probiotics

[TamarP]

How many billion probiotic cells should be in a probiotic supplement?  I take New Chapter Organics and there are 8 billion, but they are cultured food based so is less needed?

[Nori]

Natasha Campbell-McBride says adults should have 15-20 billion per day (page 171 in her book, GUT AND PSYCHOLOGY SYNDROME).  Some studies of PBs showed that quite often the number of live bacteria was significantly less than the label declared.  As we have no lab to test this ourselves, I suggest you always secure your PBs from a store that takes steps to ensure their viability (procurement, shipping, and storage). 

With such challenges as antibiotics, NSAIDs, birth control pills, vaccinations, SAD, stress, pollution, alcoholism, toxic metals, ionizing radiation, and exercise, one would do well to ensure a good colony in the GIT. I recall an expert in probiotics writing that one needs 5 months of PBs after a single antibiotic dose! 

[MiraD]

I think it also depends on how much you are getting through cultured foods.  Kefir, kombucha, fermented saurkrauts, etc all provide a very healthy balance of bacteria for the gut.  I prefer to try to take them in through food.  The supplements are just that, supplements, not meant to replace the need to eat fermented foods.

[Laura Knoff]

I agree with Nori about the variation in quality and viability in most probiotic supplements available. I have had clients who had been taking a popular brand daily, yet when tested had little or no good bacteria in their stool. Once we used a professional brand for 3-6 months they had abundant friendly bacteria when retested, and they had much fewer symptoms.
One way I have used to test if a probiotic is alive is to use it as a starter to make my own yogurt. If one or 2 capsules don't have enough bacteria to make a quart of yogurt in 24 hours then it is not a very potent brand. BTW some tablets do not break down in the stomach. Check  to see if yours dissolves in warm vinegar water in 30 to 60 minutes. If it doesn't you may be wasting your money.

[NatalieP]

So you guys are saying that I need to take a probiotic for more than 2 weeks! 

I have been frustrated because I know that from extensive antibiotic use when I was younger, I need to heal my gut. I will stick to it and do minimum of three months!

Why is it that some formulas need to be kept cool, while others do not have to? Is that an indicator of their quality?

[MicheleSp]

In the reading that I have done on probiotics, I have discovered that if a probiotic needs refrigeration, it isn't as "hearty" as probiotics that don't require refrigeration.  Which makes sense, really, since it needs to survive in the acidic environment of our guts! I recently began taking Dr. Ohhira's probiotics because of the strains of bacteria that he developed, which do not require refrigeration.  Dr. Ohhira spent over 10 years researching a specific strain of lactic acid and he and his team of researchers perfected the strain of lactic acid and it was determined to be over 6 and 1/4 times stronger than the other strains known to microbiologists.  This strain of lactic acid is only found in Dr. Ohhira's probiotics.  Since it was fermented over a number of years, that strain of bacteria only grows stronger in the gut while weaker bacteria dies off! I have already noticed an incredible difference in my digestion since I began taking these and I feel better overall.

[Nori]

That is such good news! Yet I have had a couple of clients react adversely to these Ohhira PBs.  This therapeutic can be so individual. 

Standard Process/Medi-Herb supports the prebiotic approach since any reinnoculation from exogenous strains are transient (Lee Carroll, Medi-herb, called them "tourists"). 

[blujay]

I'm definitely  a pre- and pro-lifer!

To spend the kind of money needed to ensure a proper recolonization of gut ecology through purely PB supplementation is excessive. 

It takes a consistant effort of ingesting a constant stream of Pre-biotics (foods that feed the good guys) and strong and many doses of fermented foods with specific strains added...we are already seeing these kind of products appear...called Syn-biotics (foods/products with both pro- and pre-biotics)

Fortunately, there is a much cheaper option...make it yourself with simple ingredients...

Here is how:
Take your high priced live/active probiotic supplement (I really like Dr. Ohira's)  and add it to a batch of home-made sauerkraut or Raw milk, let it complete fermentation, and you've got the most advanced healing food known to man. Sounds to good to be true?

