[quote]anonym wrote:
[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:
My understanding was that wheat particularly was a cause for a lot of concern even in those that don’t suffer from severe symptoms of gluten intolerance. Supposedly everyone’s GI tract becomes inflammed due to wheat?[/quote]
Honestly, I haven’t seen much of any compelling evidence to suggest that anything more substantial than a minority of the population has genuine issues with wheat.
If you have any research showing otherwise, I’d be interested in taking a look. This discussion has been brought up on occasion around these parts and I never found the argument to be very strong.
[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:
I also was under the impression that yeast/fungus such as candida thrived on wheat…? How can one item that I am told to avoid because it feeds the bad stuff also be told to eat because it feeds the good stuff?[/quote]
Well, in healthy individuals, Candida are normal residents and generally aren’t seen to cause problems more severe than vaginitis or diaper rash. However, they ARE known to cause issues from time to time and can vacillate between commensal and pathogenic phenotypes by virtue of certain phase-specific genes that allow them to opportunistically adapt to their environment.
Candidiasis is typically the result of more than just wheat intake. FOr example, superficial candida infections (like thrush, aka nasty tongue) is often seen in newborns, children receiving steroids or after intensive antibiotic therapy, while candida vaginitis is commonly observed in women who are diabetic, pregnant or on oral contraceptives.
So, there candida overgrowth can manifest in various areas, but in the GI tract it is commonly observed to result from things like improper diet, disease states (e.g., acute renal failure), medications (e.g., corticosteroids), impaired immune function, personal hygiene and other factors that disturb the normal flora (e.g., parenteral nutrition or stress).
But, keeping in mind the various risk factors, one of the best ways to prevent this condition is keeping your GI bacteria in top shape because they work to keep fungi from running amok. Lactobacilli, for example, are seen to help prevent overgrowth by producing lactic and acetic acids as well as antifungal substances. They also compete with Candida for adherence to the GI mucosa and upregulate the production of protective mucins.
Bifidobacteria have been seen to stimulate the production of IgA and IgG antibodies as well as reduce fungal dissemination and growth. They may also even positively modulate the inflammatory response to infection.
[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:
Also-what are your thoughts on timing of probiotic? I was under the impression that you took them on an empty stomach so I take just before bed but they end up going down with a couple other supplements (including iodine) which may hurt the result. But some studies say to take on a full stomach as that reduces the pH of the stomach and helps them to survive the trek.[/quote]
Conventional wisdom is to take them on an empty stomach to decrease their exposure to gastric acid. Others, as you say, claim it is best to take them on a full stomach due to the beneficial alteration in pH. At least one study seems to indicate that taking them just before or during a meal (with some fat) is best:
I mean, people have done just fine eating fermented foods well before the isolation of the beneficial bacteria. However, the type and quantity of the species in you choose to supplement with will impact this (Lactobacilli seem to fare better than Bifidos, for example).
FWIW, newer, fancier supplements (e.g., Theralac) claim to have improved encapsulation technologies which obviate this concern.
Unless you wanna splurge on the latest and greatest, it might be best to just go with MOther Nature and see how that pans out. She typically knows best with these sorts of things.
[quote]coolnatedawg wrote:
And what are your thoughts on taking a probiotic pill and opening it, pouring it onto pasteurized milk, and creating a fermented milk that way after 24-36 hours? I’m debating on trying that as my raw milk source is disappearing.[/quote]
Seems like an easy enough way to stretch your wallet. Certainly, the most common probiotics will likely fare well with that sort of thing (Lactobacilli grow well in milk while the bifidobacterium common in infants – infantis, adolescentis, longum, brevi – have been said to be better suited for that medium than others).
Note that over-acidification may be of concern here; L/ bulgaricus is notorious for this and would explain why it is commonly excluded from starter cultures. Things like heat shock, decreasing storage temperature and the addition of whey protein (at least, to yogurt) are thought to additionally reduce the risk of excess acidification.
While most Lactobacilli species are more acid-tolerant than Bifidobacterium, it is still strain=dependent. As well, consideration must be given to the strains cultured to evaluate any competition in growth (to note risk facts like bacteriocin, hydrogen peroxide or organic acid production) as well as their storage viability. You can probably get an easy enough idea from scoping out what bacteria are typically included in common starter culture kits.
I really don’t know too much about culturing probiotics. I’ll do some reading on it and follow up a little later.[/quote]
I’ll have to do some sleuthing to find an article about the wheat affecting everyone. It was a common statement by a holistic doc I was working for. I typically don’t believe everything I hear but since I felt better not eating wheat anyway I was more willing to accept it.
In regards to candida- I just know that many symptoms of gut distress are related to either just poor digestion (low HCL, sluggish peristalsis, etc) or a possible candida overgrowth or some other parasite. I’ve actually tried a few parasite cleanses before but they are not very good against a fungus like candida. Kefir is supposedly amazing for this purpose as it actually eats the candida.
Thank you for the link in regards to probiotic timing. I have started taking it with a banana (FOS) in the evening but I will now try and bump it up to dinner time. In reality, I bet the 14billion cultures in my probiotic are negligable compared to the amount ingested with a fermented food product as you say. I’ll do whatever is convenient on that day for my probiotic but try and increase fermented food throughout the day anyway.
I’m going to pick up some milk and try culturing with my probiotics. That’s a good idea to look into what’s in a starter kit. I’ll do that and see how my probiotic compares. I’m also trying to procure some kefir grains to start that up. I think that is what I really want but for some reason I didn’t splurge $5 to pick some up at the farmer’s market when I picked up some raw milk.