Unrelated post - but I'm just finishing my second course of antibiotics for a nasty upper respiratory infection. My gut bacteria are going to need some serious replenishing and I don't believe generic live yoghurt from the supermarket is going to cut the mustard...
I had a look on Amazon and am more confused than ever as to which may be the best option. please help.
I eat yoghurt when I take antibiotics as we need to replenish the gut flora especially when our intention is to kill only the bad bacteria and not the good bacteria. I personally prefer the goat live yoghurt but any yoghurt will serve the purpose, I think.
I agree Joburton, I don't think live yogurt is enough. I use Biokult Advanced Multi Strain Formula. If you want to push the boat out look at Cytoplan Probiotic Plus, recommended by my private specialist as Cytoplan do mostly food state supplements (Nature's Own is the same company).
I will have a look, are these available on amazon, because I can go via the thyroid uk link.
Bio-kult and Nature's Own Probiotic Plus are both available on Amazon, only a very few Cytoplan items are but that is a practioner brand, Nature's Own is the retail brand.
Thank you - For the time being, I have placed an order for the bio-kult because they contain 14 different strains of beneficial bacteria. I figured it wouldn't hurt to cover as many avenues possible!
At the moment, I'm not digesting anything properly and have horrendous acid reflux.
Are you taking Organic cyder vinigar? I have gut issues and this sooo helps. 1 tablespoon in half a cup of water preferably before meals. It's great for lots of things. Also making my own bone broth. Just finished making my 3rd lot and I'm getting quite good at it. x
Oh yes, ACV is a life saver!
I was going to mention apple cider vinegar like Mango. I take one tablespoon in warm water, plus one teaspoon of unsulphured blackstrap molasses (lots of minerals and a little bit of iron), before breakfast and evening meal. You need raw, unfitered, organic cider vinegar with mother - the mother contains the important bit (enzymes). This is the one I use amazon.co.uk/Biona-Organic-... - comes in a glass bottle so none of the nasties you get with plastic.
Ask your local pharmacist. They should be able to advise you on the best one that they stock.
My local pharmacist stocks Lamberts Acidophilus Extra 4 which is so much stronger than yoghurt. '4 billion live bacteria per capsule' it says on the pack.
It's always worth taking something like that after courses of antibiotics.
I would like to try kefir one day, but don't know if I could grow the cultures myself! I have enough trouble making bread rise, lol.
I bought kefir grains off Ebay.Failure!Then I ordered semi skimmed kefir from Poland in Tesco(they got it in to order as my branch don't stock it)Seriously delicious!
I can't stretch to the organic kefir made in a London specialist dairy available over the internet.
I have been taking probiotics for years from "Just vitamins"online.Was going to order Bio kult brand when I next ran out.Then I read an article online in the Daily Telegraph-results of research on how effective probiotics are in the gut.Useless,even Bio Kult!
Now my plan is to stop probiotics & occasionally buy(through Ebay)a course of the only probiotic that had very good results-
Symprove"
Its not cheap,but I've apparently been wasting my money anyway.Better to take this probiotic course perhaps 3 times a year & always after antibiotics(I seem to get a sinus infection almost every year & end up taking at least one course of antibiotics.Spent a whole month unable to lie down last time.Hoping T3 only will lead to fewer attacks.
garden of life raw probiotics are great if you can buy them in the fridge. Also Udos choice is a great brand but again you need to make sure that they have been stored in the fridge. Kimberly synder also sells amazing probiotics but I don't think you can buy them in the UK. There are some others that you might be able to buy in the Uk but have forgotten the names of them so will get to you tomorrow.
PB 8 is a good, every day probiotic and very reasonably priced. For tough gut bacteria, you can't beat saccharomyces boulardii. Nutricology is a good brand name but I don't see it offered on Amazon UK. I take 2 of the PB 8 and 1 of the saccharomyces boulardii each day and they don't have to be refrigerated.
It's worth buying Kerri starter grains. I make milk kefir every morning, I was worried too but as long as the grains don't come into contact with metal they're pretty robust! I use an old mayo jar and add a small glass of full milk, cover with a tea towel held with a rubber band. It gets left on a shelf in the warmest room and by morning it is fermented. I strain the grains out, repeat and then whizz my kefir with fruit for a breakfast smoothie. Thinking of adding the pre- biotic mentioned in an earlier reply. ☺
Hi, I too would recommend Kombucha and Milk kefir I have them them both every day and there is nothing simpler to do.
Milk kefir, I just add the amount of gold top milk to my grains I want to use and leave on my work top, if you do it at 8am it will be ready to use 8am the following day, strain the milk kefir through a sieve to catch all your grains, wash out your glass jar and start again, it's as simple as that, you can flavour it with fruits of your choice, if you leave it for another day it becomes slightly fizzy, or make soft cheese, leave it until it separates, let it strain through a muslin cloth and form what remains into ball shapes put them in a jar with garlic infused olive oil (chilli, thyme, rosemary) they will keep for weeks :0)
My dog loves it 😃
Yogurt you buy from the supermarket has nothing on this...
