The Power of Probiotics - Page 8

[mettamama]

wow, great thread.

i've been giving ds jarrobaby for about 3 wks (he's 9 wks)--mixing it in with ebm once a day (1/4 t). planned on doing this for a while for all the beneficial reasons...a year or so, but after perusing this thread, wondering what some of you are doing vis-a-vis how long, if/when to mix it with yogurt etc (i'm not a make-your-own-culture momma...wish i were!).

thanks.

[Periwinkle]

Mettamama, I didn't give dd and ds yogurt until they were 7-8 months old. In fact, I didn't give them ANY food until they were 7-8 months old. Not sure yogurt adds much if you're already doing the Jarrow. Jarrow+EBM (or perhaps Jarrow on a finger for awhile) is what we plan to do for #3. FYI... dd and ds have always tolerated organic, all natural, whole milk plain yogurt extremely well. For a while, ds had a dairy "sensitivity" (he'd get loose, frothyish stools from drinking cow's milk) but I never had that problem with yogurt, culturered butter, real cheeses, etc. etc. Now that he's 2, he tolerates cow's milk much better... can have a glass or so, or regular milk in cooking, etc. with no problems, though I still give him calcium+D-fortified organic rice milk (and TONS of yogurt and cheese!) instead of doing too much cow's milk... don't want to rock the boat.

HTH!

[Merlin]

Some fun fact for you about fermented milk products:

Fermented milk products also have powerful bactericidal properties. Salmonella typhi (the agent for typhoid fever) added to yogurt disappeared within thirty to forty-eight hours. Shigella species, agents for dysentery, disappeared within two hours. Escherichia coli did not develop; Salmonella paratyphi (an agent for recurrent fever and diarrhea) and Corynebacteriae diphtheria lost their ability to cause disease, as did Neisseria meningitides (an agent for meningitis) and Vibrio comma (the agent for cholera). Dahi is a fermented milk product in India that is similar to yogurt. When E. Coli, Streptococcus, and Straphylococcus were added to dahi, the organisms soon died off.

Source: Seneca, Harry and others. "Bactericidial properties of yogurt." American Practitioner and Digest of Treatment, Dec 1950;1(12)1252-1259.

Actually, I have plenty fun facts about raw milk and fermented milks but due to mothering's rules, I couldn't post any more than 100 words... The problem is that I got these from the journals, oh well.

I bought the kefir grains from G.E.M. Culture since it contains pure kefir grain as well as Dom's kefir. I used Dom's simple method with cold raw milk, it works well for me. In fact, it works far better than kefir starter powder, I used that before I found Dom's site and placed an order thru G.E.M.

However if anyone is still interesting in kefir and milk products, get either books, "The Untold Story of Milk" by Ron Schmid, ND with foreward by Sally Fallon (extremely high recommendation) and "The Milk Book" by William Campbell Doughlass II, MD. These books cover many things about milk & fermented milk products plus messy politic issues that we may/may not aware of. Other third book on milk will be soon release, couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

Cheers!

[mountain mom]

I am so glad this thread got bumped up

How timely...thanks for the new info!

I have a question for all my 'cultured' friends.

When I make youghurt I will make a mother batch and then take a 1/4 cup of that to make 1 quart batches until the 'mother' is gone or its (mother batch) has gone off. Normally is use 3.25% milk (occasionally 2%) for this.

My question is this. The whole foods store where I work had 1/2 and 1/2 creme a day away from expiry so I got 1 quart for about 1$. I made my 'mother batch' from that last night.

It is pretty decadant...the creme rose to the top and it is thick and smooth.

Now I will use 1/4 cup of this to make yougurt for about the next month.

What do you all think? Is this a good option for my 'Mother batch'? Have any of you tried this? Can I use this mother with 1% milk for a lighter youghurt for me?

Thanks!
Nice to see this thread back up!

[Megs Mom]

Hurray, I tried my first batch of cultured soy milk yesterday! I haven't tasted it yet, but the consistency looks great!

