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FAQs

Most asked

Symprove is a unique water-based solution that contains billions of live and active bacteria.  What makes Symprove different is its water-based formula which makes sure our bacteria are alive, active and ready to work in your gut. Whilst the easiest way to describe Symprove is as a probiotic, due to regulations that term can’t be used for bacteria products.

Symprove comes in three flavours. The Original (where it all started from) is slightly sour while the others are a little sweeter. 

Original

Don’t have a sweet tooth? This one’s for you. It’s a little tart with a tangy kick.

Mango and Passion Fruit

A refreshing tropical fruit flavour with a slightly tangy kick. 

Strawberry and Raspberry

The sweetest of the bunch. A light berry flavour – also with a tangy kick.

We recommend including Symprove in your daily routine. It’s all about being consistent and taking it in the same way every day. 

We know that 94% of our customers feel a difference within three months and some a lot sooner. What difference exactly and how long it takes depends on your gut microbiome. We are all unique! 

We also know Symprove works best when complementing a healthy lifestyle. So, when you start Symprove it’s a good time to think about your diet, exercise, sleep, and stress management. These are all linked to gut health too! 

How you feel is unique to you and your microbiome - just like your fingerprints, no two guts are the same. Sometimes people find it frustrating that we won’t make
promises. 

You can read how others find Symprove on our Trustpilot page.

Good to know

  • 94% of our customers feel a difference after three months 
  • Many customers see improvements to symptoms sooner than three months
  • Read our customer reviews on Trustpilot 
  • Join our Symprove Supporters Facebook Community and ask others about their experience 

Your body is totally unique, so your experience of Symprove will be too! What our research shows us for sure is that there are some key stages people go through:

  • In the first few weeks some people notice a big improvement while a small proportion of people report mild and transient changes in gut symptoms (e.g. bowel habit, bloating)  
  • In the weeks that follow as the gut balance usually improves, so fewer people report upsets – and more tell us that they feel better. 
  • The exciting news is that 94% of people feel a positive difference after three months of taking Symprove. 

So all you have to do is take it the same way each day – and let our good bugs do their thing!

If you have a sensitive gut, you may wish to start on a lower dose (e.g. half dose) for the first week or so. 

Symprove is officially classed a food supplement (not a medicine). So we can’t legally make specific health claims ourselves. 

This means that the best way to learn about how Symprove has helped people is to head to our Trustpilot page. You’ll hear firsthand from thousands who tell us Symprove has made them feel better – and in many cases changed their lives! 

Symprove delivers live bacteria to your gut where it thrives and helps stimulate the good bacteria you already have. Research proves that a healthy, balanced gut can help with all sorts of things – from your digestion to your immune system. Even your sleep quality and mental health.

Don’t panic, missing a single dose is unlikely to make much of a difference. But if you miss a dose, just start taking it again the following day. 

Need some help to build a habit that lasts? Check out these tried and tested tips from our helpful community:

  • Set a reminder on your phone that goes off 10 minutes after your morning wake-up alarm. That way, it catches you before you tuck into breakfast!
  • You could also do something similar in the evening. Set a reminder before bed to place your Symprove shot glass on the kitchen counter – so you can’t miss it in the morning!
  • Alternatively, try training yourself to associate taking Symprove with a little morning treat. Why not use the 10 minutes after you’ve taken it to do something small for you? Play Wordle on your phone, do some meditation, or read a poem. Whatever works for you. 

Sometimes just linking an action with something else you enjoy can be enough to bed-in your new habit. Psychotherapist and Symprove fan Anna Mathur offers some great advice about building good habits that last right here.

The production process for Symprove is incredible and complex but in short it is made in a controlled environment; it has a barley-based wort concentrate; we purify it and keep it at a consistent temperature in sterilised vats; then we carefully add four strains of bacteria. 

Once we have the right amount of bacteria we send it off for independent testing, and then it is ready to be bottled and sent to you. 
Symprove is a probiotic, meaning ‘live microbes that when given in adequate amounts provide a health benefit’ (WHO 2001, ISAPP 2014).

Whilst we use a barley extract specifically to feed our own bacteria, Symprove itself is not considered a prebiotic.  If you wish to take a prebiotic alongside Symprove this is fine, but we do recommend you take our product on an empty stomach and then wait a minimum of 10 minutes before consuming any other supplements, food or drink.

Yes, lots! Symprove is backed by over 20 years of research. During this time we’ve collaborated with some of the UK’s top scientists – and we’ve taken part in lots of large independent studies. 

We’ve also seen some amazing breakthroughs. One study by University College London saw Symprove outperform seven other leading products in its ability to arrive alive, survive and colonise the gut. In fact, it was the only product that passed all three tests! 

