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What are the best Probiotics?

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Crohn's Disease
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Posted 10/18/2013 7:36 PM (GMT 0)
Hey I wanted to try taking probiotics but have no idea what one to choose as there are so many out there. Any suggestions? I am from Ontario Canada.
Posted 10/18/2013 9:14 PM (GMT 0)
My doctor said that anything with acidophilus is good. I just started 3 days ago. Hope that helps. I am pretty new to all this, so, that is all I can tell you. I eat lactose free gluten free organic valley yogurt as well, which has lots of probiotics.
Posted 10/18/2013 10:09 PM (GMT 0)
WhitneyCasandra

The Probiotic I have been having good results with is made by a company called "Renew Life". The particular version I currently use is the "Ultimate Flora Critical Care 50 billion". The company has other versions that are stronger or weaker.
I noticed that my bowel movements changed for the better and the slight bleeding went away after 3 days.
These probiotics are enteric coated or delayed time release, so that the caps don't dissolve in the stomach acid or until it reaches the small intestine where it will be more effective.

What I have been seeing is, that you have to get a quality product that has many different live strains of bacteria since not all the strains may help you. This one has 10 strains. Also enteric coating is necessary for people with crohns to really benefit from probiotics I have tried many other products but did not notice the same effects.

I also use Whole Leaf Aloe Vera Juice that has been a great help for me.
Posted 10/19/2013 1:23 AM (GMT 0)
There are tons. Homemade cultures can yield high counts. The highest count and only probiotic to under go clincal trial is VSL#3 and it is proven in a few things to help but for the most part with CD especially the study results were not as good. It has 8 or so strains and 1 packet had 450billion cultures. Dosing in study was 1-4 packs a day. I found it really helped but was not helping enough to dish out the cost for 2 packs a day.
Posted 10/22/2013 5:54 PM (GMT 0)
The best source of bacteria is homemade yogurt fermented for 24 hours.  You would have to take 100 probiotic pills to get the equivalent amount of bacteria in a cup of yogurt.  Store bought yogurt is better than probiotics if that is all you have, but home made is the absolute best source of bacteria.  

Most store bought yogurts have sugar added, which only feed the bad bacteria in your gut and add to your inflamation problems.   Also store bought yogurt is not fermented long enough to allow the bacteria in the yogurt to reach it's maximun potential like in 24 hour feremented home made yogurt.  

Post Edited (NY-Sooner) : 10/23/2013 5:34:28 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 10/23/2013 4:53 PM (GMT 0)
NY-Sooner
Thats very interesting about the store bought yogurt having more bacteria than the pills. I wasn't aware of that.
I wonder why the major yogurt brands don't indicate how much cultures their yogurts contain, it would be a good sales pitch.
I have been using yogurt for some years now(Fage,Chobani,Lifeway Kefir & others), but when I had a flareup the yogurts & kefir didn't seem to be helping any more.

So I decided to try a time released probiotic called "Renew Life Critical Care 50 billion" . It helped me to start feeling better within a few days. I am assuming that is what helped me since it was the only different thing that I added to my daily routine for crohns. The Enteric coated pill (delayed or time release) is supposed to help the probiotic make it past the stomach acids to the small intestine where it will be most beneficial. I continue to use the Probiotic pill but will consider trying homemade yogurt someday if I can be sure it will provide as much or more bacteria as he probiotic caps.

Thats good info about sugar feeding the bad bacteria in your digestive tract. Thats why people with Crohn's should avoid as much processes sugars as possible to keep healthy intestines.

I stopped using white sugar a while back and only buy raw cane sugar or I eat a tablespoon or two of honey when I have a sweet tooth hoping it might be a better source. I get nausea & sometimes sick if I eat store bought candy bars.
Posted 10/23/2013 5:11 PM (GMT 0)
it seems too simple but after trying many of those I've found the store brand of Activa to work the best for me.
Posted 10/23/2013 6:49 PM (GMT 0)
I tried Activia for a while & loved the taste, it reminded me of the yogurts I had as a kid in the 70s, but was not sure if it was enough for me at the time.
Posted 10/24/2013 3:35 AM (GMT 0)
There's a probiotic available in Canada called Mutaflor that's been in use in Germany for almost 100 years. It contains a strain of beneficial Ecoli and is supported by clinical trials.

http://mutaflor.ca/
Posted 10/24/2013 6:22 PM (GMT 0)
Here is the study article on the particular strain of bacteria
(E. coli Nissle 1917 ) and IBD.
Not sure of the cost. But it seems interesting. Has anyone used this. Someone posted it costs much less than vSL#3

http://www.practicalgastro.com/pdf/March10/SchultzArticle.pdf
Posted 4/11/2015 3:06 AM (GMT 0)
I've been using renewlife mega potent brand abd I haven't pooped in awhile. That usually means my stuff will be great tomorrow!! Lol
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