May 9/May 2011 NutraSolutions -- Products marketed to help maintain gastrointestinal health make claims for reducing problems with diarrhea and constipation; for reducing bloating and flatulence; for boosting immunity; lowering the glycemic index of co-consumed foods; suppressing appetite and interfering with cholesterol absorption; and, lastly, for improvements in intelligence, beauty and the ability to speak foreign languages.

Well, perhaps not those final three, but claims for benefits for gastrointestinal health range from the plausible to the highly optimistic. Government agency actions and class action suits have been brought against companies too forward in their health claims, so an understanding of what is provable and what is not is warranted.