Newly dairy free--which probiotic supplement to add?

[Rasa]

Newly dairy free and now that I won't be eating my homemade yogurt, I'd like to add a probiotic supplement but have NO idea which kind...where to start?!

I've tried making water kefir and I could barely choke it down...tasted like dirty sweat-socks to me--even when I made juice kefir, tried different recipes, etc. Stuck it out a couple months but finally gave up on that venture. I'm terrified about Kombucha (strong gag reflex...baby steps).

I try eating a bit of lacto-fermented items each day, but wonder if I'm possibly getting 'enough' probiotic benefit from a half cup, or so of those?

I would prefer to get my 'probiotics' from food sources, so if you have any suggestions about how to do that sans kefir/kombucha, I'd love 'em! Thanks all!!

[mbravebird]

Have you done a basic sauerkraut/kimchi type thing? Just fermented with brine and the air. That might be your best bet.

Adding some raw ACV to water and drinking daily would help, although if you don't like sour things that might not go over very well.

Have you tried purchasing one of the flavored store-bought kombuchas, and acquiring a taste for it that way?

Did you ever add fresh squeezed lemon to your sock-water kefir? That helped mine immensely when I did that.

[Rasa]

Ha Ha Ha! Yes, tried lemony-sock-water kefir Even my non-super-tasing husband couldn't take it. There was something almost...medicinal? about it...can't quite place the taste effect I experienced.

I do eat the lacto-ferments, I'm just wondering if I'm getting enough probiotic-type good bugs from those sources alone? And if the species are varied enough?

Do any of you take a probiotic pill supplement? I think I saw something with many different organisms listed by ?iFlora...?

For those who take them, do pill-based probiotics seem to make a bigger difference in how you feel/health than food-based ones?

TIA!

[kjbrown92]

I make coconut milk yogurt (yogurt starter from giprohealth.com).
Also, we use giprohealth.com probiotics (dairy allergy? intolerance? it's tolerated by us but there is a tiny amount of dairy in them, so not recommended if your allergic)

[tanyalynn]

I've seen digestive improvements in my DD, 5yo, with just kimchee. I use the NT recipe, without whey and without extra salt, and it's really yummy. I didn't see the same results with kosher dill pickles (Sandor Katz's recipe from Wild Fermentation) which is also really yummy, even lots of pickles at times, so I wonder if something is different about cabbage. Took 2x/day to make an impact, I'd say within two weeks, but between that and not eating our allergens (we're also GF, which I think used to put quite a bit of stress on DD's digestion), her poop got firmer (good) and browner and just looked better. The dark circles under her eyes also got lighter.