To think yoghurts and foods containing live cultures can't possibly make a real difference to gut health?

[Satina]

Surely they'd just all be destroyed by our gastric acids?

TMI WARNING.

Background: I've struggled with bowel troubles all my life. Episodes of bloating, abdominal pain, constipation. However, if I ever try laxatives, even just softeners, I get severe cramps and loose stools. The bloating is worse with certain foods, namely fruit and vegetables.

DM keeps encouraging me to try Yakult and has now bought me a pack of Belvita with 'live yoghurt'. I've always dismissed the benefits, assuming it to be 'woo' medicine, but I'll admit I've never taken the time to fully research it.

Now a relative who is permanently on antibiotics has been advised to take daily probiotic drinks, so there must be some benefit.

Does anyone know, do the good bacteria in these products actually make it past the stomach and colonize the gut? Are they actually beneficial or just a clever marketing ploy?

I’ve been interested in the work Michael Mosley has been doing regarding diet and he did some work on gut health too. It might answer some questions.
cleverguts.com/

Breastmilk does. Not sure about anything else.

There was a feature on this on a channel 4 programme. I think the milk drinks had minimal impact. Sauerkraut and kimchi did better. From what I remember best thing you can do is increase range of fruit and veg you eat. In UK we apparently only consume about 12 different fruit/veg whereas in countries like Japan it’s more like 50. Widening the range of foods increases contact with natural microbes which builds up gut bacteria. I’m paraphrasing - but you get idea!

Have you tried a no wheat/low wheat diet? It’s often culprit for bloating.

It does lower the risk of bowel cancer if you eat a minimum amount of live yoghurt portions a week. In India it has been widely recognised that reason why North Indian bowel cancer rates are so low is the combination of spicy food with live yoghurt incorporated in food (it’s eaten as a side dish, via lassi, as an ingrediant in soups / sauces / breads).

But this is live yoghurt not yakult etc.

Try kefir. Much better.

We use high strength probiotic powders if we've had disruption to our digestive system. They were recommended to us by the dietician as DS's system was so off balance by the time he was on the appropriate exclusion diets.

The yoghurt drink type products simply aren't strong enough.

Excess sugar aggravates my system easily. It's why I'm such a lightweight for alcohol as it takes days to get bacj to normal and get my energy back.

Read about Tim Spector a professor at Kings College London who has written a lot on this. Microbes can have a massive impact on your health. Mind you, not sure about Yakult - I thought prebiotics were supposed to be more effective? Lots of different fruit and veg is key too.

I tried a variety of diets, including no wheat. The only real link I've found, much to my dismay, is fruit and veg. Also, if I'm on my feet all day, it's worse. It's like my body wants me to sit on my arse and eat junk food all day!
I think there's a large psychological component as it's worse when I'm stressed and I can't use toilets that aren't my own so my troubles get really bad when I'm away from home.

prebiotics are meant to create the environment supporting good bacteria
probiotics are the good bacteria

Personally, I can’t see how a sweetened yoghurt drink is going to do a whole lot of difference.

Just a monetarisation of some modern medical ailment

Perhaps you have a problem with fructose tho? It’s quite common. Plus the Yakult type drinks have sugar in and sugar feeds bacteria.
I drink the kefirs. I don’t know if they work but I recently had ABs so I thought it could help.
OT but I firmly believe gut health and mental health are linked. After my ABs course I actually felt depressed!

PS I do low carb high fat (so very little fruit) and part of the motivation was constipation, bloating, reflux and permanent hunger

I think the latest research shows it has a minimal but readable positive effect while you are using the product but that it very quickly reverses as soon as it's stopped.

So basically if your going to take it you need to do it everyday forever or there's no point.

As others have said it's much better to change your diet.

The overkill but apparently effective treatment is to have a fecal transplant but I don't think it's something you can just pop into the doctor for!

Beware of yakult. The strain in it is a histamine producing strain so if you're already sensitive to histamine (allergies, intolerances) best to avoid.

As others have said Michael Moseley is a good read & prebiotics also good to eat.

@Siameasy I'm doing a degree in psychology atm and we've just been going over some studies supporting the gut and mental health. The gut has its own neural network, which is why we get "gut feelings" and thats where we feel our anxiety. It's really interesting, and is also connecting some of the previous theories of conditions like Autism being effected by gut health.

All the mainstream stuff like yalkult is pretty useless. Loads of sugar and small amount of basic cultures.

If you make your own kefir (really simple just get hold of some grains) and use full fat milk with no added sugars then you get high quAlity bacteria.

It has revolutionised my IBS.
Years of bloating and cramping and intermittent constipation and diarrhoea.

If you can male your own then research decent organic kefir on line.

Also some people rate the bought cultures like symbicort but I’ve not read up on them. Plus v expensive.

Own kefir is the way to go.
I add mine to smoothies and on cereal etc. It’s an acquired taste but I actually like it now.

I make my own yoghurt with full fat UHT milk. It’s very cheap and easy to do, it tastes delicious and it has improved my digestion enormously.

Those of you that are making kerfir what recipe do you use and is it difficult?

What about Kimchi I found some in Tesco it’s really nice if you like spicy food

It's impossible to know how much survives stomach acid, it's never helped my IBS and I've tried many kinds of pre/probiotic etc.

The bowel is a massive conduit for emotion, mine originally came about through a combination of poor diet and stress. I tackled it with a combination of stress management and an elimination diet. I found i can't eat insoluble fibre - wholemeal products, brassicas, fibre rich cereals, pulses or beans.

Low Carb diets (like keto) are good for reducing inflammation in the body. Lots of IBS and crohn's sufferers have success with it, but it can be very restricting.

Kombucha is also a good source of probiotic.

I have real bloating problems. I have been tested for ovarian cancer as I was so panicked,. It doesn't seem to be related to one or two foods though - just everything! Also incredibly windy :( I am of a certain age though so maybe its that - very depressing I must say

Not convinced shop bought kimchi has any nutritional benefit, as the fermentation process for real Kimchi is usually over 4-8 weeks (longer if you use the fridge) before you should eat. You only open it / stir to help the gasses escape.