Need a probiotic for digestive health.

acmorris77
acmorris77 Posts: 80 Member
edited December 1 in Food and Nutrition
What is the best probiotic to take for digestive issues? Since losing weight entails a lot of food that cause or trigger IBS symptoms, I need recommendations on a probiotic that will help. Eating rice, bananas and white bread is not an option!
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Replies

  • Brithicks
    Brithicks Posts: 148 Member
    I take inner-eco fresh coconut water probiotics. I like the berry flavor.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    The only consistent advice I've heard on probiotics is to get a variety, so if you are taking a supplement make sure it lists several different types on the ingredient list. You can also get some through foods like yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and other pickled veggies.

    Just wanted to add, there is no reason you can't eat rice, bananas, and bread while losing weight. Just eat correct portions and fit them in your calories goal. I eat rice and bananas almost every day, and bread when I get in sandwich mood :)
  • williammuney
    williammuney Posts: 2,895 Member
    NOW foods acidofilus
  • michellesz
    michellesz Posts: 429 Member
    A friend did numerous research for me and suggested the following that I purchased, Ultimate Flora probiotic. 25 billion live cultures per capsule. 10 probiotic strains and supports digestive and immune health as well as vaginal and urinary health.
  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    @kimny72, bananas, rice and bread can make IBS symptoms worse.
    OP, ask your gastroenterologist what he/she recommends. I wouldn't recommend beyond live (refrigerated) cultures. Pills seem to be less effective.
  • acmorris77
    acmorris77 Posts: 80 Member
    Thanks everyone!! I guess it will just be trial and error! I'll try anything at this point!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    MelissaPhippsFeagins wrote: »
    @kimny72, bananas, rice and bread can make IBS symptoms worse.
    OP, ask your gastroenterologist what he/she recommends. I wouldn't recommend beyond live (refrigerated) cultures. Pills seem to be less effective.

    Yeah, I got a little confused because she said losing weight entails eating foods that aren't good for IBS, and then said she couldn't eat bananas, rice, and bread. And after I posted that, I questioned if I had read it right. Thanks for clarifying :drinker:
  • lucys1225
    lucys1225 Posts: 597 Member
    Kimchi
  • acmorris77
    acmorris77 Posts: 80 Member
    @kimny72 I was originally told by my doctor to follow the BRAT diet of bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. Therefore, most of the things I eat including eggs, veggies, and lean meats were not in the diet. Adding in a ton of processed carbs is not something I want to do, so I felt at a loss. But, if I can get it under control, I can eat the foods that I like to eat to stay healthy and lose weight. So, I'm hoping all of your recommendations can improve my gut health!
  • Sassie_Lassie
    Sassie_Lassie Posts: 140 Member
    I take Renew Life Ultimate Flora. It has 50 billion live cultures per capsule. I also take a fiber/prebiotic supplement and a digestive enzyme (when I remember).
  • extra_medium
    extra_medium Posts: 1,525 Member
    acmorris77 wrote: »
    What is the best probiotic to take for digestive issues? Since losing weight entails a lot of food that cause or trigger IBS symptoms, I need recommendations on a probiotic that will help. Eating rice, bananas and white bread is not an option!

    Losing weight only entails consuming fewer calories than you burn, you can eat any type of food to do this.
  • acmorris77
    acmorris77 Posts: 80 Member
    @extra_medium I understand this, but for me, eating those foods don't really fuel me, they make me hungrier and tired. I end up gaining weight.
  • ames105
    ames105 Posts: 288 Member
    extra_medium wrote: »
    acmorris77 wrote: »
    What is the best probiotic to take for digestive issues? Since losing weight entails a lot of food that cause or trigger IBS symptoms, I need recommendations on a probiotic that will help. Eating rice, bananas and white bread is not an option!

    Losing weight only entails consuming fewer calories than you burn, you can eat any type of food to do this.

    I think you missed the point of the OP's question. While the general argument is a calorie is a calorie and you reduce intake of calories to lose weight, in practice, some people have problems with certain foods in their diet.

    OP I haven't found a great probiotic to recommend but was told to find one with different strains and higher survivability. The probiotics have a long way to travel until they get where they need to be to help and they don't all make it there alive. For me personally, I have had to play with foods to find out what I can eat to not bother my digestive issues while still being healthy to obtain nutrition and lose weight. Trial and error, which isn't easy or exciting but it has helped me. Good luck!
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    acmorris77 wrote: »
    @kimny72 I was originally told by my doctor to follow the BRAT diet of bananas, rice, applesauce, and toast. Therefore, most of the things I eat including eggs, veggies, and lean meats were not in the diet. Adding in a ton of processed carbs is not something I want to do, so I felt at a loss. But, if I can get it under control, I can eat the foods that I like to eat to stay healthy and lose weight. So, I'm hoping all of your recommendations can improve my gut health!

    Best of luck :). I have been fortunate enough to have an iron stomach, but I have a couple of family members, one with IBS and one with Crohns, so my heart goes out to you!
  • godlikepoetyes
    godlikepoetyes Posts: 442 Member
    acmorris77 wrote: »
    What is the best probiotic to take for digestive issues? Since losing weight entails a lot of food that cause or trigger IBS symptoms, I need recommendations on a probiotic that will help. Eating rice, bananas and white bread is not an option!

