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The Power of Probiotics - Page 24

post #461 of 567
2/26/06 at 11:17pm
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post #462 of 567
2/26/06 at 11:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Periwinkle
Jane, why do you recommend the Nature's Way Reuteri over any others (if someone isn't eating homemade yogurt)? I want to give some advice to my mom on what to take. Thanks!

And for everyone... can we have a recap on which yogurt brands are best? Again... I think we all know that homemade is best, but for those who don't/can't bother with that.

I've used Stonyfield Farms and Brown Cow, both of which I like.
Whoops I totally missed this! I recommend Reuteri b/c first, Goodpapa recommended it previously in this thread. Secondly, I noticed significant help when me and my DS took it for leaky gut.

I don't think store bought yogurt is at all helpful, it's not strong enough to be worth eating for real probiotic benefits.

Here is good article on the bacteria count of homemade yogurt:

The Great Yogurt and Kefir Conspiracy
http://www.healingcrow.com/ferfun/co...onspiracy.html

(I do 24 hour culturing, it gets rid of all lactose and produces the most probiotic count).

24 hr yogurt contains a 15 billion bacteria count per teaspoon.

Btw the strongest capsule on the market I know of is 10 billion, www.Culturelle.com.

The National Yogurt Association's Live and Active Cultures seal only requires store yogurts to contain at least 100 million active cultures per gram at time of production and at least 10 million at the end of shelf life. ( There are 5 grams in teaspoon.) Pretty paltry.

The exceptions could be the Dannon drinkable DanActive:
http://www.dannon.com/dn/dnstore/cgi..._ID_253247.htm
(but still the count is 10 billion for entire container)
post #463 of 567
3/19/06 at 2:35am
Hi, I'm totally new here, but not new to kefir. I received my grains in November 2005 from the kefir making group and have been happily imbibing and experimenting with them. I am a huge fan.
I have a question for all you moms and pops out there. How old does an infant need to be to start on kefir? My neighbor's infant (2 months old) is having problems. He was born small, put in incubator, been sickly, now has problems with throat, swallowing. They are going to specialist soon, can kefir be used so young? Any advice on this would be appreciated.
post #464 of 567
3/19/06 at 12:04pm
niruprem, welcome to MDC!

I would definitely not give an infant under 5-6 months of age anything other than breastmilk in terms of foods - sure the probiotics in kefir (and yogurt, etc.) are great but the foreign proteins and make-up of the food in terms of nutrients/sodium/fats-proteins are woefully inadequate at best and downright destructive/dangerous at worst. A small baby or a baby who is close to being FTT should have mama focusing (with help from an LC) on getting her milk supply up and getting him to nurse more/better - there is nothing like breastmilk to help with that, and in fact, he needs it even more than ever because he was born early.

They do make just the straight probiotic supplements, e.g., Baby JarroDophilus plus one of the ones with Reuteri in it, but to be honest, it sounds that he's got a lot more going on that gut problems. The things you described are pretty common sadly in low birthweight preemies and they may do tests for developmental delays, GERD (reflux), etc. And again, the primary focus should be how to get him more breastmilk (and the good hindmilk towards the end of a feeding). But no non-breastmilk foods until he is AT LEAST 5-6 months (or more) **corrected** age.

Hope that helps!
post #465 of 567
3/19/06 at 1:42pm
Periwinkle, thank you so much for the welcome and the quick response.
What you say makes incredible sense, though I don't understand what close to being FTT means.
This baby was not born premie but is small....was home from the hospital within a week. So maybe it is the mom who is in need of the kefir?
Sorry for my ignorance here, my mothering has come to children already grown!
post #466 of 567
3/19/06 at 4:50pm
Oh sorry. FTT=failure to thrive.

I think the kefir couldn't hurt (for the mother only) but again, it sounds like this poor baby has more going on than a poorly colonized gut, kwim? The real focus should be on upping his breastmilk consumption while trying to rule out physiological problems (like GERD). It is also important not to give the mother the message that there is something inadequate with her milk, i.e., by saying she should supplement her diet with something to improve her milk (kefir, Vitamins, etc.), which could make her consider some of those "hypoallergenic" or easy-to-digest formulas on the market now (e.g., Alimentum, Nutramigen, Good Start). The only thing I am thinking, especially if he does have reflux (GERD), is that is could be a dairy sensitivity (or other food sensitivity) in which case she should be focused on continuing to breastfeed exclusively well into the 6th month (corrected) and I might even tack a month or two (at least) onto that before introducing ANY solids (even and especially baby cereal), and should do an elimination diet to pinpoint the culprit foods in her diet.
post #467 of 567
3/19/06 at 8:24pm
While I agree with Periwinkle that you don't want to do anything to get this mom to consider stopping to breastfeed this child, I expect her nutritional status is woefully inadequate and improvements in her own diet would help her milk and help her baby. Kefir would certainly be helpful, particularly raw milk kefir if it's available. Visit the nutrition and immunology thread in the vax forum for lots of reading on issues like these.

