can someone please reccomend a good probiotic?

[Martha27]

I want to start taking a probiotic for my stomach. I have bad digestive problems and have heard probiotics can help with that but want to get the right kind and brand. any suggestions? Also is it good for immunity? I'm wondering if I should get my kids taking it too? they are 4 and 2 1/2 years so would they take the same one as me or are there kid versions? thanks for your help with this

[jmarroq]

For kids or adults? I guess it doesn't matter. We eat a lot of yogurt. I take probiotics but have trouble getting the kids to take it. I hear the refridgerated ones in the health store are better than the ones on the shelf at room temperature.

[Sol_y_Paz]

Health food store and head to the fridge section.

[amyjeans]

we use yum yum dophulis (sp?) we don't eat dairy and everyone takes it- even my 2.5 yr old. Our D.O. recommended it.

[koru]

If you want to try something cheap & easy, give kefir a whirl. I made my own for over a year (switched to kombucha for a change) and the kids loved it in a morning smoothie. All you need to do is get a hold of some kefir grains, add milk & wait 12-24hrs....or longer if the kids can tolerate the stronger taste.

And I would suggest looking into digestive enzymes, too, and possibly doing a short colon cleanse if you're having troublesome digestive problems.

[R8chel]

Yup! I totally second Kefir! My 2 yo DD absolutely LOVES it! We mix about 16 ounces with a couple of frozen strawberries and a banana. It's our favorite!

~Rachel

[Martha27]

I saw Kefir today and almost bought some to try! What is the recommended amount to drink per day?

[tanyalynn]

Since we're dairy free, I was going to suggest homemade kimchee (or sauerkraut if that's more your style). It's pretty easy to make, and WAY yummier than "fermented vegetables" would sound. It's done good things for DD's digestion.

Here's a long thread in the Traditional Foods forum about fermenting vegetables and if you search under my username and the word daikon (it's a kind of radish, if you aren't familiar with it) you'll find the recipe I use, which is not nearly as spicy as traditional kimchee.

http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...d.php?t=426207

My understanding is that for kefir, you really only need to consume a fairly small amount, even a few tablespoons has a very high, and diverse, bacteria count. Ditto for kimchee, even 2-3 bites with meals 2x/day made a noticeable difference in DD's digestion. And I like the garlic/ginger/onion/carrot/radish-y goodness of kimchee.

[Starry-eyedMom]

I like vitacost.com's NSI 15-35 brand. It has 15 strains and 35 billion per two capsule serving! That is pretty great and it has glowing reviews. http://www.vitacost.com/NSI-Probiotic-15-35

[bcblondie]

Kefir.

[nukuspot]

It's nice to sometimes have a pill form of probiotic to take on top of eating/drinking cultured foods like kefir and yogurt. If you look in your HFS or co-op you will see many brands. Just look for one with a colony count over 10 billon and they are usually the strongest ones. I personally like Culturelle but have used many in the past. DD takes one by Udos.

[LionessMom]

i like kombucha tea. it is dairy freee.

[mommaklo]

I take Jarrow brand EPS its shelf stable enteric coated and it comes in a yellow box. It only has 5 bill per pill but has worked wonders for me, as I used to work in a health food store and have tried all kinds. A friend of mine takes it and it seems to work for her as well. From all the conversations weve had I know we have VERY different digestive tracts, too. I started taking it when I was preg and had healthier bms than I did pre preg and on all other probiotics I tried. I do feel like if my digestion is acting up, I dont always want to eat something like kefir or kimchi (both great things, tho!) and even doing that kind of stuff everyday sometimes didnt help my gut. Also, Ive heard up to 75% of our immunity is in our gut, and this is a statistic I believe as far as your question about immunity. I give ds jarrow babydophilus as adult and baby gut bugs are slightly different. Also, I drink raw braggs apple cider vinegar mixed with water, as it contains the "mother" and probiotics as well. This helps my gut on really off days. happy tummy!

[treemom2]

I've had a horrible time with probiotics in the past and have tried most of the recommended ones here (except the kefir). Most of them make me so sick, I vomit and have horrible diarrhea for a couple days after taking them. Finally, I was able to find some that work for me, so I would recommend you try one see how it hits you then try something else if it makes you feel sick. Right now I use Primal Defense Ultra by Garden of Life and Omega Zyme by Garden of Life. We also eat fermented foods, my husband loves making sauerkraut. I'd love to try Kefir, but haven't had luck finding a starter. Our kids take Primal Defense kids in their morning yogurt. I buy all these at vitacost.com since I've found they have the lowest prices and pretty cheap shipping.

[Martha27]

thank you for all the suggestions. I think ill pick up some Kefir nxt time I do my shopping and look into those supplements mentioned too. I just have one more question: my kids have pretty healthy digestions, would they still benefit from probiotic or should I just concentrate on a good multivit. and fish oil for them for now? they currently dont take any supplements and I sometimes worry they should. they eat anything I put in front of them including fish, all veggies, plain yogurt, they even ate some cloves of garlic I had poached in with the fish I cooked the other day! But with cold and flu season I worry there systems could use more defense, we dont do flu shots and they will be in daycare for a few more weeks yet.

[mommaklo]

I would give them probiotics, atleast through the winter. I cant imagine they would do more harm than good.

[nicolelynn]

When I had a really bad gut (it's been healed up for 6 months now...previous to that I had a bad blastocystis hominis and yeast infection that caused colitis and lasted 1 1/2 yrs) I found that FOS in probiotics are HORRIBLE. My naturopath of all people gave it to me on an elimination diet and it caused immediate inflammation of my colon...the sugars fed my pathogens. Other probiotics simply did not work. I had some luck with Primal Defense as well, though I was taking the therapeutic dosage of 12 caps per day.

After Alinia, Diflucan and Nystatin finally killed the pathogens I found a good FOS free probiotic that really helped the final healing of my gut (that is ironically made by the same company that makes the FOS ones that fed my bugs in the first place): HLC Intensive caps by Pharmax.

Now that my gut is fine I don't need that high of a dosage. I currently am just taking the acidophilus from Trader Joe's and that is working fine.