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an idea- making your 'own' probiotics...

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Posted 9/1/2009 11:42 PM (GMT 0)
hi all. all the talk about yogurt and probiotics has got me thinking. it is pretty easy to make your own yogurt, so is it possible then to add a packet of your favorite probiotic bacteria to the culture and multiply them along with the yogurt starter bacteria? if that worked, you could then keep starter and culture those oh-so-expensive bugs you bought and get the benefit for much less $$$$. buying probiotics is too expensive, and this is an idea to lessen that expense- make your own!

of course, it would depend on whether the bacteria in the probiotic you want to culture 'like' milk, which is what is used to make the yogurt... but these probiotic manufacturers have to culture their bugs in something. shouldn't be impossible to figure out. what say you?
Posted 9/2/2009 12:13 AM (GMT 0)
I dunno but that sounds like it'd be pretty cool
Posted 9/2/2009 1:44 AM (GMT 0)
I have never tried adding my own probiotics to the yogurt i've made along with the starter. The starter packets supposably contain a high # of live bacteria. I do however sometimes open probiotic pills into blended drinks I make. I have heard you can use plain yogurt as a starter but I usually buy the packets because regular yogurt contains thickening agents and sometimes sugars. If I want my yogurt thicker, I will put it through a cheese cloth.
Posted 9/2/2009 2:03 AM (GMT 0)
i think when i get to making my own yogurt i will give this a try... maybe i'll try culturing the vsl#3 along with the yogurt, i think i'll just use yogurt + vsl#3 as a starter, and then have my very own multi-strain probiotic yogurt. heck, i'll bet you could culture JUST the vsl#3 and have vsl#3 yogurt ad infinitum. hmmm...
Posted 9/2/2009 3:09 AM (GMT 0)
soooo, how would you know if you're successful?
Posted 9/2/2009 3:50 AM (GMT 0)
i really hate to even answer you, quincy- i'm sure no matter what i say you will trash it, right?

there are several ways to know if you are succesful-

the best way is probably a microscope. barring that- the old if add milk + bacteria and culture it and it turns into yogurt should work just fine.

so if-
vsl#3 + milk (culture at, what 110 degress for several hours?) = yogurt
then it worked.
Posted 9/2/2009 4:52 AM (GMT 0)
Ok....not to be negative, but you're going to have trouble identifying bacteria (if you're concerned about which species you have), even with a microscope.

Also, you might want to do some research beforehand about the different species of bacteria that are in VSL#3 and see if they feed on milk or not...why waste the product if they don't feed on milk?
Posted 9/2/2009 8:48 PM (GMT 0)
waste one packet of vsl#3? if it doesn't make yogurt, i'll just drink the milk. no problem, the bacteria will still be there.

i sincerely doubt that the good people at vsl#3 culture their, what, eight strains of bacteria in different medium. so if the milk works i will assume that all of the strains like milk. of course, technically, this is not a valid assumption. but i'm willing to take that chance to not pay hundreds of dollars a month for the stuff...

honestly, it is pretty likely that vsl#3 is selling yogurt bacteria... check out this post from someone who thinks like me, taken from
http://www.ibsgroup.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=68701;

I've tried most probiotics out there that are backed up with clinical research. They all seem to have different affect though the VSL#3 worked the best for me with regard to inflamation and food sensitivities. It essentially stopped all the crazy symptoms I was having and allows me to feel normal again.

It definitely is not cheap though there is a way around this. After using VSL#3 for a couple of months I decided to try making yogurt out of it. I took one package of VSL#3, 2 qts of milk and my Yogourmet Multi machine and left it for 22 hours. Then I put it in the refridgerator overnight. The yogurt tastes excellent! It tastes as good if not better than the probiotic mix provided by Yogourmet. One bowl of yogurt probably contains more VSL#3 probiotics than found in a standard VSL#3 package and I can make a 30 day supply of VSL#3 last all year.

Note: I followed the Yogourmet probiotic directions and cooled the milk to 70-77 degrees F before adding the VSL#3 probiotic mix. They recommend 15 hours though I waited 22. At 24 hours all the lactose is broken down for any lactose intolerant people out there. I used to be but, that problem is gone too.
Posted 9/2/2009 8:51 PM (GMT 0)
Ok, so now I'm confused. Your first post made it sound like you had just come up with this idea to culture your own. Now this post sounds like you've already done it. I mean, it's not a big deal, really, but it's just weird.

Edited to add:

Now that I've read the link, it appears you C&Ped from the other website.  I didn't see that you hadn't written the stuff...

