The Power of Probiotics - Page 14

[MamaMonica]

If you have any lactose sensitivity, it's good to culture the yogurt for at least 24 hours to eat up the lactose. Someone probably already said that but I haven't looked at the earlier pages in awhile. The yogurt is more tart, though- but we all tolerate it better.

[mountain mom]

Originally Posted by amnesiac

In a large saucepan I whisk together whole milk, powdered milk, vanilla & sugar then heat it until you see steam rising from the surface. Remove from heat, cool, then add starter as you did & probiotic powder. I culture mine in a yogurt machine for 5 hours.

I really have to step in and caution about the sugar. I hope I don't step on any toes, but if one is using youghurt to help flood the system with healthy bacteria, compat yeast, improve food sensitivities, eliminate ezcema etc. then it is vital to elimate sugar all together.

If anyone is battling yeast/candida/thrush then not only should refined sugars such as white sugar, brown sugar etc be eliminated but so should things like honey, molasses, date sugar, maple syrup etc.

It is redundant to use sugar with youghurt, the sugar feeds the candida which will overpower the probiotice, if the system is overridden with it(candida).

As well as the 'turf' war that occurs when you consume sugar with probiotics, you literally shut off the immune system when consuming sugar thus the body has a hard time digesting due to the mucousal lining of the digestive system being partial comprised of immune tissue.

I could go on and on but I won't :LOL

Again, I just wanted to issue a caution in regards to sugar.

[goodpapa]

On the subject of sugar....

...I've recently returned from the land of "Sheer Curiosity".

I'd been pondering how we can best feed the intestinal flora once they set up shop inside and discovered that there are in fact "sugars" in the form of soluble fiber called "oligosaccharides" that our flora feast on. There's an amazing amount of info out there:

"Human digestive enzymes have little or no effect on raw starch and polysaccharides such as cellulose, pectin, hemicellulose, and pentosan; and oligosaccharides such as melibiose, raffinose, stachyose, fructo-oligosaccharides, isomalto-oligosaccharides, and galacto-oligosaccharides. These substances are hydrolysed to varying degrees and digested by colonic bacteria with the production of organic acids, mainly volatile fatty acids (acetate, propionate, and butyrate), and gas (carbon dioxide and hydrogen). Small amounts of lactic, formic and succinic acids are also produced. Methane may be produced in some people.

Most Bifidobacterium species metabolise a wide rage of indigestible polysaccharides and oligosaccharides to acetic and lactic acids and subsequently act as effective scavengers in the large intestine, when many oligosaccharides are ingested in the diet, while E. col 1000 i and C. perfringens do not."


http://www.healthyeatingclub.org/APJ...1/mitsuoka.htm


So if we eliminate processed sugar, ie, simple sugars which easily feed the bad bacteria (as mountain mom wisely advises) and increase the complex sugars that support the friendly, we dramatically enhance the intestinal environment. To me it's now easy to see how destructive the modern diet is to our flora.


http://ific.org/foodinsight/2003/ma/...ybugsfi203.cfm


Also, my wife and I now eat our probitic yogurts in the wee hours of the morning when the digestive system is basically shut down. Pregnant and lactating women have enhanced stomach acids to derive as much nutrition as possible from food. This increases the difficulty of getting the bacteria through the stomach and into the intestines. We eat one or two yogurts with two bananas for the oligosaccharides, drink a good deal of non-tap water (non-chlorinated--Evian is the choice here) and head back to bed.


With a huevos rancheros breakfast-- corn tortilla, farm fresh eggs and especially BLACK BEANS (another supreme source of oligosaccharides) the previous nights new inhabitants have plenty of food to set up shop.


Today's the day for sauerkraut!-- freshly picked cabbage from Periwinkle Farms (it's soooo sweet--but that sugar WILL already be digested when we eat the cabbage), prepared whey sittin' in the fridge, and a couple of jars, I'm ready to GO!

Looks like we're gonna......


.....GET CULTURED!




