Probiotics vs Yogurt

When it comes to deciding between probiotics and yogurt, there are several factors to consider. First, trying to decipher which probiotic is the best. Second, which yogurt product provides the most beneficial bacteria? Third, comparing the two, for quality, cost, convenience and delivery. Let's start with probiotics. There are many companies that claim to have the best product. There is so much conflicting and misleading information out there, that a person really needs to be quite well educated on the subject to make any sense of it. Luckily for you, I’m able to do this. The probiotic we recommend is called “Healthy Trinity”. This product uses 3 super strains and suspends them in an oil matrix, so that they do not compete with eachother while sitting on a store shelf. This product is guaranteed to have a minimum of 30 Billion live micro-organisms per capsule through the time of expiration of the bottle. Now lets move on to yogurt. Basically, you have two choices. Either you buy a commercial product or make it yourself. The National Yogurt Association has set the standard for commercial yogurt with live cultures as: "Refrigerated yogurt must contain at least 100 million cultures per gram at the time of manufacture, and at least 10 million cultures per gram at consumption (i.e. throughout shelf life)." As you can see, when it comes to actual count of bacteria, there is no yogurt product on the market that can compare to Healthy Trinity. However, homemade yogurt that is fermented for 24 hours, as recommended in the book Breaking the Vicious Cycle, will have an average concentration of 3 billion cfu/mL of yogurt. What does this mean? Well, if you were to eat a small bowl (500 ml) of 24 hour fermented homemade yogurt, you would receive 1.5 trillion beneficial bacteria - 50 times more bacteria than a 30 billion capsule. So if you don't mind going to the trouble of making your own probiotics daily, this is a viable option. I know, how many of us have the time or the energy to go to this type of trouble? That is why I choose to get my probiotics from Natren's Healthy Trinity. Next thing to consider, is the different ways of manufacturing a product, such as,enteric coated capsules, special matrix, etc. These special processes allow the bacteria to survive the trip down your Gastrointestinal (GI) Tract. The bacteria from fermented milk contains many substances that nourish and protect the lactobacillus species. A recent study demonstrated the ability of calcium phosphate to protect lactobacillus acidophilus from bile acids but had no effect on salmonella. Furthermore, the bacteria in yogurt are alive and well, not in a dormant cycle as the bacteria in probiotic supplements are, making them more fit to adapt to sudden changes in their local environment. A study monitored two groups of people for allergy symptoms. The group that consumed yogurt on a daily basis suffered far less allergies than a control group. There is little doubt that probiotic bacteria and fermented foods offer benefits to our health. Making kefir and yogurt at home can be a nutritious, healthy, and fun hobby. Probiotic supplements also offer health benefits and can be very convenient, especially when traveling. So as you can see, there are pros and cons and you need to decide what works best for you.