Here’s a list of the different types of good bacteria and yeast in kefir grains:
Bacteria
Species Lactobacillus
* Lb. acidophilus
* Lb. brevis
* Lb. casei subsp. casei
* Lb. casei subsp. rhamnosus
* Lb. paracasei subsp. paracasei
* Lb. fermentum
* Lb. cellobiosus
* Lb. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus
* Lb. delbrueckii subsp. lactis
* Lb. fructivorans
* Lb. helveticus subsp. lactis
* Lb. hilgardii
* Lb. helveticus
* Lb. kefiri
* Lb. kefiranofaciens subsp. kefirgranum
* Lb. kefiranofaciens subsp. kefiranofaciens
* Lb. parakefiri
* Lb. plantarum
Species Streptococcus
* St. thermophilus
* St. paracitrovorus
Species Lactococcus
* Lc. lactis subsp. lactis
* Lc. lactis subsp. lactis biovar. diacetylactis
* Lc. lactis subsp. cremoris
Species Enterococcus
* Ent. durans
Species Leuconostoc
* Leuc. mesenteroides subsp. cremoris
* Leuc. mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides
* Leuc. dextranicum
Yeasts
* Dekkera anomala / Brettanomyces anomalus
* Kluyveromyces marxianus / Candida kefyr
* Pichia fermentans / C. firmetaria
* Yarrowia lipolytica / C. lipolytica
* Debaryomyces hansenii / C. famata
* Deb. [Schwanniomyces] occidentalis
* Issatchenkia orientalis / C. krusei
* Galactomyces geotrichum / Geotrichum candidum
* C. friedrichii
* C. rancens
* C. tenuis
* C. humilis
* C. inconspicua
* C. maris
* Cryptococcus humicolus
* Kluyveromyces lactis var. lactis
* Kluyv. bulgaricus
* Kluyv. lodderae
* Saccharomyces cerevisiae
* Sacc. subsp. torulopsis holmii
* Sacc. pastorianus
* Sacc. humaticus
* Sacc. unisporus
* Sacc. exiguus
* Sacc. turicensis sp. nov
* Torulaspora delbrueckii
* Zygosaccharomyces rouxii
Acetobacter
* Acetobacter aceti
* Acetobacter rasens
Kombucha, is delicious, you can make it in all different natural flavours all you need Is your scoby/baby teabags, I use Ceylon teabags and natural cane sugar it takes about two weeks but it's worth waiting for, after fermenting the tea and sugars have been turned into a lovely probiotic drink you can add natural fruit flavours, my favourite is ginger, I bottle it and leave on my work top for a few days, it will star to get fizzy so keep opening the top when it is fizzy enough I pop it in the fridge.
seedsofhealth.co.uk/ferment...
Hope you found this interesting.
Wow, I didn't realise there were so many strains of bacteria. Thanks for sharing x
B's are water soluble, so make sure to drink the whey for B12.
I like lemon zest in mine, it seems to make the grains bigger.
M*
Hi, Did you know that you can take pro biotics at the same time as anti -biotics?
I use Healthspan who are based in Guernsey. Free Post and Package check online for some discount codes before ordering. They sell a pre-biotic Fos which I use in conjunction, this feeds the good bacteria.x I hope you are feeling much better now Bless you x
No I didn't realise you could take them at the same time. I had assumed that the antibiotic would kill any good bacteria as soon as ingested.
Hi Jo,
Kefir is good, especially for B12. You can buy your own grains. & make it with organic milk, or buy it ready made for £2.49 for half a litre, & add it to 1.5-2l of organic milk, then let it incubate for a few days. or hours in summer. I do a second fermentation, & add fruit. I get rhyazenka , too.
The best supermarket available yoghurt is natural. There are a few decent brands, but I prefer my own stuff.
M*
I saw the readymade drinks available on Amazon, could you start with this then continue the cycle with you own brew?
I'm not sure they'd be fresh, unless they delivered refrigerated, though the dried grains are sold on the internet.
I get mine with a fresh organic delivery, though I'm going to see how long I can keep a culture going.
There's also kombucha, as well as water kefir, if you're less keen on dairy.
M*
I must admit dairy is not helping my respiratory symptoms at the moment! Am googling kombucha now....
I use Kiki's Body Biotics, which are soil based organisms. They are expensive (but much cheaper in bulk on Amazon!) but they work really well for me and I get horribly bloated when I don't take them.
I know that saccharomyces boulardii are supposed to be the best thing after antibiotics but they've never done much for me. Every body is different and I'm afraid you just have to keep trying things until you find what works for you.
Good luck!
"It's life Jim, but not as we know it" lol!
If you have a tooth extraction, sucking on a probiotic tablet helps heal the wound!
Endocrinologist recommendations (PM me please)
Private doctor recommendations please
Probiotics 
Iron supplement recommendations please 
