To think Yakult is a waste of money?

[moonstonezoe]

MIL says I should drink it as I have been on antibiotics.
FIL says it is waste of money and that it has been proven in TESTS in Laboratories by SCIENTISTS to have very few useful bacteria left in it by the time we buy it.(he knows this for a fact as he read it in a news paper).

yanbu

YANBU.

Whats wrong with a dollop of plain live yoghurt FFS??

Oh, apart from the fact it hasn't got a tonne of sugar added to it and isn't in a snazzy wee bottle

YANBU - acidophilous (sp) tablets are MUCH cheaper and do the same thing!

It's just clever marketing.

YANBU

Nutritionist friend of mine says the same. If you really need to repopulate your gut with bacteria, you have to take capsules of live acidophilus I think.

And IIRC acidophilus does not 'do well' mixed with sugar, therefore how is YAKULT beneficial as it's REALLY sugary?

YANBU - it tastes vile anyway.

I worked in a pathology practice and the chief pathologist told me years ago that such things are complete nonsense. Eat well and don't mess around with bacteria. There's enough of 'em in food already!

Punkatheart that may be the case but if you have antibiotics you have well and truly messed with bacteria therefore it can be of some use to replace the lost ones (if you want to avoid a dose of thrush, anyway)

Any live yogurt will do this, you dont need the little drinks.

A probiotic supplement will also do the job

A diet high in prebiotics (onion, garlic and leeks are very rich sources) will help feed any probiotic bacteria and in the long term will help prevent you becoming depleted in the first place regardless of antibiotics and other extraneous factors - I recently had 5 sets of antibiotics in a row to kill off a particularly persistent strain of pneumonia and due to a decent diet of both pre and probiotics, managed to avoid getting thrush which was a bit of an achievement!

Live yoghurt - exactly. And all the onion family (although your friends may desert you!)

I have sympathy - I have had pneumonia twice. Hope you are fully recovered.

YANBU to not buy Yakult, however your Mum is spot on with her thinking that after a course of antibiotics helping your healthy bowel flora to repopulate is a good idea. Antibiotics kill ALL bacteria, not just the bad ones so your 'good' bowel bacteria, necessary for many basic body functions/immunity etc take a direct hit.

Get yourself some proper probiotics capsules from a health food shop. You probably need a bit more of a shot that you've get from live yoghurt, though that is a good daily helper.

Thanks Punk, I think I'm pretty much there now! Bad way to start the year...

Someone told me 'topping up your good bacteria' with one of these daily drinks is like going to the seaside and throwing a bucket of water in to 'top up the sea'.