Results of my experiments placing various gut health supplements in special colon-targeted enteric capsules

[Booble]

We have waited decades for science and the healthcare industry to help us and we still don't have any answers. Anything, including self-experimentation, is better than accepting a fate of slow, gradual decline ending in death.

Just be careful about not hastening your decline and death.

 

[Wishful]

I hadn't heard of confectioner's glaze (okay, I read Hip's post but forgot). I did some French Polish (hand-rubbed shellac) for woodworking projects pre-ME, so I'm familiar with that form of shellac. I suppose my flakes have long since expired. *sigh*

 

[Booble]

I hadn't heard of confectioner's glaze (okay, I read Hip's post but forgot). I did some French Polish (hand-rubbed shellac) for woodworking projects pre-ME, so I'm familiar with that form of shellac. I suppose my flakes have long since expired. *sigh*

When I was very little, many moons ago, my mum had a friend who took old camp trunks and covered them with cutouts from magazines and then put a thick layer of shellac all over the whole thing to seal it and make it shine.

So when I hear people eating shellac, I'm like

 

[Wishful]

I checked my materials handbook about shellac. It's composed of organic acids which polymerize, resulting in polyester molecules. So, is all-natural organic shellac a healthier source of dietary polyester than chewing on a shirt?

If anyone knows someone who studies ancient human remains, suggest testing remains from India for the presence of micro and nanoplastics. There's been media hype about finding such particles in living humans, so finding these natural particles in ancient bodies would be newsworthy too. I suppose other plant resins produce "plastic" molecules too. So much for plastics being bad because they're unnatural.

 

[Booble]

I checked my materials handbook about shellac. It's composed of organic acids which polymerize, resulting in polyester molecules. So, is all-natural organic shellac a healthier source of dietary polyester than chewing on a shirt?

If anyone knows someone who studies ancient human remains, suggest testing remains from India for the presence of micro and nanoplastics. There's been media hype about finding such particles in living humans, so finding these natural particles in ancient bodies would be newsworthy too. I suppose other plant resins produce "plastic" molecules too. So much for plastics being bad because they're unnatural.

Isn't there something about shellac being made from bugs?

 

[EddieB]

I hadn't heard of confectioner's glaze (okay, I read Hip's post but forgot). I did some French Polish (hand-rubbed shellac) for woodworking projects pre-ME, so I'm familiar with that form of shellac. I suppose my flakes have long since expired. *sigh*

We’re definitely talking about edible, food grade shellac/ confection glazes, not anything else.
I’ve done quite a bit of research on the shellac/ confection glazes. Not a lot out there to choose from, but this one seems to be the better of what I’ve found,
https://bigamart.com/product/squires-kitchen-essentials-confectioners-glaze-100ml/
Another option are delay release capsules. I found that size 1, 0, and 00 fit inside one another, to create a triple coating. Single capsule/ layer of these do not have much delay.
https://www.amazon.com/XPRS-Nutra-Size-Empty-Capsules/dp/B09XW5GM71/ref=sr_1_5_pp?crid=1IH1SVY7R9AP0&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.sMRiuLE3kp6VcS7TH6XdotmtwkQkykgHXimVLk3CzHN1RqmEzXydDHU_4ceDlMeKwfhmgU7dKcRVLeqjaoQL8p6flN_PGeUmF_6JY0Tc16zQnPlVeU4gUYRzZ7XzoMRKAIunO03cLfTiYKX8Snp4tA9H4EHUxwA_YTlQLXxQjc7c0Zr3fSpCjZNbAsrV2MUgs_XH7273jVUz66za19QJw6bIkcbgaqaUF1fjbp9VHTkkFMeKH9YV0XXfTOZKhx1Atn8ux6WjDjVj2-nn5ftjjUWXF9j5nRbSoIXEUrwwQpw.QeYSS_WC5uhbvaqnr_BHWB4jEvwYaLYdrUQYajRqPJQ&dib_tag=se&keywords=delay+release+capsules+empty&qid=1713022808&sprefix=Delay+release+,aps,565&sr=8-5
I suppose adding shellac on top would delay release even further.

 

[Wishful]

Isn't there something about shellac being made from bugs?

Yes, a beetle sucks sap from trees and processes it into secretions that harden into safe homes for it and its young. No more icky than honey, which is bug-processed nectar. Less icky (and likely to contain bad bacteria) than many other foods people consume, such as that coffee from cat poop.

 

[Hip]

I’ve done quite a bit of research on the shellac/ confection glazes. Not a lot out there to choose from, but this one seems to be the better of what I’ve found,
https://bigamart.com/product/squires-kitchen-essentials-confectioners-glaze-100ml/

Edible confectioner's glaze / varnish seems hard to find in the US (maybe baking cakes at home is not so popular in the US?).

