Probiotics - Gummy Style

Details:  Digestive Advantage Probiotics by Schiff promotes digestive health two ways.  They promote digestive and immune health.  Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that live in your digestive tract.  These contain BC30 probiotic which doesn't get washed away in your digestive tract.  BC30 surives 10X bettter than yogurt.


Review:  I received a sample of the Probiotic Gummies, Plus Fiber.  First of all, I'm big on probiotics, and second of all, I really like gummy bears.  So to combine the two, well, guess what?  They got me hooked.

The gummies have either a sugar or citric acid coating.  Kind of reminded me of sour gummies, but yet not really sour.  They taste great.  Of course, it's hard to tell with just two gummies how quickly you'll notice a difference with the probiotics doing their thing. But I believe they will do what they say they will do.

If you or someone you know is experiencing digestive issues then be sure to purchase a bottle of Digestive Advantage Probiotic Gummies Plus Fiber.  Improve your immune system at the same time.  I believe it will take at least a week to notice a big difference, but you may be surprised and notice improvement immediately.

Get yours here:


Pros:  Great tasty way for kids and adults to get probiotics in them that will be more beneficial than just yogurt.  Add to that the additional fiber and immune support benefits as well. Decently priced and can be found at most stores that carry this kind of item.

Cons:  None.

My Rating:  Thumbs UP!

Delicious Homemade Yogurt

Details: Homemade yogurt using yogurt with live cultures and milk. A very cost effective way to get pro-biotics into your diet.

Review:  I like yogurt! These days I just pass it by at the grocery store because it is so expensive. I happened upon a very easy, cost effective way of making yogurt at home, without all that fancy equipment.

What you need: An insulated cooler, glass jars, a thermometer (candy type), milk, plain yogurt with live cultures, pan, spoons.

For every quart of yogurt you make, you will need a quart of milk and 2 tablespoons of yogurt with live cultures.

Directions: Heat milk in a pan to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. I did this on medium heat to prevent milk from scorching on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat.  While milk is cooling down to 115 degrees, place 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt with live cultures into each jar.

I used Greek yogurt for this, and whole milk. I wanted creamy yogurt.  I got what I wanted.

Once the milk has cooled down, pour a little into the jars. Stir with the yogurt. Then add remaining milk and stir completely again. Place the lids on the jars loosely. Place the jars in an insulated cooler, surrounded by towels. Wait 8-10 hours. I liked the results better after 10 hours. Refrigerate.

The yogurt turned out nice and thick, creamy and almost as good as the original starter that I used. This was the best yogurt I have ever made. My dh couldn't believe it tasted so good on his baked potato.  He actually thought it was sour cream.

If you want to sweeten your yogurt, you can add sugar to taste up to 3/4 cup per quart with 1 tsp. vanilla. Add this at the same time you do your yogurt starter. After the yogurt has cultured, then you can add your fruit toppings.

Pros: Best homemade yogurt ever. Easy to make, tastes delicious.

Cons: From start of heating up milk, to placing jars in the cooler took 1 hour. You could speed up the process by heating your milk at a higher temperature.  The second batch I made, I placed a lid over my pan, and the milk heated up in about 30 minutes on medium heat.

My Rating:  Thumbs UP!!!

Noosa Yoghurt

 Details: All natural gluten free, probiotic, from happy cows never treated with rBGH.  Aussie culture and Colorado fresh.  Noosa yoghurt is crafted from a super secret aussie recipe, with milk from happy cows raised on a family owned Colorado farm.  8 oz containers with 4 servings per container.  All natural ingredients.

My Review:  My Mother-In-Law bought me a container for myself while visiting for the summer.  I have never heard of this brand, I have never tasted better yogurt ever.  Its the best flavored yogurt, and because its natural its not super sweet, not grainy, and the fruit is pure fruit, not sugared chunks or juices used to flavor the yogurt.  Tons of amazing flavors: Peach, Strawberry Rhubarb, Blue Berry, Raspberry are some of mine and my MIL's favorite flavors.  I personally can't afford to buy this very often and especially for my whole family right now, so until then, I do plan on buying myself a little yummy treat 1-2 times a month.



                                                                                    Pros: yummy! YUMMY!

Cons: more expensive than I could afford for a family of 4.

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Diarrhea Tips

Everyone has issues with Diarrhea at some point in their lives, and usually its during the winter because of the cold weather where colds and the flu in who knows how many different strands is going rampant around your city, town, school, church and probably your home as well.

Tips I have learned over the years:

1. Acidophilus: is a natural product that you can get in capsule form.  I've seen it as a white powder.  I buy this at Target.  My pediatrician told me to get this for my 1 year old who had diarrhea for 6 weeks due to an allergy that we couldn't figure out.  It was the worst ever, blow outs from his diaper like a new born, stinky, burned skin, and so sore that half the time he wouldn't let me wipe with anything because he was in such pain.  As adults you can swallow this pill form, but for children just pull apart the capsule and dump the contents into any liquid except water.  Milk works best: at the time we put it in Almond milk, and have even done juice.  Directions on the bottle, but because this is natural the doctor said if its really bad you can use it more often.

2.  Eat Yogurt: which has Lactobacillus acidophilus which is friendly bacteria that aids in getting rid of diarrhea.  Any yogurt will work, but for quicker results and faster relief eat plain sugarless yogurt (Greek, Goat, and the Mountain Land brand of yogurt are all recommended by Naturalists).  You can add honey if you need a sweetener.

3. You can lose a lot of liquid in diarrhea, but you also lose electrolytes, minerals such as sodium and potassium that are critical in the running of your body. Here's how to replace what you're losing:

• Drink plenty of fluids. Consume two quarts (eight cups) of fluids a day, three quarts (12 cups) if you're running a fever. With the fever drink Gatorade to give you the eletrolytes, and to reduce the fever. Plain water lacks electrolytes, but it's a good, gentle-on-the-tummy option that can help you replace some of the fluid that you've lost. Other choices include weak tea with a little sugar, sports drinks such as Gatorade, flat soda pop (decaffeinated flavors such as ginger ale are best), and fruit juices other than apple and prune, which have a laxative effect.
• Buy an over-the-counter electrolyte replacement formula. Pedialyte, Rehydralyte, and Ricelyte are available without a prescription from your local drugstore. These formulas contain fluids and minerals in the proper proportion.

Whatever you choose to drink, keep it cool; it will be less irritating that way. Sip, don't guzzle; it will be easier on your insides if you take frequent sips of liquid instead of guzzling down a glass at a time.

4. Primadophilus Children: My Aunt bought this to help my 1 year old stabilize his stomach and bowel movements.  Its a powder with FOS: or bifidobacteria and lactobacilli.  This is for children ages 0-5 years of age.  The potency is 3 billion CFUs per teaspoon for the entire shelf life.  It also contains NutraFlora scFOS- the preferred probiotic food source.  Once serving is given daily until child is feeling better.  This mixes easily into any liquid, but I put it in my son's Almond milk when he first woke up in the morning because he can't have anything in his stomach before taking this.  And mornings were the only time this would work.

Other Tips: Chamomile & Peppermint tea sometimes help, but does help soothe the stomach whenever you are sick.  Potatoes, rice, carrots, tapioca, and other starchy foods are all good foods to eat when you have diarrhea.  Blueberries are another good natural remedy.

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