In my case I think the common denominator in most if not all my current ailments from crohns disease to rosacea is inflammation.
In November we are scheduled to do a Nile cruise ( ignoring the political tensions for the moment) and someone who has done it a few times has recommended taking a probiotic for a week at least before and after.
So I’m wondering whether anyone has seen any benefit from taking Yakult each day which is apparently helpful in reducing inflammation. If it is efficacious perhaps I should have been taking it over the years!!
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AnniesRyder5
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Personally I am of the opinion that the greatest benefit of Yakult is to their bank balance - far too much sugar for a start. But it did fare better than others in a study, mentioned here in an article from a reliable source:
I have read differing accounts about the use of probiotics for patients taking prednisone, a couple quite alarmist. The NHS just says probiotics may be useful but it hasn’t been proven. drugs.com/drug-interactions...
I think there is plenty of emerging evidence that the balance of the microbiome is critical in a lot of things and it could even be contributory to the role of the immune system in inflammatory disease. What will be most useful will be a tailored treatment - but I think that a good probiotic now and an improved diet with prebiotics can help a lot of things. The NHS is always about 10 years behind on the website!
But it is critical that the probiotic you use actually has something in it and that is far from the case with the cheaper end of the market found in health food stores and chemists. VSL3 seems to be reliable and it doesn't need to be a daily tablet on a permanent basis.
It comes as courses - can't remember how many in a packet. I wouldn't do consecutive courses, Give your gut a chance to "grow its own" having seeded it. Apart from anything else, VSL#3 is quite expensive - presumably because it is an effective source.
Is this to try to your intestines more robust or to quell symptoms for the holiday?
Is it worth a try before you go? I just don’t get on with them so I suspect what my biome doesn’t appreciate is the extra whatever it is in it. Perhaps it needs more of something else or just wants to be left alone. At first I thought it was the dairyness, but then non-dairy versions came out and I was fine until day 3 on repeat occasions. If you know it’s fine or not before you go, you won’t attribute the wrong things to success or failure.
Out of interest my father-in-law’s rosacea was stirred up by sugar as is inflammation generally it appears. Something unsweetened might be worth considering.
I take a form of probiotic daily, and in fact one is advised to take about a third the recommended dose to begin with, increasing slightly every day over a few days (maybe three or four days, not too long) to give the gut time to adjust. What a probiotic does, or should do, is rebalance the gut microbiome and there will probably be some critters already in residence who need to be quelled, so one doesn't want to cause a reaction strong enough to negatively affect how you feel, no matter how temporary that reaction might be. (I can't recommend what I take to you as it's a liquid and requires refrigeration.) So as SnazzyD recommends, do start taking it before your trip, and possibly easing into it wouldn't hurt.
I hope your trip is as enjoyable as the one we were on some years ago, just before the so-called Arab Spring,
I grow my own kefir with milk kefir grains. I'm not sure that I've noticed any difference in inflammation, but it makes my gut so much happier and got rid of my chronic mild constipation.
I have found the best thing for inflammation is to cut out added sugar in diet which came from my excellent nutritionist. It helped me drop from 3.5mg slowly to 2mg with relative ease much to my surprise. I stayed on each dose for 2 months and didn't have to do the DSNS method.
I buy probiotics in capsule form. We both take them if going to a foreign country where the food is very different, where it’s probably better to drink bottled water & not go near the ice or salads! Acidophilus extra 25 billion, live bacteria. Hubby has diverticular disease & IBS, & I believe in being very careful, & have minor IBS issues! We went snorkelling twice in Egypt, & on one trip had stomach issues for 24 hours only…we’d forgotten the salad was washed in tap water! Duh! Does it help? I guess I don’t know, as, apart from that trip, we haven’t had any problems! Perhaps I’m wasting our money, but the product reads well, & I hope it’s a good ‘un! We take it a few days before travel & a few days after getting home.
I did wonder when it said such a huge billion number! There was a choice too, 2 billion, 16 or something like that! Just thought I’d go for the best cover, really!
Good news, I hope you get good protection from them. I don’t know if you’ve been before, but advice we received was no ice cubes, as they can be, & are, made from tap water (with bugs in), & the salad is washed, which is good news, but again onky if it’s in treated water, not tap, or container from taps originally! If the situation doesn’t escalate I hope you have a lovely holiday! S x
Oh the Nile cruise is the best!! I made sure to have Ciprofloxacin with me (antibiotic)..and was told at the first sign of stomach problems to start taking it. Sure enough, on the cruise my friend and I both got ill from the food (and we barely at any, we take our own food to avoid this, but I tried the grilled meat on the deck). I had the pills..she didn't - and she ended up sick in the room for 2 days (as did others). Same thing happened in China, also.
Don't know if you can do this with Crohn's, though? I have life-long IBS so am always worried about my stomach, in general and take every measure I can to prevent stomach reactions.
I am so jealous, I LOVED Egypt...and the Nile Cruise is one of best memories ever. Have a great time!
Yeah Viking is pretty high - end. I was with Gate 1 Travel so mostly Americans on it, also. (a few Canadians). I always take it with me to any country after getting VERY sick in the Dominican Republic and having to go to the ER once I landed in Chicago for antibiotics. I took it to Peru, Mexico, Turkey, - although I didn't need it in Turkey or China or Romania/Hungary if I recall correctly...Egypt I did. Again, I am envious!
When we did get sick, immondium worjed but not as well as usual. But we went to the local shop & they knew just what to sell us! It wasn’t expensive & solved it for us within 24 hours. S x
I used to take it if I ever had to take antibiotics. But it is full of sugar and only one type of probiotic, so IMHO you'd be better off finding a good probiotic, and as Snazzy says try it out before you go because probiotics themselves can upset stomachs. I have to take one that doesn't have histamines in rather than the standard ones you get from the likes of Healthspan etc so experiment, as not everyone gets on with probiotics. There is no way of knowing whether they actually do anything useful, Tim Spector is a leading light in the research but even he doesn't know much yet. But when I've done gut health tests my biome is said to be in a very good state. 'Gyppy tummy' is pretty inevitable in Egypt so if you are struck down go for local advice. Good luck, hope you get there
I have tried Yakult and other similar products, but having discovered the Cultured Coconut Probiotic, ( which was also referred to in a recent post ) I have stuck with it for 6 months now. It's available from Amazon and some health food stores at least where I live . I don't have any specific digestive problems but, after 6 years on Prednisone, I feel more ' comfortable' and intend to continue to take it daily. Worth a try maybe ?
There are others ways of possibly reducing inflammation, diet probably being the most important, in particular cut out sugar. Some people say low carb or even keto ways of eating help, self included, but it's a complex area and everyone is different. A friend of mine who is battling ovarian cancer is eating very healthily, totally cut out sugar, dairy and processed foods and her doctors are amazed that her inflammatory markers have plummeted
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