Ez-Prep at DDW--they said their product is one used by docs to prepare their patient's (read cleaning out their colons) before the colonscopy. They mentioned it wasn't as bad as we might think.

For me, my time at DDW, listening, learning, asking questions. etc. about all things digestive, including colorectal cancer--which was a major topic at the conference--made a huge impact on me.

Gastro Girl Colonoscopy Challenge

What am I going to do about my fear? I don't even know what I'm afraid about really--what's the worst that could happen? The doc has to zap a polyp or two?

I'm gonna schedule a colonscopy. I tell you what--watch this space for the Gastro Girl Colonoscopy Challenge. Yea. That's it. We'll make a pact to get screened all over the world around the same time! How cool would that be! You can write in with your appointment time and day and location and we can all feel the huge outpouring of support--there is power in numbers!

Stay tuned.

Get the scoop from the Revolution Health community
Colonscopy: What can I expect?

Scoping Out Endscopy: Getting My Gastro On

It's not everyday I get to don blue gloves, white lab coat and do a little endoscoping. But I sure looked like a real Gastro yesterday, when the hoopla down at the zillion square foot exhibitor hall at Digestive Disease Week 2007 was evaporating into the glorious air outside as the 19,000 or so Gastro docs and other Gastro groupies from all over the world made their way back home, went sightseeing or shopping (hey Dr.Mark hope you found Best Buy!.)

And while the Gastros were probably relieved to have some time away from doing endoscopies, I was in heaven--yet again! Let me tell you this was one of the best Gastro weeks I've had in a long time!

Ok. Here I am--do I look, like way, Gastro or what? Ok, maybe not WAY Gastro, but sort of, right? Yea, that strange look on my face is one of sheer amazement and intense concentration--I took this demo seriously and I was in true awe!


The representatives from U.S. Endoscopy were oh so kind to indulge my request to try this endoscopy demo out. Dean Secrest. executive VP of Research and New Product Development (he's in the photo later on in this post)was particularly helpful! Thanks again, Dean! I mean, what better way to understand what endoscopy is all about than to try it--no not an actual patient! But I think they were a bit perplexed at my enthusiasm for experiencing this first hand. What you see here is an actually training model that U.S. Endoscopy makes to train physicians on the use of the endoscopy devices/accessories, which they also make.

Physicians Do Practice Before They Scope

This is good news for us, as patients--docs don't just use this equipment without proper training. So I was relieved to discover the use of these "models" which are designed with pig intestinal linings and stomach. And it looks real!(a cranberry saucy concoction was used to emulate blood.) By the way, prominent gastroenterologists who are leaders in the field of endoscopy used these models to showcase the latest and most innovative endoscopic procedures to their peers from around the world during special sessions this week.

Back to my "learning"session

What I found interesting was the gadget that I was controlling with my hands. To move through the upper GI tract, I rotated a dial-like control with my right hand. I held the device in my left hand (and there is a certain way to hold it so that you have easy control to two button-one to add water and the other to add air/suction.) Why are these buttons key? well, for one the water enables a clear view and cleans the lens, the suction dries the passageway up a bit, and the air inflates the area. Of course,I played around, rather I experimented with the controls, adding air when I was in the stomach so I could have a closer view of the stomach lining. So cool!

Anyway, as I explored the "patient's" upper GI tract I wondered what a doctor would do if they found an abnormality. I know that doctors could remove polyps and take tissue samples. But I asked Dean anyway and he said a doctor would do a biopsy. I asked how--(see I really wanted to do this procedure as well.) By now I'm so excited I'm thinking: Maybe I should have gone to Med school? Maybe I was a gastroenterologist in a previous life?

Anyway, I was given a flexible needle constrained within a plastic catheter(it looked like a long thin green tube--and I think tube actually protects the patient since you wouldn't want to stick a needle, unprotected down the esophagus. Yikes!) I passed through the endoscopic that was already in place in the patient and I watched the monitor until the tube reached the stomach. Then Dean showed me how the needle was pushed through the tube (which we controlled by a syringe attached to the endoscope)and as I watched the monitor, the needle reached the stomach wall where we could complete the biopsy. Very cool!

You can see the stomach on the monitor in this picture. This was my view when I was doing my thing as seen above. From what I could tell, a long lighted tube was placed down the patient's esophagus and into the stomach. I asked Dean if I was seeing anything "abnormal" in the stomach. Unfortunately (for me since I wanted to see what a tumor or lesion or whatever else would be a red flag to a doc) but everything in this stomach was ok.)

Here is what the physician would see (and what I saw during my demo) The gentleman in the photo is Dean by the way:


The procedure I learned about here was upper endoscopy.

So what exactly is an upper endoscopy?

Upper endoscopy enables the physician to look inside the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum (first part of the small intestine). The procedure might be used to discover the reason for swallowing difficulties, nausea, vomiting, reflux, bleeding, indigestion, abdominal pain, or chest pain. Upper endoscopy is also called EGD, which stands for esophagogastroduodenoscopy (eh-SAH-fuh-goh-GAS-troh-doo-AH-duh-NAH-skuh-pee. Source: Revolution Health.

Now, this endoscopic device does many things--not just provide a view or the GI tract. From what I learned about U.S. Endoscopy, this company designs all sorts of innovative and very helpful accessories for the scope, which allow the doctor to take tissue samples, treat tumors that are found in the intestinal tract, clean-out specific areas and even suture,among a lot of other things I'm sure I've missed.

You can see some of the devices and learn about what they do on the U.S. Endoscopy site.

Endoscopy: Should I have one? What can I expect?

Wondering if you need an endoscopy or if it's the right thing for you? Dr. Micheal Brian Fennerty provides insight in his blog post, "Is an endoscopy always the right answer for what ails the gut?"

Have you had an endoscopy? Or do you have any questions about the procedure? Join a discussion on Revolution Health.