Debunking Kourtney Kardashian’s Lemme Purr gummy vitamins
By Isabella West, Arts Editor
Kourtney Kardashian, best known for her role in reality television, has heavily turned toward the world of health and wellness in recent years as evident through her blog, Poosh, and frequent explorations of alternative health and wellness avenues on The Kardashians.
In September of 2022, Kardashian partnered with Lemme, a vitamin wellness brand. Kardashian’s initial posts had a particular focus on the gummy, ‘Lemme Purr.’
The brand claims that the Lemme Purr gummy can “target vaginal health and pH levels that support freshness and taste,” said Lemme in an Instagram post.
Kardashian made a post on her own Instagram claiming “the right probiotics can help bring balance back to your vaginal microbiome which is why we were so excited to formulate and launch this gummy.” The post states that the said products use clinically-studied SNZ-1969 probiotics specifically tested for vaginal health, as well as an addition of Vitamin C for an extra immunity boost, and a ‘little pineapple as a bonus.’ When asked about this product and its claims, Dr. Fiona Mattatall, assistant professor at the Cumming School of Medicine at University of Calgary said, “taking medical advice from someone like Kourtney Kardashian who, to my knowledge, has no background in science, microbiology, gynecology is unwise.”
In order to gain a better understanding of this product and the technical language used within its endorsement, Dr. Mattatall shared some insight.
What is SNZ-1969 probiotics?
When referring to the SNZ-1969 product listed as the main ingredient in the Lemme Purr gummies, Dr. Mattatall said “it looks like there’s early studies suggesting it might work in one area but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will work in another.” She went on to explain that “the microbiome of the vagina is a very complicated thing that we’re in the early stages of understanding,” and to date, there are no probiotics that are universally supported for being evidential.
According to Dr.Mattatall, there are many elements to consider when evaluating what may work to support a vagina such as hormonal environment, the food that somebody’s eating, and other things that are going in the vagina like if someone is sexually active. Other factors to consider are what kind of lubricants people are using, if they using condoms, and if their partner has bacteria. These questions are vital to assess before assumptions can be made on what product may work for a woman.
Can pineapple change the taste of your vagina?
Dr. Mattatall explained that anything you are putting into your body can affect what comes out.
“It is true that some things that you take in, do affect the composition of the things we put out of our bodies.”
Although the Lemme Purr gummies do emphasize pineapple as an ingredient, Dr. Mattatall noted that a pineapple substitute is not always better than real fruit.
“Eating actual pineapple would be far healthier than eating a pineapple extract in a gummy. So I would always go back to actually eating real food rather than a gummy that is flavoured like pineapple.”
Should I be worried about the smell of my vagina?
“What’s more important is to understand what is normal in terms of everybody’s own vagina,” said Dr. Mattatall.
People with a vagina, must learn to become familiar with what’s normal for them. If something seems off or a new odour is presented, that may be cause for concern and further health care should be considered, explained Dr. Mattatall.
“For someone who is having menstrual cycles getting in touch with an understanding that at some part of your cycles, the fluid that’s in and around the vagina, the consistency of it, the smell of it, will change back and forth, and just getting a sense of what’s normal for you. And then, if it’s something’s falling outside of that normal, then maybe getting attention for that.”
It is important to remember that when approaching health concerns, it is always best to connect with a professional in the field as opposed to someone who has “a large presence in our world and on social media,” said Dr. Mattatall.
When considering new products, “correcting something with gummies sold by a social media personality is not the appropriate way to go about a health concern,” simply because of their lack of expertise and their hidden motive such as profit, explained Dr. Mattatall.
Timothy Caulfield, a professor at the University of Alberta, can be acknowledged for his time spent debunking celebrity claims and addressing issues in the public interest.
“The whole supplement industry is largely built on a lack of evidence, there’s very little evidence to support most of the supplements that are pushed out there,” said Caulfield.
Because of the platforms of influence that celebrities hold, Caulfield finds it vital to inform the public and stop misinformation.
Caulfield suggests evaluating what evidence that products have, asking oneself if it is accurate and believable and if the endorsers have your best interest in mind.
This method can be used while looking into the Lemme brand, specifically the Lemme Purr gummies. On the Lemme website under “The Proof,” the brand reiterates what they have been claiming in their Instagram posts. Lemme displays all of their ingredients on The Proof page. The first ingredient listed is SNZ-1969 Probiotic which “is shown in clinical studies to support vaginal health, freshness and odor,” said Lemme.
However, what it fails to mention is where such a study can be found. The next ingredient mentioned is pineapple extract, however, the brand fails to mention its significance in any way. The last ingredient stated is vitamin C which is “a powerful antioxidant and pro-collagen vitamin that is an essential nutrient to support immune system health, skin health and promote overall health and well-being,” said Lemme. However, the question of how does immune system health and skin health correlate with vaginal health? Another raise for concern is why shouldn’t consumers simply just take vitamin C as opposed to this gummy?
On the Lemme website, it is also stated that they “collaborated with the best scientists to create delicious gummy vitamins and supplements using clinically-backed ingredients.” However, no scientist is accredited.