Ray

[amnesiac]

It is redundant to use sugar with youghurt, the sugar feeds the candida which will overpower the probiotic

I'm afraid I disagree. It's much more complex than that. We have found our recipe (using 1/4-1/3 C rapadura per 1/2 gal milk) to successfully assist in correcting eczema, allergic rhinitis, food hypersensitivity, thrush and post-antibiotic dysbiosis.



Ray, are you telling me that you set your alarm clock to eat yogurt & bananas in the middle of the night? That cracks me up! :LOL

[Gale Force]

I culture my yogurt for 24 hours as well to reduce the lactose content. I sweeten it with stevia after it's cultured if I want it sweet.

[Gale Force]

I don't know Ray, with depression that comes with yeast problems and with pregnancy in general, getting up in the middle of the night seems like a bad idea. I can see something like that towards the end of recovery, but good sleep is so dear to new moms that I couldn't see actively disrupting it even for good bacteria. Probably the most important variable for us gals here, and probably your wife as well, is time. It's taken 18 months making a concerted effort to have some glimpse of my pre-pregnant self healthwise. I think it was the overall effort and consistency all of those months that have finally paid off.

[Gale Force]

Oh, definitely report back on the kraut. I haven't done any yet. ANd so far with what I have attempted, I am about 50/50.

[mountain mom]

Ray, the catch phrase for what you described is "prebiotic". Preparing the digestive tract to handle the probiotic.

Chicory is very high in these factors too.

[mountain mom]

Amnesiac, I am glad you have found success with your recipe.

I am concerned that the new people on board will assume from your original recipe that called for 'sugar' that its okay to include white sugar in the process of youghurt making. Which is isn't. Including unrefined sugars such as the rapadura or brown rice syrup or barley malt is borderline dodgy in my opinion.

Sugar of all kinds feed the bacteria (not just candida) that the probiotic is trying to overcome. Thus balance to the intestinal tract is slowed down when sugars are involved.

Ray's post sheds good light on the way to prepare the intestinal tract to absorb the probiotic more successfully.

When there is chronic digestive issues sugars in the refined state should be elimated. The body's immune system is fighting hard enough to maintain balance without being shocked into a non-response by sugars.

Some types of sugars are better than others but if there is a history of digestive illness and weakness why stress the body furthur.

I only wanted to bring this up due to the high number of new posters recently so there would be no confusion regarding the hazards of sugar and the digestive and immune systems of the body.

[amnesiac]

And when I've been out of rapadura I've even added sinful white sugar. For new folks to avoid yogurt all together just because they dislike the flavor of plain would be a far greater sin. Things don't have to be done hardcore to still be effective -- something is better than nothing. Not that a lot of sugar is a great thing, mind you.

Sugar of all kinds feed the bacteria

Including probiotic bacteria.

[mountain mom]

Originally Posted by amnesiac

For new folks to avoid yogurt all together just because they dislike the flavor of plain would be a far greater sin.

I agree. Savory youghurt dishes may solve that. Adding diced garlic and cucumber, shredded with a bit of oregano and a tablespoon of olive oil is a wonderful dip.

Or adding cumin and serving with curry dishes.

If it is a sweet taste one desires adding a bit of frozen berries, or diced apples, or raisins or currents, or diced date to the finished product should offer a taste of sweetness with the tart yougurt.

(Not dissing you, Amnesiac, just offering alternatives. )

[amnesiac]

Adding diced garlic and cucumber

That really is good. I like to drain my yogurt through cheesecloth & then stir in garlic, and cucumber that has been salted & drained. Super yummy with veggies & pita bread.

[Golden]

I have a question about ordering Jarro-dophilus. I'm assuming my whole foods would have it, but vitaminlife is much cheaper. If Jarro needs to be refrigerated (the capsules and the baby powder), how does it survive shipping?

TIA!
Golden

[weegift333]

"grainy" texture to yogurt?