But there are quite a lot of edible shellac confectioner's glaze products on the UK Amazon, costing £5 to £15, depending on the ml quantity of liquid.

See: here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

 

[EddieB]

Edible confectioner's glaze / varnish seems hard to find in the US (maybe baking cakes at home is not so popular in the US?).

But there are quite a lot of edible shellac confectioner's glaze products on the UK Amazon, costing £5 to £15, depending on the ml quantity of liquid.

See: here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

Edible confectioner's glaze / varnish seems hard to find in the US (maybe baking cakes at home is not so popular in the US?).

Unfortunately, as I had found previously, the sources you listed are showing as unavailable. At least on my screen.
That’s what led me to the one listed.
Yes, I ordered it from the UK. Took a while to get here, but not too bad..

 

[Hip]

Unfortunately, as I had found previously, the sources you listed are showing as unavailable. At least on my screen.
That’s what led me to the one listed.

I guess they don't ship those items from the UK to the US. But they are all available in the UK.

 

[ruben]

So of all the "here" "here" "here" suggestions you have highlighted above Hip, would you have top choice(s) for one to deal with bad bloating. Thanks in advance.

 

[EddieB]

These were the ones I was able to get. The aerosol in the middle was too difficult to deal with dipping, and stupid expensive for the amount of product. The Chef Rubber had something in it that I later found I'm allergic to.

 

[Hip]

So of all the "here" "here" "here" suggestions you have highlighted above Hip, would you have top choice(s) for one to deal with bad bloating. Thanks in advance.

Those Amazon products are just the shellac varnish that you can place on a supplement capsule. This varnish does not have any beneficial effects itself, it just ensures the capsule does not release its supplement contents until it reaches the colon.

It's the supplement or herb that is within the capsule which can have beneficial effects. The shellac coating you put on the capsule just helps deliver the supplement to the colon.


I am not sure where your bloating is occurring; it could be in the small intestine, or it could be in the colon. I think bloating is usually caused by excess gas production in the digestive tract.

If this excess gas production occurs in the small intestine (which might be a result of SIBO), then regular capsules should be able to reach that.

Shellac coated capsules may only be useful if you want to reach the colon.


As for which supplement to take for bloating, I am not sure. You've have to search to see which might help, and then experiment. This article lists some supplements.



The technique I used to fully cover supplement capsules with a shellac varnish is detailed in this post.

 

[Rufous McKinney]

The Chef Rubber had something in it that I later found I'm allergic to.

sounds not very consumable!


I was thinking BEES WAX. Could you use Bees wax?

Online: it seems waxes have some potential

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378517320309200

An innovative wax-based enteric coating for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical oral products​

 

[Rufous McKinney]

As for which supplement to take for bloating,

ellagic acid.......from pomegranate extract...I"ve been using that lately and its the best new thing I"m doing.

 

[EddieB]

sounds not very consumable!


I was thinking BEES WAX. Could you use Bees wax?

Online: it seems waxes have some potential

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378517320309200

An innovative wax-based enteric coating for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical oral products​

The trouble with wax would be finding the ingredients and putting something usable together. I don’t see anything that they described being commercially available yet.

“A novel enteric coating based on purely naturally occurring materials (natural waxes, alginate and fatty glycerides)”

I suppose you could try beeswax, but I kinda doubt it would hold up. We use a strong vinegar to mimic stomach acid for testing.

The glazes do work, I’ve used them. The “Chef Rubber” is just a company name, not rubber!
It unfortunately contained citric acids that I don’t tolerate.

 

[Booble]

Yes, a beetle sucks sap from trees and processes it into secretions that harden into safe homes for it and its young. No more icky than honey, which is bug-processed nectar. Less icky (and likely to contain bad bacteria) than many other foods people consume, such as that coffee from cat poop.

Coffee from cat poop???

 

[hapl808]

Coffee from cat poop???

Kopi Luwak - ridiculously expensive, and most who try it say it's just overrated for novelty. I haven't personally tried it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_luwak

 

[Booble]

Kopi Luwak - ridiculously expensive, and most who try it say it's just overrated for novelty. I haven't personally tried it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_luwak

People are weird.

 

[Booble]

Kopi Luwak - ridiculously expensive, and most who try it say it's just overrated for novelty. I haven't personally tried it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kopi_luwak

I love how they describe it, "brewed from coffee beans that transversed the gastrointestinal tract of an Asian palm civet."

"Traversed the gastrointestinal tract"

LOL