Question: the book I'm using (Super Baby Food) says to pour off the whey to make the yogurt thicker, which makes sense. But my understanding was that the whey contains most of the probiotics so it should always be stirred in...what's up?

[Periwinkle]

I've heard that too - and never pour off the whey on ours (unless I have to use the whey for something, like soaking beans or oatmeal or whatever). My kids hate the super runny yogurt so if there's a ton of whey, I sometimes I add a little gelatin or mashed banana. HTH!

[Gale Force]

MM- I don't see a problem with using the heavier one as your starter. It's got the bacteria. It sounds incredible, by the way. Sometimes I put a bit of extra cream in ours and eat the top layer myself.

On the whey -- I usually strain it off and save it for my son to drink. I put it in his cup with a bit of stevia. It's great on days when he's eating very little else.

[Ms.Doula]

I've got extra Kefir grains (orrigionally from somone on Dom's site) If anyone is wanting some......... LMK


HEY... Gale Force- I replied to at least one or more threads you were posting in... with no reply so far....... ARE YOU PREGNANT TOO!!??

[mountain mom]

Thanks for the reply Gale!

Another question:

So I used the creme starter and I made youghurt from a un-homogenized, low heat pasterized milk I found at the farmers market.

It smells good, tastes fine but has stringy strands of mucous like stuff throughout it and its lumpier than usual. It had ALOT of whey on the top.

Any comments on this...I am not sure how I feel about it.

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by mountain mom

Thanks for the reply Gale!
It smells good, tastes fine but has stringy strands of mucous like stuff throughout it and its lumpier than usual. It had ALOT of whey on the top.

That doesn't sound good, particularly the whey on top, but I am not sure what to tell you. Well, the mucousy stuff doesn't sound great either. LOL

[Gale Force]

Originally Posted by Ms.Doula

I've got extra Kefir grains (orrigionally from somone on Dom's site) If anyone is wanting some......... LMK

Did the grains I gave you bite the dust? I have given them to some other folks who left them in the fridge for 3 months waiting until they are less busy. Eww. I recommended composting them.

ARE YOU PREGNANT TOO!!??

Not anymore. I was thinking yesterday about the fact that I still haven't dealt with it. I have been super-busy with work deadlines. From one fire to another since the m/c at 9 wks. (Not a literal fire LOL, I said I was up to my eyeballs in alligators the other day and folks thought I was a Floridian. Since I am in the Sierras and we have been breathing our share of smoke this summer, I should clarify that the house is still standing.)

[mountain mom]

Thanks again for the response Gale...I think I will discard this batch.

Sorry to hear of your loss and the fire smoke

[Gale Force]

Thanks MM

[Gale Force]

Merlin -- I missed your post earlier. Interesting quote and thanks for the book recommendations.

Originally Posted by Merlin

I bought the kefir grains from G.E.M. Culture since it contains pure kefir grain as well as Dom's kefir. I used Dom's simple method with cold raw milk, it works well for me. In fact, it works far better than kefir starter powder, I used that before I found Dom's site and placed an order thru G.E.M.

Definitely get the actual grains. I've got about 3 cups even though I have probably given away grains to 10 people in the last month. If anyone wants any, free for shipping, PM me. I'll ship priority outside of Calif ($3.85) and regular mail in Calif (about $1.50). I've been shipping every Monday but we missed the boat today, so it looks like Tues. The GEM grains cost something like $30 I believe. It's totally worth the price, believe me, but you can also just PM me.

Amanda

[Sisyphus]

I am soooooooooo confused....

I have read this thread at least three times. I went to my local vitamin shoppe and got the only book they had on probiotics "Probiotics: Nature's Internal Healers" by Natasha Trenev. It was definitely an eye opener!! I was all set to do some research on the types of supplements the book recommended and found that, surprise!, they round-aboutedly (is that a word? LOL) recommend... THEIR OWN PRODUCTS from Natren... that just rubs me the wrong way.. I always find it suspect when I read books like that.

So, I looked around on the net to find a TON of info, most of which is written by the makers of the particular supplements, all of which claim their supplement is the best.... aargh..

