July / August 2007
Culture Wars
by Bob Ickes
Dannon yogurt is capitalizing on what POZ has been telling you for ages: 70 percent of your immune system lurks in your gut. Dannon has launched DanActive (www.danactive.com), calling it a “delicious probiotic drink...clinically proven to help strengthen your body’s immune system.” Dannon doesn’t claim to repair HIV-related damage. The company’s scientific advisor, Miguel Freitas, PhD, says DanActive’s L. casei Immunitas culture bolsters an immune system weakened by everyday stress. “We studied it in stress groups like kids at exam time,” he says. No HIV studies are scheduled. For now, those with HIV-compromised immunity can take cues from the chipper family in Dannon’s TV ads, who talk cell counts before breakfast.