Posted 9/2/2009 9:06 PM (GMT 0)
yes. please read my posts before you get all negative nancy on them. ;) maybe i should change the font of the quote to make it more obvious it was cut and pasted from another site... but i left the link, i thought that would be more than enough. guess i'll try that so others don't think i'm weird too. hehe.
Posted 9/2/2009 9:08 PM (GMT 0)
Not negative, just thought things were really, really odd. Your post wasn't clear to me at first.
Posted 9/2/2009 9:11 PM (GMT 0)
ah. no worries. i changed the font, maybe that makes it easier. it was confusing the way it was before, i do agree!

but check it out, it totally works!!! awesome. make your own probiotics for cheap, folks!
Posted 9/2/2009 9:16 PM (GMT 0)
That probably will help. Another thing that made me think "huh??" was that in another thread, when I suggested you try probiotics, you said that you had, but none of them worked. Then that post you C&Ped said that VSL#3 had worked so well and I just couldn't figure out what was going on with you!
Posted 9/2/2009 9:24 PM (GMT 0)
Sounds like a good idea. I am always up for trying to up my probiotics in some weird way.
Posted 9/2/2009 10:57 PM (GMT 0)
From what it looks like, VSL 3 could be cultured in milk. The issue you're going to have is going to be providing sufficient resources. There's a reason live cultures in yogurt are somewhat limited.
Posted 9/2/2009 11:01 PM (GMT 0)
here is the important question, what do the vsl#3 people culture their bacteria in? my guess is they culture it in milk. i'm certain, however, if you ask them they will tell you it's some big secret proprietary awesome stuff. gotta keep people buying it, and why would they if they can make their own?
Posted 9/3/2009 12:05 AM (GMT 0)
A couple of potential difficulties spring to mind. First, my understanding is that the various species/strains of bacteria are quite competitive. Thus you may end up with just a couple of the more dominant ones. Second, how will you prevent contamination of your culture? Bacteria (among other things!) are everywhere, after all . You may end up culturing something completely unexpected (in a bad way).

I dunno. I applaud your creativity, but I'm not sure that any sustained culturing can be done without the assistance of a microbiologist and a laboratory.
Posted 9/3/2009 4:51 AM (GMT 0)
i'm pretty sure yogurt was made successfully long before microbiologist was even a word. why would i (or anyone else) have a problem sustaining a culture now? it's not rocket science. *scratched head*
Posted 9/3/2009 5:04 AM (GMT 0)
apparently, this idea is all over the place as i read this from a member of this very website tonight, posted by rdm in the mutaflor thread;


Some years ago I did an experiment on some old (over a year) refrigerated VSL#3 to see if it was viable. I added a partial packet to some milk let it sit out at room temp. I had a yogurt like substance in fairly short order. Thus I concluded that at least some of the bacteria were viable.
Posted 9/3/2009 6:45 AM (GMT 0)
Let me know if it works out. I might give it a try too. I usually buy ecuisine off amazon. I think that is the brand anyway, something similar.
Posted 9/3/2009 10:48 AM (GMT 0)
I must have misunderstood your post. I thought you were trying to culture the bacteria found in probiotics such as VSl 3 - not just make yoghurt.
Posted 9/3/2009 1:20 PM (GMT 0)
hahahah... sigh. *throws stack of papers in the air* i think some people understand what i was getting at, anyway.
Posted 9/19/2009 12:12 AM (GMT 0)
I love this idea, SO smart!!!
Posted 9/19/2009 2:45 PM (GMT 0)
I'm a little nervous about growing from VSL - unsure which strains would grow and which wouldn't. I think the result would not be the consistent number and kinds of strains of the original. The fact that I use slightly warm milk (remembering my yogurt maker in the 70's) indicates to me I'd probably kill of some of the VSL bacteria anyway.

I was growing my own kefir in early summer and it sure came out inconsistent in taste and texture; sometimes thick, other times thin, sometimes almost carbonated, other times not, and I would assume that reflected what bacteria were growing there.

But - I have been making my own yogurt and love it. Notsosickly - I started with a few tablespoons of Dannon Vanilla! But that was months ago, and I keep using a little of my current batch to start the next. Any sugars and fillers are long gone. I heat my milk in the microwave, let it cool to about body temp, then put it in a jar with a little yogurt, wrap the jar to keep the heat more constant as the day's temps vary - and let it sit 24 hours. I love it and eat it plain (me, with the raging sweet tooth!!)
SCD and all that, yes, - but the thing that got me started was an article in the NYTimes:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/15/dining/15curi.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=making%20yogurt&st=cse
I've eaten yogurt of some sort every day for about 3 years and I think it helps.
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