probiotics question

[ajcire]

I might have asked this once before but don't remember and I know I have just been giving my son a chewable acidophilius (ack, no idea how to spell this) when he is on antibiotics but if I wanted to pick something up at the store what one probiotic would recommend? Especially if you just get yours at a regular drug store (cvs, walgreens or the like). If you really are set on a certain one that you have to get at a health food store or online, feel free to share that too... I would go that route if I need to but was looking to pick something up local and conveniently.

 

or do you think the chewable acidipholous is fine? He won't swallow anything so it kinda has to be something I can get him to take either by chewing or mixing in something. I don't have to hide it, he will take it.. just won't swallow it.

[dut]

Hello

 

You may have to hunt for it, certainly you can order on line, but I really like Phatmax HLC acidophilus/bifidus. It is a human strain probiotic with fructo oligosacharide with a peachy flavour. Comes in a powder that my two (6 and 2) happily eat off a spoon 'cos it's sweet. I also open up capsules of Florastor and hide it underneath the probiotic. Florastor is sacchoromyces boulardii, a good yeast that competes with bad yeast in the gut. It tastes like smelly cheese but as long as I hide it under the nice probiotic both my 2 will eat it.

 

My dd and now ds are both on proph levels of zith and so far as long as we keep up those 2, we have no problems.

[Suzan]

I might have asked this once before but don't remember and I know I have just been giving my son a chewable acidophilius (ack, no idea how to spell this) when he is on antibiotics but if I wanted to pick something up at the store what one probiotic would recommend? Especially if you just get yours at a regular drug store (cvs, walgreens or the like). If you really are set on a certain one that you have to get at a health food store or online, feel free to share that too... I would go that route if I need to but was looking to pick something up local and conveniently.

 

or do you think the chewable acidipholous is fine? He won't swallow anything so it kinda has to be something I can get him to take either by chewing or mixing in something. I don't have to hide it, he will take it.. just won't swallow it.

 

My 7 yr old still can't swallow pills so I get everything in a capsule and sprinkle them in a smoothie or yogurt or pudding, etc. That way it opens up your options. I really like Threelac though and it comes in a powder.

 

Susan

[MomWithOCDSon]

I might have asked this once before but don't remember and I know I have just been giving my son a chewable acidophilius (ack, no idea how to spell this) when he is on antibiotics but if I wanted to pick something up at the store what one probiotic would recommend? Especially if you just get yours at a regular drug store (cvs, walgreens or the like). If you really are set on a certain one that you have to get at a health food store or online, feel free to share that too... I would go that route if I need to but was looking to pick something up local and conveniently.

 

or do you think the chewable acidipholous is fine? He won't swallow anything so it kinda has to be something I can get him to take either by chewing or mixing in something. I don't have to hide it, he will take it.. just won't swallow it.

 

I don't know what abx you're using, but my understanding is that most any abx will kill regular acidolpholus, and a long-acting one like time-release Augmentin (XR) or azithromax (long half-life) may well kill off much of the beneficial bacteria in his gut even if you're trying to stage the abx and probiotic doses hours apart.

 

My son will swallow pills so we've been using Flora-stor and a Trader Joe's Super-Acidolpholus which contains various yeasts (I can't even begin to spell it, but it's a favorite among some other posters here . . . S. Bach, or something like that, for short?!). These are capsules, so maybe you could pop them apart and mix the contents in with juice or yogurt or something?

 

Also, I've seen a product called Culturelle that comes in packets of dry powder and is specifically meant for mixing into foods and drinks. That's on the shelf at the Vitamin Shoppe, and I know this is what Beth and Sammy Maloney used.

[coco]

I have been giving my dd liquid lactobacillus made my Lifeway, 1 billion per 2 tablespoons. It's kind of clumpy, a bit like buttermilk consistency, but it comes flavored raspberry or bananna, which she loves. The owner and "ghandi" of all things natural at the health food store told me that the liquid is more effective than the pill form, so I went with it. My dd loves the taste, so it's easy. She takes it following her daily dose of kefir, which she also really likes. For those who are new to probiotics and Kefir, I just pasted the article below to give some insight on Kefir.

 

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Kefir is a fermented milk drink. The word kefir is said to have originated from the Turkish word "Keif" which means "good feeling". Kefir dates back many centuries to the shepherds of the Caucasus Mountains who carried milk stored in leather pouches where it would ferment into fizzy sour yoghurt.

 

Elie Metchnikoff, a Nobel-prize winning biologist at the Pasteur Institute, first suggested that lactobacilli might counteract the putrefactive effects of gastrointestinal metabolism in 1908. He attributed the long and healthy life of the people of the Caucasus Mountains to their consumption of soured milk. In modern times there's a great deal of interest and research into probiotics and the health giving properties of fermented milks like kefir.

 

The Kefir Culture

There are two types of kefir: water kefir - small transparent grains that ferment sweetened water; and milk kefir - white or cream coloured grains that look rather like cauliflower florets that ferment milk.

 

Kefir is a living culture, a complex symbiosis of more than 30 microflora that form grains or cauliflower-like structures (sometimes called plants) in the milk. As the culture ferments the milk these structures grow, creating new grains in the process. Real kefir from live culture is an endlessly self-propagating process.

 

Microorganisms present in the grains include lactic acid bacteria, Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, Streptococcus thermophilus, Lb delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Lb helveticus, Lb casei subsp. pseudoplantarum and Lb brevis, a variety of yeasts, such as Kluyveromyces, Torulopsis, and Saccharomyces, acetic acid bacteria among others. They give kefir excellent keeping qualities by keeping putrifying bacteria that might otherwise colonise the milk at bay. They've been shown to inhibit both salmonella and E. Coli in laboratory tests.

 

Kefir and Health

Kefir has many reputed health benefits. It has antibiotic and antifungal properties. It's been used in the treatment of a variety of conditions, including metabolic disorders, atherosclerosis, and allergies, tuberculosis, cancer, poor digestion, candidiasis, osteoporosis, hypertension, HIV and heart disease. You might find it odd that that a drink containing yeasts would be good for treating candidiasis but it has been helpful to many people, both by restoring a better balance to the gut flora and because some elements of the microflora will kill off Candida Albicans. Not all yeasts are harmful.

 

In addition to beneficial bacteria and yeast, kefir contains many vitamins, minerals, amino acids and enzymes. Particularly calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, B2 and B12, vitamin K, vitamin A and vitamin D. Tryptophan, one of the essential amino acids abundant in kefir, is well known for its relaxing effect on the nervous system. Because kefir also has an abundance of calcium and magnesium, also important minerals for a healthy nervous system, kefir in the diet can have a particularly calming effect on the nerves.

 

The abundance of enzymes brings more health benefits, especially to lactose intolerant people, many of whom can tolerate kefir without difficulty, as long as the kefir is raw and not cooked (cooking destroys the enzymes).