And keep in mind that my comments are coming from a mom whose nutritional status was woefully inadequate.
post #468 of 567
3/20/06 at 1:18am
[QUOTE=Periwinkle]Oh sorry. FTT=failure to thrive.
WOW, that's heavy. But this baby looks so delicate,...that might be the most apt description. The mom works for me, so the particulars are not clear/ I think you hit it on score with the <more going on than a poorly colonized gut?>
KWIM ? definition please?
And not to give the wrong message of inadequacy///I hear you,,, it's not about kefir. Thank you both.
post #469 of 567
3/20/06 at 10:42pm


I'm sorry. I just use these phrases almost without thinking anymore.

KWIM= know what I mean?

post #470 of 567
3/26/06 at 10:38pm
Hello everyone,

I have recently found this thread and have a few questions. I would like to start dd on some probiotics. For a few months now she has been having runny poops (only one or two a day, but not firm at all) and I think perhaps she has some gut problems.

I was BF but had to stop due to medicines for RA... making my own yogurt is really out of the question right now. Some days I can hardly get out of bed, even cooking dinner is tough... and couple that with the fact that dd does not like yogurt. I'd really like to supplement her. What is the best out there?

DD is 13 months and doesn't have a great diet to begin with. Any help would be appreciated!
post #471 of 567
3/27/06 at 5:33pm
I feel like I've been reading this thread for hours and I still don't know what kind of starter I should use to make my own yogurt! LOL What brands of starter do you recommend and where can I buy it if my store (Wegman's) doesn't carry it?
post #472 of 567
5/6/06 at 6:54pm
Jessica,

You can use any storebought yogurt with natural cultures to start a homemade batch. To make it stronger, culture longer than the recommended 4 hours, up to 24 hrs. to elminate all lactose and get a concentration of 15 billion bacterial count per teaspoon.
post #473 of 567
5/6/06 at 6:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by apple_dumpling
Hello everyone,

I have recently found this thread and have a few questions. I would like to start dd on some probiotics. For a few months now she has been having runny poops (only one or two a day, but not firm at all) and I think perhaps she has some gut problems.

I was BF but had to stop due to medicines for RA... making my own yogurt is really out of the question right now. Some days I can hardly get out of bed, even cooking dinner is tough... and couple that with the fact that dd does not like yogurt. I'd really like to supplement her. What is the best out there?

DD is 13 months and doesn't have a great diet to begin with. Any help would be appreciated!
Sorry we all missed this! How are you both doing now?

Have you looked into enzymes for RA? specifically high proteases taken between meals.

Culturelle and Nature's Way Reuteri are good probiotic capsules IMO.
post #474 of 567
6/6/06 at 12:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JaneS
Jessica,

You can use any storebought yogurt with natural cultures to start a homemade batch. To make it stronger, culture longer than the recommended 4 hours, up to 24 hrs. to elminate all lactose and get a concentration of 15 billion bacterial count per teaspoon.
In the wonderful world of false advertising, aka the USA, you need to buy yogurt that states clearly "Live ACTIVE" cultures.

Technically any yogurt can put 'live' somewhere on the container because it *is* live cultures doing the work of making the yogurt, but then they grow old and get abused in handling and some added 'stuff', and die off by the millionz.

It is very important that it states "active" cultures. Manufacturers are supposed to have a minimum number make it to the store shelf (or cooler) still alive, but barely counts.

Typical store yogurt is not 'alive' but dying. Sorry, but it's true.

If possible, try to buy good organic active yogurt. You may pay more for it, but remember that it will be 'seeding' your own supply. The better start it has had, the livelier it is when you rush it home, the better your own yogurt will be and the longer you will be able to cutlivate your own from that initial batch.

btw, some starters, though they may get treated properly and fed regularly to continually make new batches, always reserving from the 'new' for the next batch, may still peter out over time and use.

Sad, but true.

Here's a cheerful addition to making your own yogurt - use a meticulously cleaned and sanitary cheese cloth, line a strainer, pour your yogurt into it, fold the edges all over the top and then weight it down with a small plate and can. Set in the refrigerator for a few hours.

Now you have a wonderful soft raw cheese that is very healthful. Makes excellent dips, cheese balls, snacks, spread for crackers, celery sticks, etc. Somewhat like cream cheese. The longer you 'press' it, the firmer it will be. But it won't get to be 'hard' cheese without a more serious commitment, so do enjoy it rather soon after creating.

We even enjoy it in our home made burrito wraps.

Sorry to cut in so late in the thread. The site often frustrates me with logging me out in the middle of a thread or post attempt even though I have it set to remember me and I have my security software set to allow the site.

Such is life.
post #475 of 567
6/6/06 at 1:05am
Have you read this thread?
post #476 of 567
6/6/06 at 1:26am
post #477 of 567
6/8/06 at 1:23pm
does anyone know where kefir grains came from originally? i've looked at dom's kefir site but can't find anything there about origin of the grains themselves...
post #478 of 567
6/8/06 at 6:45pm
I did a search and found this site, which talks about where kefir grains come from.
post #479 of 567
6/8/06 at 8:22pm
subbing
post #480 of 567
6/9/06 at 11:25am
i guess i wasn't specific enough... i was wondering how the kefir grain came to be... why hasn't it been possible to re-create one?
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