Original flavour:

Ingredients: Water, extract of germinated barley, live activated cultures of: L. rhamnosus NCIMB 30174, E. faecium NCIMB 30176, L. plantarum NCIMB 30173, L. acidophilus NCIMB 30175; acidity regulators: ascorbic acid, trisodium citrate; preservative: potassium sorbate.

Mango and Passion Fruit flavour:

Ingredients: Water, extract of germinated barley, live activated cultures of: L. rhamnosus NCIMB 30174, E. faecium NCIMB 30176, L. plantarum NCIMB 30173, L. acidophilus NCIMB 30175; acidity regulators: ascorbic acid, trisodium citrate; preservative: potassium sorbate; natural flavourings.

Strawberry and Raspberry flavour:

Ingredients: Water, extract of germinated barley, live activated cultures of: L. rhamnosus NCIMB 30174, E. faecium NCIMB 30176, L. plantarum NCIMB 30173, L. acidophilus NCIMB 30175; acidity regulators: ascorbic acid, trisodium citrate; preservative: potassium sorbate; natural flavourings; colour: black carrot juice.

Our active ingredients – also known as the fab four – are types of live and “activated” lactic acid bacteria. These are: 

- Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus

- Enterococcus faecium

- Lactobacillus acidophilus

- Lactiplantibacillus plantarum

All four are safely used in food.

If you end up with too many bottles it’s a good idea to delay your next pack. 

To do this, head to your online account 

logging into your online account

Each pack has a shelf-life of up to 12 months. So always check the pack for the expiry date.

We make Symprove in a controlled environment. This means we’re incredibly careful about hygiene, temperature controls and how we handle our live bacteria.
 Our production process is patented and we take quality control really seriously. We want to make sure that our quality and purity is spot on.
 Symprove is a BRC certified company. This means that our internal quality management systems are held up to the highest food safety and hygiene standards which are independently reviewed on an annual basis. 

Who can use Symprove

Short answer? Anyone who wants to support their gut microbiome! 

Lots of people on Trustpilot say they take Symprove for gut conditions. Others take it because they know how important their gut microbiome is. 

As with all supplements, Symprove works best with a good balanced diet. For more about looking after your gut through diet, exercise, sleep, and nature connection, head to our blog

We can tell you for sure that Symprove is dairy-free and so vegan-friendly. And although it contains barley extract, we remove gluten during the production process. So it’s gluten-free too.

If you live with allergies, it’s a good idea to double check the ingredients on the label. Just to be on the safe side. 

Yes, and completely suitable for vegans! 

Yes, we remove gluten from the barley extract in our production process. 

Most people don’t experience side-effects. A few find there are niggles when they first take it. But this is usually just a sign that the bacteria are where they need to be – and getting to work. 

The gut often needs a bit of time to adapt to any dietary or lifestyle intervention and we can’t tell you exactly how you’ll respond to Symprove. The gut microbiome is unique to each individual therefore responses will vary from person to person. A small proportion of people report mild and transient changes in gut symptoms (e.g. bowel habit, bloating) during the first couple of weeks which then subsides. If you have a sensitive gut, you may wish to start on a lower dose (e.g. half dose) for the first week or so.  


Symprove is made with natural ingredients – and doesn’t contain anything that the NHS says you should avoid while pregnant or breastfeeding. 

That said, starting a new food supplement at a sensitive time can still be a big change. So check in with your healthcare professional first. And if you’re on any medication, it’s worth checking the label to see if there are any specific foods you should avoid.

Symprove is a water-based supplement that delivers live bacteria to the gut. Generally, Symprove is safe and can be beneficial for many people, but if you're immunocompromised, it’s crucial to exercise caution when introducing live bacteria into your system. 

Before starting any probiotic, including Symprove, you should consult with your healthcare provider. They can assess your individual risk based on your specific immune status, health condition, and any medications you're taking. 

Yes, Symprove is a natural food supplement that’s perfectly suitable for children. We’d recommend you give them 1ml per every 1kg of their weight (so 20ml a day for a 20kg child). 

Most kids prefer Strawberry and Raspberry flavour as it’s the sweetest.

Yes, absolutely. Antibiotics are brilliant at beating illness but the downside is that they can destroy good gut bacteria. We’d recommend spacing out the times you take Symprove and your antibiotics – so they’re as far apart as possible. 

And don’t forget to leave 10 minutes before you eat or drink anything (except water) after taking Symprove. Just to help our bacteria arrive alive in your gut.

Yes, lots of people have used Symprove alongside the FODMAP diet. But we’d always recommend talking to your doctor or dietitian about the two of them working together. 

Instructions and storage

Just take 70ml every morning on an empty stomach. Then leave 10 minutes before you eat and drink (unless you need water, which is fine!). 

70ml might not sound a lot but it contains about 10 billion live colony-forming units. Line them up nose to tail and they’d stretch for a whopping 30 kilometres!