    I have gastroparesis. My doctor has me on Align. Just one pill a day.
  • ClubSilencio
    ClubSilencio Posts: 2,983 Member
    You might also want to look into digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid supplementation. The BRAT diet flared up your IBS? If so, I'm not really sure how just a probiotic would solve your problem. You need to figure how to get your body to digest these simple foods. If I'm not mistaken the majority of our gut bacteria resides in the lower intestine. So if you eat something and immediately have digestive trouble, wouldn't that point to a lack of stomach acid or enzyme production before the gut flora comes into play? I feel like all these things roll together anyway so just something to check off the list. Bring it up with your gastro.

  • paulgads82
    paulgads82 Posts: 256 Member
    I'm not fully up on probiotic research so open to correction. It seems silly to have probiotics yet not feed those already in your gut, so for this I have porridge everyday. It's also good for my reflux so might help IBS. That said I do drink water kefir but mainly cos I like the taste and watching it grow.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    paulgads82 wrote: »
    I'm not fully up on probiotic research so open to correction. It seems silly to have probiotics yet not feed those already in your gut, so for this I have porridge everyday. It's also good for my reflux so might help IBS. That said I do drink water kefir but mainly cos I like the taste and watching it grow.

    I'm curious, how does porridge help? :smile:
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    paulgads82 wrote: »
    I'm not fully up on probiotic research so open to correction. It seems silly to have probiotics yet not feed those already in your gut, so for this I have porridge everyday. It's also good for my reflux so might help IBS. That said I do drink water kefir but mainly cos I like the taste and watching it grow.

    I'm curious, how does porridge help? :smile:

    I'll hazard a reply. The existing flora in the stomach need to be fed. So why not porridge?

    I feed my bread yeast flour, after all, and it multiplies happily in a few hours.
  • hill8570
    hill8570 Posts: 1,466 Member
    Not sure about "best" for you, but most greek yogurt has a reasonable selection of biobugs, and is high-protein to boot.
  • ClubSilencio
    ClubSilencio Posts: 2,983 Member
    Porridge is cooked down more and also has more water content.

  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    jgnatca wrote: »
    Christine_72 wrote: »
    paulgads82 wrote: »
    I'm not fully up on probiotic research so open to correction. It seems silly to have probiotics yet not feed those already in your gut, so for this I have porridge everyday. It's also good for my reflux so might help IBS. That said I do drink water kefir but mainly cos I like the taste and watching it grow.

    I'm curious, how does porridge help? :smile:

    I'll hazard a reply. The existing flora in the stomach need to be fed. So why not porridge?

    I feed my bread yeast flour, after all, and it multiplies happily in a few hours.

    I was wondering what specifically is in porridge that feeds the gut bacteria, or maybe that's not what he meant??
  • paulgads82
    paulgads82 Posts: 256 Member
    It was. I can search around for the study but can't remember off the top of my head. It helps with my reflux so much that if it doesn't help feed my tummy wrigglers I'm still happy.
  • paulgads82
    paulgads82 Posts: 256 Member
    Can only find this ATM http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4s0XkHq0HxZhjd5V2lQ2LRm/do-probiotics-do-any-good
  • fishshark
    fishshark Posts: 1,886 Member
    i have crohns and its kind of an opposite type. I actually get backed up for weeks and taking fiber causes direstress. Probiotics help things calm down. I take megafoods probiotics... i also drink kefir, eat yogurt, and fermented foods like kimchi and sauerkraut. I find that its most beneficial when i add a veriety. the body gets used to things easy.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    paulgads82 wrote: »
    Can only find this ATM http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4s0XkHq0HxZhjd5V2lQ2LRm/do-probiotics-do-any-good

    Thank you :smile:
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,760 Member
    ClubSilencio wrote: »
    You might also want to look into digestive enzymes and hydrochloric acid supplementation. The BRAT diet flared up your IBS? If so, I'm not really sure how just a probiotic would solve your problem. You need to figure how to get your body to digest these simple foods. If I'm not mistaken the majority of our gut bacteria resides in the lower intestine. So if you eat something and immediately have digestive trouble, wouldn't that point to a lack of stomach acid or enzyme production before the gut flora comes into play? I feel like all these things roll together anyway so just something to check off the list. Bring it up with your gastro.

    I think the OP meant she? he? would need to be on the BRAT diet to keep her/his digestive issues settled.

    OP, I take 3 different probiotics these days. Saccharomyces boulardii, Culturelle chewable (cuz I'm really tired of swallowing pills), and a version of Digestive Advantage for gas. I'm not sure that one's helping. :) All I really know is, I was taking all three the last time I was on antibiotics and I made it through scot free when the time before that, sans probiotics, I ended up with C diff.
  • acmorris77
    acmorris77 Posts: 80 Member
    @glassyo Yes, It was suggested to be on the BRAT diet but I'd like to avoid that if possible so I can have my veggies and other foods instead of white toast and rice. These are all great suggestions and I think I'm going to try combining a bunch of these ideas to see if it helps!!
  • acmorris77
    acmorris77 Posts: 80 Member
    I tried the Renew Life Ultimate flora and it's changed my life this past week! Thanks!
  • OlyCapitalChick
    OlyCapitalChick Posts: 236 Member
    I use the Renew Life 200billion fridge sticks bc I suffer from other things as well (beyond IBS) and once my body is 'righted' all I have to do is take a stick every so often for maintenance. I don't rightly care if people think its bunk bc when you are in pain and suffering and something works for you? Go with it!
    Glad you found it!
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