Probiotics

[Sax]

I recently returned from a 2 week vacation and my digestion hasn't been right. Nothing uncomfortable or concerning, but abnormal for me. I was backpacking and camping so my intake of fresh foods was almost zero, and I suspect this threw my gut bacteria out of whack. I think I can just return to my normal foods and things will sort themselves out, but it got me wondering.

Will any probiotic work well for a WFPB diet, or will we benefit more from a particular kind?

Are some probiotics non-vegan?

What are your thoughts on probiotics in general? Are they necessary or beneficial? Do you take them? What kind?

I have some probiotics at home but I stopped taking them a couple months ago because it didn't feel necessary and I thought that continuing to take them may do nothing more than upset the natural equilibrium .

"I Contain Multitudes" by Ed Yong has been on my reading list for a while now...have any of you read it? Any other good sources of information on the subject?

 

[Lou]

I started this discussion a few months ago. the podcast I referenced to is by an expert. however, the info he imparted was somewhat ambiguous. But its worth the few minutes to listen to it. Plus you get to hear from my sister.

https://veganforum.org/threads/science-friday-probiotics-my-sister.2990/#post-15135

For the longest time, I kept a bottle of probiotics in my medicine cabinet and I would take some whenever I felt things would go out of whack or if I had to take antibiotics - like after dental surgery.

But I eventually ran out and its been a long time since I got some. Partly because they are expensive. Partly because I'm not sure which ones to get, and partly because I'm not so sure they actually do any good.

The thing the guy on the radio said is that there just hasn't been that many studies. And it's questionable that they actually make it to the large intestine. And then in his specific case - they can cause problems if they set up camp in the small intestine.

 

[Nekodaiden]

Unless I was given them as a kid (as might be the case after surgery such as wisdom teeth removed, where antibiotics might have been given), I've never taken them.

I've never from memory taken antibiotics either, even though some stupid doctors prescribed when completely unrelated to previous issues I've had that didn't involve infections or gut health.

Did you take commercial probiotics when you went vegan? I didn't bother - although it took a little while for my system to change over I'm not sure probiotics would have made any positive difference. Type of food I think is what matters most. Saying that, some people may benefit from them especially if they have gone through long bouts of anti-biotics that can eradicate some harder to replace gut flora. I also understand they can turn (change) depending on type of food intake. So a heavy meat eater might take them thinking they're doing themselves a favor without realizing that not feeding them what they need (fiber, resistant starch from whole foods) and animal flesh and fat instead either starves them or causes them to change in nature.

Mic the Vegan recently did a video on this. Might be worth watching:

 

[Lou]

you can also find them in real food. For me, it's mostly things like sauerkraut and sour dough bread. But things like tempeh, kimchi, miso, are also good sources.

The other thing is that there are supposed to hundreds of different species living in our guts. and most commercial probiotics only have maybe a dozen.

 

[Vegan Dogs]

could be the water affected you...water quality varies greatly. i take pro biotics occasionally if upset tummy. give them to my dogs also because they are in their vegan dogfood anyway must be in the cat vegan food also. pre biotics are the term actually in the petfood.