Akesi products have been created to fit in with any routine. They can be taken any time of day, with or without food.

We recommend taking Akesi for 3 months to assess its benefits. We are not aware of any research to suggest that the gut would become dependent on probiotic supplementation.

Probiotic+ BASE is from birth.

Probiotic+ Elderberry Boost is for adults and children over 3 years of age.

Akesi Berry and Akesi Turmeric is for adults and children over 3 years of age.

Akesi Berry is delicious and the preferred option for those with a sweeter palate. It provides antioxidant anthocyanins and extra vitamin C.

Akesi Turmeric is zesty and spicy in taste. It provides anti-inflammatory support.

Both provide multispecies probiotics and bioavailable nutrients.

We have created high quality products to suit different palates and preferences. We find that customers who have more specific taste preferences find that our powders are more versatile and can be combined with diet more readily.

Our fermented tonics are standalone liquid offerings and have distinct flavour profiles. Both our powder and liquid products provide multi-species probiotics with differing combinations of prebiotic and postbiotic inputs.

We recommended BASE for children under 3 years of age. BASE is a versatile prebiotic and probiotic powder that can be combined with dairy/nut/infant milk products.

Elderberry Boost is suitable for your toddler over 3 years of age. It dissolves rapidly in the mouth or may be mixed with food such as yoghurts or smoothies.

Both products contain prebiotic fibre, 10 different probiotics and 10 billion good bacteria. Elderberry has the addition of fermented elderberry (a postbiotic) and xylitol which helps with compliance.

Elderberry Boost is 30 serves for an adult and child over 3 years of age. BASE is 40 serves at the dosage recommended for an adult and child over 3 years of age.

Our high quality products are manufactured in a GMP facility in Australia.

Our products contain multiple probiotic species from BOTH the Lactobacilli and Bifidobacterium species.

Our bacterial cell and Colony Forming Unit count is maintained throughout the shelf life of the products.

We make use of combinations of prebiotics, probiotics and postbiotics.

We offer a variety of flavours to suit different palates, and have a product for all ages.

Take probiotics 2-3 hours before or after the antibiotic dose and continue after the antibiotic course is finished.

We advise pregnant or breastfeeding customers to please consult with a healthcare professional before consuming our products.

Our products are not to be taken if immune suppressed. Please consult with your healthcare professional before consuming our products.

Akesi in manufactured in Queensland, Australia under FSANZ in a GMP and HACCP compliant and organic certified facility.

There are approximately 60 trillion microbes that are collectively called the gut microbiota. These resident bacteria, fungi and viruses that live on and in you act as a functioning organ that is part of you. Altogether these microbes weigh about the same as your brain (a little over 1kg) and predominantly reside in the large colon. The gut microbiota is now considered to be central to overall health.

This isn’t just about how your digestion functions, the state of the gut microbiota has a significant influence well beyond the gut wall – it affects your other systems of immunity, inflammation, energy production and metabolism. There are downstream effects to the whole body. The more diverse your gut microbiota, the stronger the immune system will be.

This incredible cooperative relationship between a human being and resident microbes has evolved as a symbiotic mutually beneficial relationship. We have essentially outsourced some of our digestive capacity and metabolism to our resident microbes.

If you consider ancient earth through a microbial lens, multicellular life form as we know it today occurs because of coexistence, fusion and mutualism. Microbes are everywhere and not only survive but flourish in the most extreme environments from thermal vents, arid deserts and Antarctic ice sheets to the human digestive tract. In fact, the mitochondria in human cells– which act as the energy powerhouse for our cells were once bacteria.

What is the gut microbiota?

Some fun facts:

• 1000 different species of bacteria comprise 99% of species isolated from humans
• Each individual harbors on average 160 unique species per person- the colon contains the most dense and metabolically active part
• The gut microbiota requires 250 calories of carbohydrates per day
• Gut microbes compose up to 50% of fecal mass – yes poo
• Microbial and dietary metabolites potentially account for up to 2/3 of the metabolites in the human blood and impact host metabolism and health. Less than 5% of the metabolites are related to your genetics.
• The exact mechanisms of the relationship between host genome and the microbiome isn’t well understood, but it is interactive, mostly mutually beneficial and dynamic. It is mediated through T cells, cytokines and metabolites like vitamins, hormones and Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA)

The gut microbiota enables and powers you with:

• The ability to digest food properly
• Vitamins
• Neurotransmitters
• Short chain fatty acids
• Protection against pathogenic bacteria
• Immune system training
• A connection between your gut and brain that may influence your mood and behaviour

The food you eat directly impacts your gut health.

In January 2019 - The Lancet Commission published a universal healthy reference diet that would benefit human health and support sustainable food systems. It advises that a healthy diet composed of approximately 2500 calories/day should be comprised of approximately:

• 1/3 calories from plants – (fruit, vegetables, legumes & nuts) with a further breakdown of 1/3 dark green, 1/3 red/orange, 1/3 all other rainbow colours
• 1/3 calories from whole grains (rice, wheat, corn and others)
• remainder 1/3 of the diet can include a small amount of animal products (or none), dairy foods and added healthy fat sources.

This report essentially endorses a whole food plant-based diet that does not necessarily have to be exclusively plant derived but does allow for a very small amount of animal products.

A quick carb lesson – unpacking “good and bad carbs” and reducing the carb phobia. Let’s put them in 3 broad categories sugar, starch and fibre –

• Sugars - carbs that you can digest – mono and disaccharides.
  
