Brand Recommandations for Zinc, SA, Probiotics, and Colostrum please

[DKL]

Hello Folks,

I honestly have searched for 2 days on here for reputable brands but I keep getting side tracked as I stubble onto some other amazing find such as green smoothies and raw honey! But then I still then come back short on what brands folks trust and use for Zinc, SA, a Probiotic and Colostrum.

One solid area of confusion for me is which good bacteria do I strive for in a Probiotic? For example I have read about the immune boosting effects with Florastor (s. boulardi), but then I read about Culturelle (Lactobacillus GG). I currently use Nature's Way Primadophilus which is a 7 strain formula (Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium infantis, Bifidobacterium Bifidum, Bifidobacterium breve, Bifidobacterium longum) which doesn't contain either of the two bacteries mentioned in Florastor or Culturelle. Help my poor brain understand the difference.

Secondly I have a brand new container of Carlson Vit C Mild Crystals which is pure Calcium Ascorbate, buffered form of Vitamin C. But then I read here (and I know I am just skimming the surface here) that I should invest in SA as opposed to CA; is this correct and if so which brand?

Zinc I am complete loss on....that is totally missing from my cabinet although we do eat alot of greens, meat, yogurt, etc.

Do I only use Colostrum during an illness or as a form of preventive? Again another gray area for me.

I really appreciate the assistance and look forward to reading your responses Mama's! My son is 2 years old and was BF until 22 months.

Dara

[Violet2]

I'm working on an article for children's probiotics and ConsumerLabs.org has some good info.

The thing I noticed in my research is there's a disconnect between strains used in medical research and what is commercially available.

For all your questions, I would suggest joining Consumer Labs. I find their site super helpful.

As for zinc, I just buy whatever I find in the store. The key is to not take more than 50mg because then it can blunt your immune system instead of boost it.

V

[mama1803]

One thing to keep in mind is that probiotics have different functions. For example s. boulardii is helpful with diarrhea caused by antibiotics. L. acidophilus DDS-1 is helpful for stomach pains and gas caused by lactose intolerance because it produces the enzyme lactase. So what you chose really depends on the reason you are taking the probotic. If you are looking for an overall immune booster than I would look for something that has a very wide variety of strains (or consider drinking kefir instead of a supplement). There are lots of mamas in the Allergies forum that are using probiotics for healing, they could probably recommend a specific strain and/or brand depending on the particular problem you are trying to solve.

As for the sodium ascorbate, we use the NOW brand. We use this only when ill. For everyday vitamin C supplementation we use amla and aren't loyal to any particular brand.

[sbgrace]

Hi Dara,
I'll just put my thoughts in your message. We do supplement with all your mentioned.

Originally Posted by DKL

One solid area of confusion for me is which good bacteria do I strive for in a Probiotic? For example I have read about the immune boosting effects with Florastor (s. boulardi), but then I read about Culturelle (Lactobacillus GG). I currently use Nature's Way Primadophilus which is a 7 strain formula (Lactobacillus Rhamnosus, Lactobacillus Casei, Lactobacillus Acidophilus, Bifidobacterium infantis, Bifidobacterium Bifidum, Bifidobacterium breve, Bifidobacterium longum) which doesn't contain either of the two bacteries mentioned in Florastor or Culturelle. Help my poor brain understand the difference. The thing about florastor and culturelle is they have tons of research (as in double blind, placebo controlled etc.) studies to support their effectiveness. We know they survive the digestion process to do their thing. We know they work against the nastiest of bugs (like c. diff). They are proven in other words. I use both. A doctor I trust likes Klaire labs and they seem to put a lot of research into their products. I have used those as well and likely will use them again.

Secondly I have a brand new container of Carlson Vit C Mild Crystals which is pure Calcium Ascorbate, buffered form of Vitamin C. But then I read here (and I know I am just skimming the surface here) that I should invest in SA as opposed to CA; is this correct and if so which brand?
I wouldn't add calcium in like that and we use SA ourselves. I use the Bronson brand. It's kind of pricey though.

