The Skeptic's Choice

What we’re about to say might shock you: we, the people here at Meh, did not go to med school. Or nursing school. Or even veterinary assistant school. I personally live close to a university that offers programs in pharmacy, but I’ve checked and it appears this isn’t enough for me to actually be considered a “medical expert.” But I do know enough to be skeptical of certain products that boast health-related benefits. Hence, the invention of a new write-up format, The Skeptic’s Choice.

Here we go!

THE CLAIM
These Nature’s Way Fortify Gummies are sugar free and taste great, thus allowing for a more pleasant delivery of probiotics–live “good” bacteria–that will “support daily digestive health.”

THE SKEPTICISM
Basically, Amazon Reviewer T. Fisher sums up exactly how we feel:

I am no expert on probiotics and cannot speak in general about whether they have any real medical effects.

We can’t either, T. Fisher. And we’re not the only ones. There’s an asterisk next to each claim these Fortify Gummy Probiotics makes in their marketing copy, and each asterisk corresponds to the same phrase: “This statement has not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.”

Furthermore, the claims themselves are so vague they’re nearly impossible to prove. Like, what does it even mean to “support daily digestive health”? You could just get some, try them, and see if you see any improvement, but Amazon reviewer tachi1 points out why this might not even provide any proof:

I’ve been taking this gummy probiotic for about two weeks. It’s hard to say whether it’s helping to make me more regular because there are so many variables involved. Some days I might need a laxative and not others; some days I drink more fluid; some days I eat more fiber. It’s difficult to isolate the contribution of the gummies.

They later update that, after finishing a bottle, they felt comfortable concluding that the gummies did help, but the point still stands: the results can be difficult to quantify.

Therefore, it might seem that the best idea is to focus on the things that CAN be quantified. For example, these gummies have 4 billion active cultures. Unfortunately, this isn’t conclusive either. According to Village Vitality’s Neal Smoller (who, as a former Hudson Valley resident, I can confirm is a real actual science-believing smart person, not some middle-name-Avocado bullshit artist) it actually isn’t as simple as counting the active cultures:

If we had an option between 100 billion archers and 10,000 tanks, what would you choose? This is why the logic of “bigger is better” doesn’t work for probiotics. We want efficiency - the right dose of the right strains to be effective, not just lots of unknown strains.

And so if you can’t even trust the numbers, what can you believe?

THE CONCLUSION
We remain skeptical. But if you don’t–if you think these Nature’s Way Fortify Gummy Probiotics are exactly what your gut microbiome needs–then this is a pretty good deal.