Probiotic Brand Recommendations Please!

I took Florastor for a few months and now switched to
Multidophilis (by Solaray) - 10 billion units.

I really haven't been diligent about switching off probiotics from one to another. How often is it recommended to do so? Every 4 weeks or 8 weeks?? I honestly don't know, and would love advice.

itsnotjustlyme recommended Dr Ohirra's probiotic formula, which I am going to pick up.

Are there any other very good probiotics out there? I need to get my ducks in a row regarding probiotics, been concentrating too much on other things like diet and herbs, but as we all know, probiotics are of utmost importance when replenishing gut flora!

Also, if anyone has any kids brand probiotic recommendations, I would appreciate that as well. I need chewable ones and somehow they all have the same acidophlius ingredient, just different strengths. Research on this topic has been tough!!

I know you can't consume kefir, Chapelle but I make my own and consume 1 cup daily. Homemade kefir has up to 43 different strains and a small bowl can contain as much as 5 TRILLION organisms.

Still, I recognize the need for soil-based probiotics since our foods are lacking due to current farming methods - even organic. Prescript-Assist is the brand I take for that.

I also take Dr. Ohirra's, Theralac and saccharomyces boulardii (Florastar).

Basically, besides my daily kefir, I'll rotate among the above-listed probiotics by taking 1 capsule of one type each day and taking another one the following day, etc.

I'm not familiar with chewable probiotics - sorry. Could you make kefir for your kids in the form of a smoothie? It's really easy and MUCH better than store-bought kefir that often has added sugar and processing destroys most of the probiotics organisms.

Hi Chapelle - don't forget you can actually make a water kefir - it is just as good and a non-dairy alternative. My 2cents.

Kefir isn't whey based, but it does contain some whey, since it's a milk based product. It depends on just how sensitive to whey you are. I'm lactose intolerant, but kefir uses the lactose to culture, so there's very little left in it.

I tried using water kefir in the place of milk kefir and personally, I was less than satisfied with the results in my body. Milk kefir has a lot more beneficial bacteria in it than water kefir - although that may not be the case for everyone.

I don't remember what I spent on my first set of kefir grains. I ended up sending out too many and didn't have enough to start another batch when a dear friend of mine finally asked me for some - so I took her mine. I finally bought some more kefir grains and was culturing them away, and giving out the excess, and then I messed up and ruined my last set - I got sick and didn't get them 'fed' on time. So I went without kefir (although I did use other probiotics).

I was sooo thrilled when I came across some in my freezer that were really quite old (5 yrs) and figured for the cost of a gallon of milk, I could find out if they would restart - and they did!! I'm back to making my wonderfully thick, rich, yummy kefir again - and my innerds couldn't be happier!!

I understand that kefir isn't for everyone, but I would encourage everyone to at least try it and to understand that if you think that the store bought versions are okay, you will really like the home made kefir!! You have full control over the flavor and the sugar content when you make it yourself - and talk about easy to make!

The first time I healed, I used the best quality raw goat's milk (it was from my own goats! ) and then just kefir grains - which you can get good quality kefir grains from many places now, including www.culturesforhealth.com/milk-kefir-grains.html

Personally, I've added blackberries and a bit of stevia, strawberries and a bit of stevia, and vanilla extract and a bit of stevia. I enjoy yogurt, so now I just drink plain kefir with a bit of stevia daily though.

Because my adrenals came crashing down, I had to gift my beautiful dairy goats to my son, and I've had to go back to store bought cow's milk (ick! LOL!) I'm very lactose intolerant, so while I could easily drink raw goats milk, I do have to be sure to culture cow's milk before I use it.

Although store bought kefir is fine, it's not nearly the quality you can make at home - and the home made version you can control the sugar and the flavorings, which is my favorite (and most necessary) part as I have to avoid the sugar due to intestinal issues other than candida/fungal issues.

VSL#3 would be the best on the market and also the priciest one. More potent VSL#3 is available by prescription and some insurance companies will cover it. They have so many studies to prove its efficiency. Other good ones that I like is Flora Udo's choice, any from Jarrow, any from English company OptiBac, Genestra Brand HMF, any from Nature's way, Kyo-Dophilus 9....

When looking for a probiotic, one should look at the back label and look at the name of the strain. For instance there's many Lactobacillus Helveticus , some beneficial and some with no benefits at all. The ones that have been researched and proven beneficial for human will carry a number or a letter behind their name like for instance Lactobacillus Helveticus Rosell-52. You can then look up what Rosell-52 was good for and here's the study:

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01709266

"The incidence of gastrointestinal infections is very high. In Western countries at least 30% of the population suffers from at least one food-borne infection per year. Mostly because of the problem of antibiotic resistance, more emphasis is put on prevention of infections. One of the possibilities is to strengthen human resistance to gut infections by consumption of probiotics. A specific blend of probiotic lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus helveticus Rosell-52, Lactobacillus rhamnosus Rosell-11, Bifidobacterium longum Rosell-175) and a probiotic yeast (Saccharomyces boulardii), improved stool consistency and shortened the duration of diarrhea in a rat model of E.coli-induced diarrhea. These probiotics showed synergistic effects compared with administration of solely S. boulardii or a mixture of L. helveticus Rosell-52, L. rhamnosus Rosell-11, B. longum Rosell-175. Consumption of S. boulardii and a combination of L. helveticus Rosell-52, L. rhamnosus Rosell-11 reduced diarrhea in humans."

I still believe that the best probiotics are found in lacto-fermented products and we use a lot of home made kefir, home made yogurts, kombucha, sourkrauts, beet kvass and so on. I do buy probiotics that I mentioned above but do not consume them straight but use them as a starter for my yogurts.

I use VSL #3 - 900 billion units of bacteria. It is milk-based, so if you are sensitive to dairy don't use it. I find that the benefits outweigh my minor dairy sensitivity. Unfortunately, it is soooo expensive and my insurance doesn't cover it.

I'm supposed to use this 2x daily, but I'm thinking about maybe starting to make my own kefir. Has anyone used almond or coconut milk for homemade kefir? Is it possible to do it this way, or do I need to use raw milk?

I have been using Ultimate Flora for my son.

50 billion at lunch, 100 billion at night with 2 candex to keep the candida he had last year at bay.

Amazon has the best prices 90 ct. 50 billion can go to $55 and 30 ct. 100 billion to $35 if you watch for it. Prices fluctuate often. I watch daily when I need refills