• Welcome to Phoenix Rising!

    Created in 2008, Phoenix Rising is the largest and oldest forum dedicated to furthering the understanding of, and finding treatments for, complex chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), fibromyalgia, long COVID, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), and allied diseases.

    To become a member, simply click the Register button at the top right.

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

Booble

Senior Member
Messages
1,465
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

Senior Member
Messages
5,994
Location
Alberta
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

Senior Member
Messages
1,465
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

Senior Member
Messages
5,994
Location
Alberta
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

Senior Member
Messages
1,465
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

Senior Member
Messages
633
Location
Northern southern California
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.
 
Last edited:

Wishful

Senior Member
Messages
5,994
Location
Alberta
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

Senior Member
Messages
18,071
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

Senior Member
Messages
633
Location
Northern southern California
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

Senior Member
Messages
18,071
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

Senior Member
Messages
318
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

Senior Member
Messages
633
Location
Northern southern California
445C1765-71DB-4BC0-9F7A-0FF88FD84B82.jpeg
445C1765-71DB-4BC0-9F7A-0FF88FD84B82.jpeg

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

Senior Member
Messages
18,071
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.
 
Last edited:

EddieB

Senior Member
Messages
633
Location
Northern southern California
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.
 
Last edited:

Booble

Senior Member
Messages
1,465
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???
 
Back