PERKii probiotic drink review
Here we will give a hands-on, taste-tested review of PERKii sparkling probiotic drink. We’ll look into the benefits, ingredients, nutrition and flavour of this unique probiotic drink.
For this review we have tested the sparkling orange, mango and passionfruit version.
PERKii probiotic drink is available in Coles and Woolworths supermarkets in Australia, as well as some other food stores.
A unique probiotic product
A lot of scientific study by the University of Queensland has gone into developing this product.
PERKii’s main point of difference with other probiotic products is the way they ensure that the probiotics survive your acidic stomach and get to your gut alive - which is very important! In simple terms, PERKii uses calcium alginate to micro-shield the probiotics as they pass through the stomach and this then breaks down in the gut releasing the live and healthy probiotics to colonise your gut.
As they claim on their website, “Inside its natural micro-shield, PERKii probiotics are 10,000x more likely to survive in the stomach, than non-micro-shield probiotic”. Although it’s worth noting that these studies were done on the strain Lactobacillus Casei, however the strain in this probiotic drink is Bifidobacterium lactis.
Ingredients of PERKii probiotic drink
This drink has a lot ingredients, some of which I’m not super thrilled about.
Specifically it includes: carbonated water, apple juice concentrate, erythritol, B. lactis (probiotic), glazing agent (calcium alginate), natural flavours, natural colours (from fruits and vegetables (160a)), trehalose, potassium sorbate and natural sweetener (960).
As you can see, it includes more additives than you might expect from a gut health product.
Let’s go through some of the ingredients:
trehalose: this is a type of sugar which is used as a sweetener and food stabiliser. It can also help maintain the viability of probiotics
potassium sorbate: this is a synthetic preservative so it’s a little odd to see this in a probiotic drink. Given that preservatives specifically aim to reduce microbial activity, it seems strange to find it in a probiotic drink - whose main benefit is the microbes it contains! Even if the probiotics in this drink can survive this preservative, potassium sorbate has been shown to reduce the diversity of gut bacteria. So it’s quite surprising and confusing to see this used in this drink - especially one which is otherwise so science based
natural flavours: there’s no actual orange, mango or passionfruit in this drink - so it relies heavily on natural flavourings for taste (alongside the apple juice concentrate)
erythritol and natural sweetener (960) aka stevia: these are two natural sweeteners. Read more about this below
Are sweeteners bad for you?
Regular readers will know that I don’t love sweeteners - whether they are natural or artificial. This is because artificial sweeteners have been shown to negatively affect gut microbe composition - and so it could be that natural sweeteners also have a negative affect on your gut. There are other potential side effects of these natural sweeteners (especially around signalling to your body that sugar is coming when it isn’t), but more research is needed.
In any case, I’d prefer to avoid sweeteners altogether to be on the safe side. This is a personal choice though and essentially a trade off between sugar (which is not good) and natural sweeteners (which may or may not be shown to be unhealthy in future).
Read more about the current research done on stevia and erythritol - the two most common natural sweeteners.
Benefits of PERKii probiotic drink
Aside from the potential drawbacks of some of the ingredients, this drink comes with health benefits.
Probiotics
The main benefit of this drink is the probiotics (ie live beneficial microorganisms) it contains.
There is just one strain present in the form of Bifidobacterium lactis. Each 330ml bottle contains over a billion colony forming units of this probiotic - which may seem like a lot but is actually a lot less than the 8 billion found in the 60ml PERKii probiotic shot.
Learn more about the benefits of probiotics.
Apple juice concentrate
Apple juice has various health benefits.
Vitamin C: supports immune function, skin health, and tissue growth and repair
Antioxidants (such as polyphenols and flavonoids): help reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. Read more about the benefits of antioxidants.
This juice concentrate doesn’t add any dietary fibre though.
Appearance
It has a pale orange colour which is almost transparent.
Flavour
It has a strong aroma of passionfruit and orange which seems a little fake. And it basically is fake given that these two flavours come from natural flavourings, not real ingredients.
The taste is weakly of orange and passionfruit. There’s also no sourness which you would expect from a passionfruit drink.
The carbonation is nice and moderate.
Overall, the taste is fine and refreshing enough, but there is no depth of flavour.
Cost of PERKii probiotic drink
The 330ml drink sells for $4.60 in Coles.
Summary
3 stars out of 5.
It’s a mixed bag - it has probiotics which have been shown to survive your stomach, but it has a numerous additives which include a preservative.
Pros
micro-shielded probiotics to survive your stomach
antioxidants and vitamin C
Cons
includes a preservative
uses sweeteners (if that bothers you)
largely relies on flavourings for taste
just one strain of probiotics
Your reviewer
This article was reviewed by Travis, the founder of this website, long-time gut enthusiast and passionate kombucha maker!
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