Zinc I am complete loss on....that is totally missing from my cabinet although we do eat alot of greens, meat, yogurt, etc.
Optizinc is a chelated form that I would highly recommend if you need supplemental zinc. My kids do really well with extra zinc (oh, with your list meat is the only usable zinc containing food and the amounts vary according to the type of meat).

Do I only use Colostrum during an illness or as a form of preventive? Again another gray area for me. We use it as a preventative but my son has an immune system issue. I used to use it with illness. I use Holistic Heal site's colostrum. I used to use kirkman labs.
For your average person I don't think daily colostrum is needed. Healthy vitamin D levels would be very important though for all kinds of things including the immune system.

[DKL]

Thanks everyone for the feedback; I really appreciate the help.

sbgrace I understand about proven research and effectiveness (thank you for posting this) and that is important to me as well. Would I only use Florastor if my son had to take a antibotic (he never has thus far)? Or would you recommand me switching over to it anyway and stopping the 7 grade one? I am sorry if that is putting you on the spot but for some reason I wonder about the current one he is on.

[JaneS]

We've tried Culturelle and S. Boulardii (what's in Florastor, we used a Kirkman one I think) and sadly they didn't do squat for either of us.

It could be that the Nature's Way is working for you or DS? Are your stool and digestion all they can be or do you want more support?

I highly recommend natural whole food vitamin C instead of synthetic sodium ascorbate, at least for daily use. I do use SA if encountering illness and it works really well but it seems to be hard on our guts and I've had tremendous success with whole food C (elminating enviro allergies, hay fever). I use acerola, amla, or camu powder, up to 250mg for an adult, so you use much less than chemical forms of C. The bioflavonoids keep the whole food C circulating longer and are natural antihistamines.

More info here: http://www.radiantlifecatalog.com/wh..._ascorbic_acid

I second vitamin D.
Since you are in MA, you need at least 4000 IU per day to get through the fall/winter/spring and more if your blood levels are below 50. I'm now going on 2 years of no sickness with this protocol, really amazing for me!
www.vitamindcouncil.org

[DKL]

Thank you JaneS.

Yes, everything is good on the stool front with DS and boy is he regular, soft but regular. Sorry TMI.

The SA discussion is very interesting. Those vitamins look great but I was hoping to just do one bottle but I do understand there are benefits from different sources of SA. I was hoping to order through my regular place (Vitacost) and I found this SA from Source Naturals http://www.vitacost.com/Source-Naturals-Vitamin-C-16-oz - yea or nay?

I myself take 8000 IU of Vit D per day (depression/anxiety) and DS will start upping his dose to 1000 IU or should I do 2000 IU for him?

Thanks again.

[JaneS]

Well if stool is soft, that depends on how soft and whether it is smellly (hey we talk poop all the time on the allergy forum I'm used to it, it's a good indicator!) Something might still be going on.

For DS and vit. D these are guidelines

What We Recommend

If you use suntan parlors once a week or if you live in Florida and sunbathe once a week, year-round, do nothing. However, if you have little UVB exposure, my advice is as follows: healthy children under the age of 1 years should take 1,000 IU vitamin D3 per day—over the age of 1, 1,000 IU vitamin D3 per every 25 pounds of body weight per day. Well adults and adolescents should take 5,000 IU vitamin D3 per day. Around 2–3 months later have a 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test, either through ZRT or your doctor.

Start supplementing with the vitamin D before you have the blood test. Then adjust your dose so your 25(OH)D level is between 50–80 ng/ml (125–200 nmol/L), summer and winter. But remember, these are conservative dosage recommendations

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/healt...eficient.shtml - creative commons license to post as much as we want as long as attributed to vitamin D council

but really blood tests are most accurate to gage correct dosage. Some people do not metabolize vitamin D well, us hypothryoid people. I thought there was a finger prick test linked at the vitamin D site too?

[DKL]

Thanks JaneS I think I better jump over to the allergy forum to talk poop then as maybe too soft is not good and it was quite smelly today (but we did just start on green smoothies). Heading over there shortly to read about soft stools...