Juvia review: An IBS sufferer’s 3-month experience

Are you looking for a gut supplement that will improve IBS symptoms, bloating, excess gas, and improve digestion – with the potential to also ward off any future IBS flare-ups?

I’m with you there! After following a strict low FODMAP diet a few years ago and discovering my IBS triggers, I have been unable to successfully eliminate them from my diet long-term. Keeping me in a never-ending ‘bad mental health + trigger foods = IBS = bad mental health‘ cycle.

I was excited to discover Juvia, a new and exciting gut health supplement that is backed by science, founded by scientists, and formulated with IBS in mind.

As someone with an all too familiar understanding of the negative effects of IBS on your health and well-being, I wanted to try out Juvia and share this honest and thorough Juvia review with you.

The effects on my gut issues have been unlike any other supplement I’ve tried. Juvia has been tackling my digestive problems before they can even become an issue – allowing me to consume FODMAPs freely! But you do need to be taking it permanently to reap the benefits.

Disclaimer: Unless you are struggling with digestive issues (which you’ve discussed with a health professional), I don’t believe you need to fork out on a supplement like this – go for probiotic-rich foods instead.

What is Juvia?

Juvia is a type of digestive enzyme supplement that contains a natural plant-based ingredient, ERME™, which is made from germinating barley. Juvia isn’t the same as regular malt extract, which is stripped of its digestive enzymes during the malting process.

Juvia isn’t a probiotic. Probiotics work by introducing friendly bacteria to your gut, whilst Juvia works by breaking down the carbohydrates* in your food. This creates less food for the ‘bad’ bacteria in your gut to feed off of, allowing the good bacteria to thrive.

*Carbohydrates are trigger foods for people with IBS since their guts are unable to process them effectively. Leaving the carbohydrates to ferment in your gut, thus triggering gut issues like bloating, gas, and constipation.

What are the benefits of Juvia?

Juvia was formulated specifically to help with who suffer from IBS to digest carbohydrates effectively. Therefore, one of the main benefits of Juvia is that it can allow people with IBS to eat foods freely, particularly their FODMAP food triggers.

In turn, this will allow your gut to function effectively, reduce any potential inflammation, and reduce any symptoms. You may well experience less bloating, gassiness, indigestion, constipation, and diarrhoea.

Over time, this will allow the friendly bacteria in your gut microbiome to thrive. Without the need for a probiotic, as long as you follow a varied and healthy plant-predominant diet with the occasional probiotic-rich fermented foods.

My experience using Juvia

I’ve taken so many supplements for my gut health, including probiotics, prebiotics, postbiotics, fibre blends, and much more. Some of these have had positive effects on my microbiome, but none of them have made as significant a change to my gut as Juvia. Read on to find out why.

How long does it take for JUVIA to work?

How long Juvia takes to work is dependent on your gut microbiome. However, most people will start to see positive effects after 12 weeks of continued use. Depending on how severe your gut issues are, you may find that it takes a few months to see improvements in all your symptoms. Here is how long Juvia took to work for me:

• Month 1: During the first few days of taking Juvia I experienced the dreaded detox side effects, which included nausea, bloating, and excess gas. This was uncomfortable but I am pretty used to it because of my IBS. After about 3 days these subsided and my general bloating started reducing. After the 2 week mark, I noticed I was a lot less gassy and I wasn’t waking up with my usual morning bloat. My rather disconcerting abdominal spasms also disappeared.
• Month 2: After the first month my stools started to look much more normal. I was going to the toilet a lot less and wasn’t experiencing any diarrhoea. I was also eating my trigger foods (fructans mostly) and not feeling nauseous straight after like I usually do.
• Month 3: It was around the 3-month mark that I noticed I was no longer coughing after eating (because of GERD). I also found that my mood had lifted, which is usually a sign of my gut being healthy. I was eating trigger foods with absolutely no resulting IBS symptoms.

Update: I came off Juvia for a few months to see how this would affect my IBS. I continued eating my trigger foods and my gut health has now gone back to square one. Therefore, to reap the benefits I do believe you need to be taking this permanently, or interchanging it with a low FODMAP diet.

I wouldn’t recommend doing a strict low FODMAP diet long-term, since it removes so many healthy food groups from your diet. Hence why Juvia can become so useful!

Does JUVIA help IBS?

Juvia was designed specifically to help with IBS. The supplement contains over 14 digestive enzymes which help your gut to break down the carbohydrates in your food. It is these carbohydrates that can trigger episodes of IBS. Hence why so many people with IBS follow a (sometimes unhealthy) low-FODMAP diet.

When I started with Juvia, I was in the middle of an icky IBS flare-up. My symptoms included stomach pains, excess gas, bloating, diarrhoea, and indigestion, along with depression and anxiety. My flare-ups are usually really difficult to navigate since it negatively affects my mental health which in turn worsens my IBS (because our minds and our guts are heavily connected).

After my detox period, I experienced a huge reduction in IBS symptoms. You can read the changes I experienced month-by-month above. Not only did it reduce symptoms but it also helped me to avoid more flare-ups, whilst still being able to eat my trigger foods.

Unlike probiotics, which have helped to rebalance the bacteria in my microbiome and provide temporary relief, Juvia helps to ward off any potential future IBS flare-ups. Since it helps my gut to digest my trigger foods (containing fructans) before they can cause any issues.

Does Juvia help gluten intolerance?