  • Mono - 1 sugar = glucose and fructose
  
  • Di - 2 sugars = lactose and sucrose
    
• Starches - carbs that your gut microbes digest – polysaccharides - many sugar molecules - complex carbohydrates

Most starches (but not all) are digested as if they were one of those 1 or 2 sugar molecules. That is, they are digested quickly, up in the small intestine, converted into glucose and absorbed into the bloodstream. Modern diets include pasta, white bread, potatoes, white rice = lots of starch.

What you really want is ‘resistant starch’ which is that bit of the starch that escapes digestion up in the small intestine and reaches the large intestine...it behaves essentially like fibre

3. Fibre - carbs that pass through undigested and are a fuel source for the gut microbiota

It’s important to include different types of fibre in your diet, from a variety of plant foods. Vegetables contain high quantities of plant fibre which can’t be digested by humans, yet feed our beneficial gut microbes. Instead of eating ‘food-like’ substances or ‘junk food’ you should be eating larger portions of fresh fruit, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds because they contain fabulous fibre and feed the gut microbiota.

Carbohydrates… both plant based and grain based support gut microbial diversity and that in turn creates a more resilient gut environment that reinforces a strong gut barrier, supports the immune system and can resist potentially harmful effects of pathogenic microbes. Eat in a way that supports microbiota health, balance and diversity.

The diversity of the gut microbiota is directly linked to the diversity of the plants you eat. Eat your veggies but make them different each day!

In the absence of dietary fibre, gut microbes move to another source of carbohydrates - intestinal mucus – depleting the protective layer which compromises gut barrier function and can lead to increased intestinal permeability – what some refer to as ‘leaky gut’.

• Enjoy diverse fibre sources – the more diverse the better – include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, seeds, nuts and legumes
• Aim for 30 different plants every week
• Aim for a minimum of 30 grams of fibre per day
• Try and keep the skins on where possible
• Start low and go slow – when increasing fibre
• Over time aim to add 1 tbsp of Flaxseed and 1 tbsp of Pumpkin seeds to your breakfast (that’s almost 5 grams of fibre)
• Prebiotic Fibre - a subclass of fibre that positively influences the growth of beneficial bacteria like Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria. Some examples include Inulin, Fructo-Oligosaccharide and Galacto-Oligosaccharide. There is no consensus for a daily prebiotic fibre recommendation however 3-8 grams per day is a common suggested dose. Some prebiotic fibres and can cause side effects such as gas, bloating and abdominal cramping if used in high doses. The best way to minimise this is to start at the lowest dose and try introducing new prebiotic foods in small amounts; halve your prebiotic supplement dose or take it on alternate days.
• Foods high in prebiotic fibre are garlic, chicory root, artichoke, leeks, asparagus and onions.

Microbes ferment fibre which in turn produces short chain fatty acids (SCFA). SCFA are very important metabolites as they stabilise the integrity of the gut wall and also act as a direct food source for the cells that line the large intestine. SCFA also act as key messengers between the microbiota and the Immune System ensuring a balance between the pro- and anti- inflammatory pathways.

Types of SCFA are lactate, acetate, butyrate, propionate. These important molecules are emerging as health compounds in their own right. They generally result from fibre fermentation by the gut microbiota, and play a significant role in maintaining gut barrier health and modifying inflammation.

Butyrate – is an essential metabolite in the colon

• Preferred energy source for colon epithelial cells
• Contributes to the maintenance of the gut barrier
• Has immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory properties

Most probiotics do not colonise you, they exert their beneficial effect by shifting an ecosystem back into balance that is disrupted by environment, diet or medication. Probiotics can increase microbial diversity, decrease pathogens and their toxins and promote immune responses against targeted microbes. It is believed that they primarily exert their effects within the small intestine.

Animal model research indicates that probiotics produce:

• bacteriocins
• primary and secondary fermentation end products with cross feeding potential

Both of which can inhibit pathogens or influence commensals

• stimulate epithelial cell mucin production
• reinforce the tight junctions between intestinal epithelial cells which reduces bacterial translocation
• deliver enzymes e.g. lactase influences available substrates for commensal bacterial growth
• interact in diverse ways with the immune system components e.g. Treg cells, Interleukins and Cytokines

No.

Yes.

Akesi products contain sugar that is naturally occurring in the fruit, however these sugars have predominantly been broken down through the natural fermentation process, no sugars have been added.

Akesi Berry contains stevia and a vegetable-based glycerol (a sugar polyol) which has 40% the sweetness of sugar. It has a very low glycaemic index and is suitable for diabetics.

Probiotic+ Elderberry Boost contains xylitol.

No artificial flavourings or colourings have been used.

Akesi Berry and Akesi Turmeric are naturally preserved with friendly bacteria and lactic acid.

Please store away from sunlight and below 30 degrees Celsius for Akesi Berry and Akesi Turmeric, and below 25 degrees Celsius for the Probiotic+ powders. Refrigerate once opened.

We use BPA-free recyclable PET containers which provides a more sustainable carbon footprint than supplying in glass with the additional requirement of padding, packing and shipping a glass bottle. Our use of PET also allows us to mostly use compostable plastic-free courier bags to deliver your order. As always, please reuse or recycle.

• Free delivery in Singapore and Malaysia.
• International shipping costs are calculated based on weight and location with DHL Express. These costs are calculated at Checkout.
• Please allow 1-3 business days for deliveries in Singapore.
• International orders may be subject to import taxes and customs duties, these fees are the responsibility of the customer. Please refer to your country’s applicable duty and tax regulations.
• Please allow up to 7 business days for international shipping.