Keep your bottles in a cool, dark place until they’re opened. After that, store them in the fridge and consume within 14 days. This might sound obvious but please don’t heat or freeze it as you’ll kill our amazing bacteria. 

Symprove is fermented in small batches in a natural barley extract. As a result, each batch can vary in colour, aroma and taste. 

Symprove is a safe food supplement made from natural ingredients. 

This means you’re absolutely fine to take it with other supplements. Many people take it alongside medications too. But if you’re being prescribed medication, we’d always recommend taking a copy of the label to your doctor. Just to check with them before you start taking it.

We recommend storing your packs in a cool, dry place. Once each bottle is open, pop it in the fridge and consume within 10 days. 

Symprove is classed as a food supplement not a medication. This means you couldn’t technically overdose on it. It’s also made from naturally derived ingredients and free of any chemicals or nasties. 

All our clinical trials have been based around the effects of a daily 70ml shot a day on your microbiome. This means we don’t have any reason to suggest you should take more than that. 

We recommend a 70ml shot each day for adults. For children we suggest 1ml per 1kg of their body weight (so 20kg = 20ml). This is because their microbiomes are still developing. 

We recommend storing your packs in a cool, dry place. 

Once each bottle is open, pop it in the fridge.


Did you know that balancing your microbiome takes time? It’s a marathon not a sprint. That’s why dietitians say you should give your body three months to get used to any new bacterial product. 

Most people feel the difference with Symprove after three months. Many see results sooner. 

Lots of people choose to stay on Symprove for life. Usually they do this with one of our subscriptions which offer the best value way to pay.

No, ideally you should always take Symprove on an empty stomach before breakfast. Then leave 10 minutes before eating or drinking (unless you need water, which is fine!). 

Don't worry though, it’s not the end of the world if you eat shortly after taking Symprove. Forgotten to take Symprove and eaten breakfast already? Don’t worry, ideally just leave two hours then take it.

Each pack has a maximum shelf-life of up to 12 months. Please check the date on your pack.

Just don’t heat or freeze it or you’ll kill those precious bugs.

Buying and delivery

To keep things as simple as possible – we offer a choice of two subscriptions. With both our subscriptions you’ll be sent your Symprove every 4 weeks.  

Our rolling subscription: This is a great way to try Symprove. You can control your delivery dates, skip a delivery, change flavours, and cancel anytime.

Our loyalty subscription: This is the cheapest way to take Symprove (saving you £130 a year vs the rolling subscription) and perfect for those who want to commit to their gut health long term. It's a fixed term for 13 boxes. In your online account you can manage delivery dates and change flavour but not cancel during the fixed term.

One-off packs: We also sell individual 4-week packs and 12-week packs. These non-subscription packs are more expensive, but useful for those who want to try Symprove without subscribing. 

We recommend trying Symprove for at least 3 months - 94% feel the difference after this time.

When you start a subscription, your first payment will be taken straight away. After that, any
subscription payments will be taken from your card every 4 weeks. 

For the UK mainland, we deliver within 48 hours (if you order by 4pm, if not we'll deliver a day later), 7 days a week.

We also deliver on bank holiday excluding Christmas and Easter. For the Channel Islands, we deliver within 48 hours and for Northern Ireland it's within 2-5 working days (excluding bank holidays).


Yes, our boxes are fully recyclable – and we’ve recently upgraded our bottles to PET plastic. The world’s most recycled plastic. 

We don’t have overseas stockists at the moment so do not offer subscriptions outside of the UK.

We do, however, ship one-off packs of Symprove to most countries.

It's really easy to make changes to your subscription by logging into your online account online.

Just remember you can make changes up to 48 hours before your delivery is due. After that, it’s too late to alter an order.  

We don’t have overseas stockists at the moment, but we do still ship Symprove to most countries. Please see full information below: 
 
Costs 
A 4-week pack is £66.66 (excluding shipping costs)
A 12-week pack is £124.99 (excluding shipping costs)
 
Please be aware, as your Symprove will be dispatched from the UK, you may need to pay import duties or taxes.
 
Things to know:
· If you pay by bank transfer any charges incurred are your responsibility. 
· Deliveries usually take 2-3 working days (but can take up to 7) Via DHL couriers.
· Once the parcel has been sent, you’ll be emailed tracking details by the courier. 
. If you've not received any tracking information within 3 days of receiving your order confirmation please get in touch.
· Our bacteria are fine to travel – we frequently ship Symprove around the world - it doesn’t need special packaging or cooling for shipping.
- Unfortunately, we've had to stop shipping directly to Spain, Portugal or Italy due to changes in customs procedures. 

Next steps
· Please provide your full address for a shipping quote. 
· A contact phone number.
· The number of 4-week packs you’d like to order and your preferred flavour.
We will then come back to you with a full quote and a payment link. 
 
Looking forward to hearing from you!

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