Juvia is crafted with barley, an ingredient that inherently contains gluten. Therefore, it’s not a gluten-free supplement per se, and it is not suitable for coeliacs. However, its unique formulation aids in carbohydrate digestion, like fructans (which are found in gluten). If fructans are what are causing your intolerance, then Juvia may help you to consume gluten again.

I have always loved eating gluten-based products, like bread and pasta, but they contain fructans which trigger my IBS. Leaving me bloated, gassy, and depressed. So I have to avoid them altogether. Well, that was until Juvia came into my life!

While I hold a strong belief in the efficacy of probiotics, they have never given me the freedom to consume gluten. But Juvia has! I have also not experienced this level of success with other digestive enzyme supplements on the market.

Is there a detox period?

Detoxing is a very normal process that happens whenever you take an effective gut supplement. It can cause an alleviation of certain gut issues, like bloating and gas.

But there is no denying that this process can be tough. I have read a few Juvia reviews on Reddit where people say they quit during this period. But detoxing is to be expected and proves that the digestive enzymes within Juvia are getting to work!

For me, this process only lasted a few days and it just left me feeling a bit bloated and gassy in the evenings after my third meal of the day, as well as the occasional bout of nausea. I was able to tolerate it fine and it wasn’t any worse than what it was during my worst IBS flare-ups.

Now, we are all different and so are our gut microbiomes. You may have a different quantity of good or bad bacteria, plus the diversity of these bacteria will vary depending on the individual. Plus, if you suffer from specific gut conditions, like IBS, then your gut may also be inflamed. Therefore, we are all starting from completely different places, meaning our detox periods will all be different.

Therefore, yours could last a few weeks, or it could not happen at all (especially if your gut isn’t as fragile as mine). But the important thing to remember is that if your gut starts detoxing, it isn’t permanent. The great results will be around the corner!

Is Juvia healthy?

If you have struggled with gut problems for some time, like me, then you’ll loathe having to consume anything unnatural. I’m looking at you, antibiotics. And other medicines too.

Interestingly, while antibiotics are occasionally prescribed to address gut problems, they paradoxically stand as one of the primary culprits behind our gut issues. This is because they indiscriminately wipe out both the beneficial and harmful bacteria in our gut.

So, you’ll be happy to know that this is a natural product that is made using barley. It doesn’t kill anything off or do any harm to your gut in the process. Instead, it gives your gut a helping hand to digest food.

What does Juvia taste like?

The liquid is very thick and sticky, almost like a sweetener. I don’t particularly mind this taste once I have mixed it in with a little bit of water.

However, I have sometimes found it alters my tastebuds before eating something savoury. This was a concern the first few times I took it, but after a few days, I didn’t think anything more of it.

What may help anyone who doesn’t enjoy the sweetness is to eat it before a sweet breakfast (like a chia pudding), or to follow it up with some extra water to get rid of the sweet taste before eating. Although, if you are like me, you’ll start to get used to the taste after a few times of taking it!

How do you take Juvia?

You need to take Juvia twice a day. You can take it directly from your spoon, drizzle it on top of food, or mix it into water and drink it. I would recommend doing the latter because it is quite a sticky substance that can get messy. Just make sure not to mix it with anything hot, since this will kill off the enzymes.

It is recommended that you take it straight before or after eating a meal so that it can help break down the carbohydrates in your food. I like taking it before my two biggest meals of the day. When I normally consume the most carbohydrates!

I take most of my supplements in the morning, so I am prone to forgetting my second dose of Juvia. This has had noticeable effects on my IBS after eating meals, so over time I have made sure to remember. I would recommend setting up a reminder on your phone, or putting a post-it note on your fridge with big bold words ‘REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR JUVIA‘.

My verdict

I feel like my journey has only just begun with Juvia, yet the progress so far has been remarkable. The detox period was quite uncomfortable for me, but I got over it after 2-3 days. After this, I experienced an unmistakable reduction in both my IBS and GERD.

Juvia started to work in a matter of days, but the results were gradual. In the first week, I was bloating less after eating and my GERD cough was nowhere to be seen. After a few weeks, my diarrhoea settled and my stools started to look somewhat normal. A month in, my abdominal spasms and pains had pretty much gone.

The truly amazing result of Juvia was how it helped with my gluten intolerance. After 2 months, I was successfully incorporating small quantities of gluten back into my diet without it triggering another IBS episode. No other supplement has given me the freedom to do this.

It is similarly priced to some of the best most effective probiotics on the market, like Symprove. Plus it completely eradicates the need for a probiotic supplement, because it solves the root cause of many gut issues. I simply eat probiotic-rich foods and take Juvia before my two biggest meals of the day.

I’ve tested many digestive enzyme supplements and Juvia has been the most effective at controlling my IBS. I’ve barely felt any effects from alternative powdered digestive enzyme supplements!

I know that I will continue to experience great things with Juvia, and I am excited to see how my IBS and gluten intolerance will improve in the long term. And as I do, I will make sure to share it all with you!

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Alternatives to Juvia

In an attempt to help with gut issues, I’ve tried pretty much every other gut supplement under the sun. So, if Juvia doesn’t seem like a great fit for you, or if it doesn’t end up working out for you, here are some alternatives:

• For enzyme deficiency: Try these other digestive enzyme supplements
• For instance bloating relief: Discover Wild Dose
• For repairing your gut after SIBO: Try these probiotic supplements
• For natural relief: Eat these fermented foods