Hi everyone,

My dh and I started making our own yogurt a couple weeks ago after reading this thread and both batches seem to come out sort of grainy in texture -- is that normal for homemade yogurt that doesn't have the weird additives that commercial yogurt uses to get it creamier? Or are we doing something wrong? Any thoughts? The taste is great but the texture leaves a LOT to be desired. Also: how much probiotics do you put in -- what's the ratio of probiotics in teaspoons or whatnot to the amount of milk used, for example?

I am also going to re-post something about an ongoing problem with 21 mos old dd, to this board, to get any more helpful thoughts.

Thank you!

Claire

[amnesiac]

Sorry, I forgot to talk about that before. I've only ever noticed a more clumpy type texture in 2 situations- when using lower fat milk & at a higher incubation temperature. I have a Donvier machine but I think sometimes the temp is a little too high. Seems that a lower temp, slower fermentation gives you a creamier product. As for the probiotics, I must admit I'm not very scientific. I guess to my half gallon of milk I usually put about ... maybe 1/2 t green label Jarro.

[weegift333]

Thanks -- our oven is very tricky -- an electric, and the lowest possible setting still brings the temp up to 150 according to an oven thermometer we bought; the only way we can do 110 is by keeping the oven door ajar (which is horrible waste of energy) -- is there a range of acceptable temp? We could keep the oven on but closed and set the yogurt on the stovetop, which gets warm when the oven is being used --

?

[amnesiac]

Usually 110 +/- 5 degrees. That may be the problem -- it may be going too fast in the oven. A couple of other things to try (which I have done before) that may slow it down a bit & give you more of the texture you're looking for:

I tend to do laundry most of the day on Sunday so it's handy to put the yogurt on top of my drier & that keeps it warm. Another thing is that if you have a heating pad like you'd put on your back or something, you can turn it on low, set the yogurt container on top of it & invert a large mixing bowl over the top -- I think Alton Brown suggests lining an ice bucket with the heating pad & placing the yogurt container inside. Also, you can put warm water in a "cooler" like you normally put ice & drinks etc. and put the yogurt container inside there.

[goodpapa]

Just bringing this..

..out of the abyss for friend.


While I'm at it let me just straighten out the misconception that I awaken anyone-- let alone a lactating mama-- to have wee hour yogurt.

This is catagorically NOT the case. We are well hydrated and often have an early morning pee.

Good that's settled.

And well, since I'm at it, mountain mom, it's pre-biotic, post-biotic and everything in between that I'm looking at that provides the dietary oligosaccharides for the beneficial flora.

The fact is that these indigestible sugars are indigestible to OUR digestive systems, but are then available once they hit the intestines for the flora to feast on. The beans, legumes etc. of most indigenous cultures (I mean just about any traditional culture but the US) have far greater supplies of these soluble fibers than our "modern"-- ie, debased--diet.

There's some great biochemistry in this piece:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?p...trient&dbid=59


Procreate, Lactate, Disseminate!



Ray

PS If you gotta have sweetener in the yogurt, use a fruit smoothie to mix in it. We make an organic strawberry, banana, mango and papaya (last two not necessarily organic) that is loaded with nutrients-- everything from minerals to digestive enzymes.

PPS Did everyone have their mucilage today? :LOL

[texas_matka]

I take Probiotics and so does dd. Would I need to lower the doage since I am nurisng and she would be getting some from me and her's? Probably not, just want to make sure. We just started them right before I found this thread and she has had looser stools.

[amnesiac]

Whatever she tolerates.



I also got this in my e-mail today in case you haven't seen it before:

"To our knowledge, this is the first careful documentation of intake of live bacteria over any extended period of time in any population. The intakes studied can be used as a benchmark for well-tolerated, safe intake of these bacterial agents," the authors write. "Long-term consumption of formulas supplemented with B. lactis and S. thermophilus was well tolerated and safe and resulted in adequate growth, reduced reporting of colic or irritability, and a lower frequency of antibiotic use."

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/468412