Here is why home-made sauerkraut/ferments will always be better than any PB supplement:
-Its cheap and easy to make
-Its a food...one you eat on a daily basis, not just a supplement
-If you make your own kraut, it contains bio-specific (to you) strains of microbes that are more easily and gently accepted by your body
-Bio-specific kraut acts like a vaccine, it contains all the microbes that are affecting you, but only the best ones survived. (so make it when you are sick for the best remedy)
-It contains the best encapsulating growing medium for survivability and viability of the cultures in each area of your gut (from mouth to anus)...the cabbage itself. 
-It contains all of the required microbial metabolites necessary for colonization.
-Cabbage itself it one of the best foods for soothing and repairing the Gut.
-Cabbage and other food/flavoring ingredients are the best pre-biotic to go along with the pro-biotics on the digestive journey.
-It contains more live active cultures than any pre-packaged/pilled product ever could...Think 100's of billions of CFU's per serving (1/4 cup).   
-It contains a "Balanced Ecology" of microbes (they all fought it out and the best ones won)...not just individually cultured strains combined in supplement form just prior to packaging.
-It just tastes good. It has the 6th taste "Umami", which is what we love about cheese, wine, chocolate, beer, salami...
-Buying local organic products for your own fermentation is beneficial for the local "culture"...

Don't fear the ferments! They are your friends...

Contact me for more details/recipes if you are really interested in learning more. Or seach the forum for fermented foods, sauerkraut, probiotics, etc...

[NatalieP]

I have NEVER had sauerkraut before (and have a milk allergy). What would be recommendations for a person' first try with eating it? Is there a recipe or a combination of it with another food that is downright delicious that I could not turn it down?? 

[AlisonM]

I usually eat mine with meat like a grass-fed hot dog or sausage. It's the only way I can eat it.

[blujay]

You ladies are thinking one dimensional when it comes to ferments (no offense), there are literally hundreds of ways to incorporate them into your diet.

Natalie, sorry to hear about your milk allergy, if its not to severe, I've had people handle raw milk ferments quite well, as long as you are the one doing the fermenting.(just not the store bought stuff, its not fully fermented and has other added sugars and milk powders).   

Check out my site for a short video on how to make Kraut. (keep it plain or flavor it to your liking)
www.herbnculture.com

Here are some starter ideas about how to use sauerkraut in your daily cooking:
-Think of kraut as a superfood or a starter culture for other foods/drinks...
-make your favorite salsa and add a few tablespoons ripened kraut, allow to ferment a few days and you'll have some tasty salsa
-when blending your dressings for salads or sauces, add a few T's of the kraut juice or veg and continue to blend (lightly). 
-Add a few T's to a batch of guacamole for some more tang and deep flavor.
-add a few T's to your juicing of veggies for a probiotic punch to your fresh juices.
-add a few T's to a rich veggie stock or veggie juice (try beets) and allow to ferment for 4-5 days and drink as an aperitif

So start with a plain kraut (sea salt and green cabbage), get good at that then start adding other spices and flavorings (think curry, herb D'Provence, mulling spices, kim chi, etc...)

For the strongest healthiest cultures, be sure to add some sea-veggies (kelp, dulse, wakame), and always use organic veggies and only sea salt (to taste, just on the salty side).

Fermenting health changes,
jay

[NatalieP]

Jay, Thanks for those tips! The salsa one sounds the best for me, because I LOVE eating  that on a regular basis. And Alison, it sounds like it would be good on a hot dog, also!

Off to start the fermentation fever!!

[LailaB]

Thanks Jay, for posting this inspirational info, it truly opened my eyes to a whole new realm of fermenting. I've been putting off my sauerkraut experimentation, from chapter 3 or 4. I keep buying the cabbage and end up eating and juicing it before I get to starting the kraut. It hasn't sounded very exiting till now,  I got 2 heads of cabbage from the Farmers market waiting for me.

I have a question about what Nori mentioned earlier in this thread about ionizing radiation, what exactly are you talking about? I think of ionized water. If the water is ionized with an electric current, can that be good for you?