Best probiotics to buy?

[bella]

What should you look for when choosing some?

And can you make your own rather than pay a fortune?

[Sammyf]

I think they are worth a try when on antibiotics or if you have stomach problems.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/probiotics/

I usually just have some plain yoghurt rather than anything fancy. You can make your own yoghurt but I’m not sure it’s worth the faff when it’s not that expensive anyway.

[amyway]

To me it is really easy to make yogurt. Warm a pot of full cream milk, stir in a spoonful of plain yogurt, leave in a warm place. Turns into delicious and cheap yogurt works for me anyway

[pakpak]

What should you look for when choosing some?

Whether they’re tasty – they probably won’t have any other benefits.

And can you make your own rather than pay a fortune ?

Yes, certainly. We had some fun a few years ago making a variety of different yoghurts ourselves (yeah, we’re wild, I know!)

We bought some starter cultures for filmjölk, vilii, piimä, buttermilk, and Caspian Sea yoghurt; these are easy to get online. If you do get different types, keep them very separate while they’re growing, or they may cross-contaminate. Once you have a batch going, you can just use a small amount of it to get the next batch growing, without needing more starter, and you can freeze some for a while too before using it to make more batches later.

I enjoyed doing it for a while, but we got bored of it in the end.

[FUZZY]

Whether they’re tasty – they probably won’t have any other benefits.

There are large scale prospective studies showing reduction in the clinical signs of allergic disease in children when used in pregnancy and the first three months of nursing (in allergic mothers), with some experimental data of increased tolerance to allergens in the bowel due to IL-10 induction. These products do have some beneficial effects, but when they should be used is not completely clear. Even a short course of antibiotics devastates the diversity of bacteria in the bowel and on the skin. A high fibre diet may also have considerable beneficial results. This is all quite early science, but manipulating the microbiome has considerable potential.

[nab]

@fuzzy I think less obsessive use of bleach, detol, anti bacterial everything & anything around our homes will have more impact in increasing our tolerance of everything that is around us. We are more bacterial than human, but through media have become obsessed at killing them, the good ones and the baddies.

[Suee]

I wouldn’t spend money on probiotic foods but it is possible to buy and store in the fridge capsules of lactobacilli, can be eaten with yoghourt of any kind or taken with milk. “Colony ships” if you want to think of it that way. Very helpful and helped me resolve something that troubled me for months. Good idea to take these as you finish a course of antibiotics as these can seriously unbalance the flora and fauna of your gut (hence the warnings on antibiotic leaflets about side effects). Lots of fibre helps too.

Did you know only 43% roughly of our cells are human! I think people who suffer from allergies that these helpers are useless are only correct when referring to themselves and perhaps haven’t had problems (yet) that can be helped.

Lots of raw garlic can be helpful as well, taken with something to protect the digestive tract and mouth

[dave]

Plain yoghurt, kefir, sauerkraut etc.

It’s good for what ails ya