Now I feel like I'm back at square one... I would like to get my family on a supplement regimen (I don't think I'm ready or willing to try making enough yogurt/kefir etc. to feed my family.... maybe later, once I get a handle on this whole probiotics thing, but to start, I really just want a supplement) and start as soon as possible (what with winter on the horizon and and cold/flu season, etc.).

Does anyone have any recommendations for supplements?? THe Natren ones look terrific, but OMG they are pricey!! Is there something out there that is as good for less money?? Or, do I just have to cough it up to get the quality and guarantees?

Thank you for educating me about probiotics and for answering my questions

Lo

[amnesiac]

they round-aboutedly (is that a word? LOL) recommend... THEIR OWN PRODUCTS from Natren... that just rubs me the wrong way.. I always find it suspect when I read books like that.

Exactly. That's probably the reason I don't like Body Ecology either. And yes, they are way pricey. I really like the products made By Jarrow Formulas. I think they are good products & reasonably priced.

http://www.jarrow.com/products/BabYsJarroDophilus.htm
http://www.jarrow.com/products/Jarro...sfospowder.htm
http://www.jarrow.com/products/JarroDophilusfos.htm

[mountain mom]

I use the Udo Erasmus line of probiotics in my practice and for my family. I like its combinations of different bacterias for different situations. I like its packaging, (dark amber bottles that I reuse for formulations) and that they use cold refridgeration while it is enroute to the retail level.

Here is the website link. www.udoerasmus.com/probiotics

His website seems pretty self promoting unfortunately but I have seen his lecture before and he is very well educated on well spoken on the subject of the human body.

I personally use the Udo' Super Five daily for dd and dh and I as well as the Super Eight to make starter for my youghurt.

The Super Five is $19.99 Can. funds for about 30 chewable tabs.

HTH

[MomInFlux]

Mountain Mom - can you tell me exactly HOW you go about using the Super 8 as yogurt starter? At what point do you add the contents of the capsule? Just one capsule, or more? Thanks!

[balrog]

Another question - freezing?

Do the probiotics survive freezing? My kids love "popsicles" -- yogurt that I freeze in pop-forms.

Do all the probiotics survive in yogurt, or only the lactobacillicus (sp?) ones? If I culture milk with Jarro or PB 8, will I keep all the lovely little buggies?

DS is a very picky eater and I have resorted to mixing the PB 8 into ice cream. Sigh. But if I can culture it and make yogurt-pops...

FYI: DS's stool quality has changed dramatically since (4 days ago) starting the PB 8 powder. He has gone from loose-as-a-goose to firm (not hard, but I'm still a little concerned about constipation). The eczema and nightwaking are not (yet?) affected, but maybe they will improve with time.

Thanks,
Balrog

[mountain mom]

Originally Posted by MomInFlux

Mountain Mom - can you tell me exactly HOW you go about using the Super 8 as yogurt starter? At what point do you add the contents of the capsule? Just one capsule, or more? Thanks!

My method really came about in a bit of a fluke.

When I first started culturing milk, I would purchase envelopes of probiotic bacteria made by a company called yougertmet.

I was out one day so I opened enough super 8 capsules to equal what I estimated to be the amount in one envelope, about 1 tablespoon.

So my method is this.

1) Heat the milk to 180 degrees. I heat between 150 and 180 depending on the dairy the milk came from.

2) Allow the milk to cool to 110 degrees

3) Get your probiotic ready. (This is to make starter, if you have made your starter already then use 1/4 cup of that per 1 litre of milk to make the next batches)

4) Take a small portion of the cooled milk and mix the starter or already cultured youghurt and mix gently.

5) Add this to the cooled milk. Stir in gently to avoid creating bubbles and more oxygen.

6) Incubate* for 6-12 hours depending on the thickness you want

*you can use a variety of methods... a canning jar set in hot water in a cooler... a canning jar in your oven with the light on and the burners covered...an actual youghert maker, electronic or thermos type...etc.

HTH