Experimenting Probiotics and Prebiotics on Myself #4

At the moment I am on:
FOSs: 7 grams/day
VSL#3: 1 envelope a day
Yomoplus: Bifidobacterium longum BB46, Bifidobacterium bifidum BB02, Bifidobacterium BBR8, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG
Saccharomyces boulardii (1 pill/day - 5 days)
In Forma (Continente): Bifidobacterium lactis BB12

I've tried both milk kefir and coconut milk kefir. They both tend to constipate me (hoooray!) meanwhile I can go out for dinner, and even have meat (I only tried the raw one).

Daring Ro' also had french fries at McDonald's without problems (small portion). Tonight I tried 15 grams (1/2 oz) fritos... we'll see how it goes. I'd say kefir has occupied my fridge and dislodged most food but hey so far it's all worth it!

Experimenting Probiotics and Prebiotics on Myself #3

At the moment I am on:
FOSs: 7 grams/day
VSL#3: 1 envelope a day
Yomoplus: Bifidobacterium longum BB46, Bifidobacterium bifidum BB02, Bifidobacterium BBR8, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG
Saccharomyces boulardii (1 pill/day - 5 days)

I still am not back on Bifidobacterium lactis BB12, but it's in my fridge. Lactobacillus johnsoni La1 was discontinued and I fully recovered.

I tried 90 ml Aptimil 1 powdered milk for babies (with galactooligosaccharydes) and had a bad run today, but it could have been yesterday's gorgonzola cheese (can you tell I'm daring more and more?).

I drank my first 100 ml of coconut kefir today. We'll see how it goes.

Experimenting Probiotics and Prebiotics on Myself #2

I played here and there :)

At the moment I am on:
FOSs: 7 grams/day (prebiotic - 15 days)
VSL#3: 1 envelope a day (probiotic - 12 days)
Yomoplus: Bifidobacterium longum BB46, Bifidobacterium bifidum BB02, Bifidobacterium BBR8, Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (probiotic - 5 days)

I have tried for 6 days Bifidobacterium lactis BB12, then I ran out of it and didn't replace it (bad mistake, tomorrow I will re-start it). I have taken Lactobacillus johnsoni La1 for 3 days during which I had increasing number of runs to the toilet. It has the same impact on my healthy mate (Pat). I am unresolved on whether to stop it now or give it some more time. I also had a couple of painful bowel air colics. I don't know whether it's due to the lack of BB12 or the introduction of La1....

I started Saccharomyces boulardii today.

In any case, I tolerate the fat a lot better, as I thought I would. I still see lots of it in my stools, but I have fewer episodes of diarrhea (like 2 a day) even when I eat without weighting everything (and possibly above 3%).

More experiments tomorrow (when I'll get my kefir grains)....

Experimenting Probiotics and Prebiotics on Myself #1

From all the previous entries, one can detect how I did my homework. Reason for that is, I got a bowel bug that impaired my life for sixteen days, delaying my dental surgery and creating a lot of malnutrition (and consequent muscular pain and edema).

I presently am on:

FOSs: 7 grams/day (prebiotic - have used it for a week)
VSL#3: 1 envelope a day (probiotic - have used it for 4 days). VSL#3 is composed of:
Streptococcus thermophilus
Bifidobacterium breve
Bifidobacterium longum
Bifidobacterium infantis
Lactobacillus acidophilus
Lactobacillus plantarum
Lactobacillus casei
Lactobacillus bulgaricus

I have tried fructose (diabetic sugar) for 4 days but would get me bloated, so I discontinued it yesterday (and am already improving).

Just today I added a functional yogurt having Bifidobacterium lactis BB12. The rationale behind that is, I seem to do great on FOSs, which feeds bifidobacteria. So, I gathered I lack bifidobacteria more than lactobacilli and Bifidobacterium lactis BB12 is not encompassed in the VSL#3 mix, thus I added it.

I might be adding Lactobacillus johnsoni La1 and Lactobacillus casei immunitas later on. I also plan to add Saccharomyces boulardi and see how it goes.

I keep my diet religious about:
1. drinking at least one cup of skim milk a day (lactose feeds bifidobacteria and lactobacilli! If we don't drink milk, or drink lactose-free one, chances are we aren't helping them help us!);
2. eat a little salad twice a day (I empirically noticed that some kind of greens are better for me than others.. radicchio and lettuce are dangerous to some degrees, but rocket, baby spinach, baby mix, spring mix are not);
3. try not to have "carb meals" alternated with "protein meals". On the contrary, I try to always eat balanced: some bread/focaccia, together with some proteins (fish, eggs, or cheese) and some greens at every meal.

Prebiotics and IL

If probiotic comes from the ancient Greek and means "in favour of life", prebiotic still comes from Greek and means "before life".

Prebiotics are substances (not microorganisms!) that pass un-modified through the bowel. This means that our body does not modify them, while bacteria in the bowel do .

Basically, prebiotics are substances that our bodies don't eat but that our bacteria do eat. Plus, intestinal bacteria get their energy from sugars that are “leftover” because we can not digest them and from our own mucus.

Prebiotics selectively feed the growth of healthy intestinal bacteria (such as bifidobacteria and lactobacilli) at the expense of the less friendly putrefactive bacteria (such as bacteroides, clostridia, and other coliforms).

If we don't feed probiotics with prebiotics, even if we supplement our diet with probiotics, it will not be enough. This is the basic reason for functional food industry is going toward the commercialization of synbiotic food, having both pre- and probiotics.

Prebiotics are oligosaccharides, that is sugars "bigger" than normal sugar but "smaller" than starch.

The main prebiotics are:

*fructooligosaccharides (FOS), normally found in Jerusalem artichoke tubers, dandelion root, burdock root, onions, leeks, some grains, garlic, wheat, bananas, asparagus, tomatoes, yacon, raisins, prunes and honey;
*galattooligosaccharides (GOS), normally found in human milk (and some humanized baby formula, especially in the EU);
*inulin, normally found in dahlia tubers, burdock roots, chicory roots and greens.

Interestingly, bacterial species differ in the types of sugars required for growth. Bifidobacteria grew well on FOSs and inulin, while lactobacilli grow poorly on these sugars.

The by-products of the metabolism of these sugars are primarily short-chain fatty acids, which are considered to be "food" for the bowel cells in the colon.

Coming to IL, why is it all so interesting?

Because among the several aspects affecting the gut microflora, high levels of fat in the stool as well as high level of proteins can negatively affect the level of Bifidobacteria.