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Comment by rr888 | Hacker News Reader

Does anyone know of probiotics with a variety of bacteria? Currently they (and yoghurts) seem to be just a single type, which doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If there are unusual bacteria out there where do they come from and how can we get them?

I've done a bunch of anti-biotics in the last few years so what to get back to what I was.

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"Does anyone know of probiotics with a variety of bacteria?"

Home fermenting and raw products (honey, fruit, veggies, etc) are probably a good place for variety. You may have a primary strain you're fermenting with, but there are likely other minority strains present too.

Most probiotics aren't useful because if you're going to manufacture a ton of bacteria, you have to go with the ones capable of growing that fast. That's typically just one or two strains used in the making of yogurt, though you could branch out to miso, kefir, kimchi etc.

And the oral delivery route doesn't work that well because they have to make it through the stomach, then get to the intestines, then survive there - which they won't if they aren't specific strains evolved to live inside humans.

If you want to do science (aka mail someone your poop) there are ways to measure what's currently inside you:

https://www.viome.com

I've had good luck with these, taken one in the morning and one at night.

https://www.amazon.com/Probiotics-Formulated-Probiotic-Suppl...

Now, instead of taking the probiotics, I make yogurt from whole milk (it's easy!) and open 3 probiotic capsules as the starter, letting it ferment for 24 hours to ensure all of the milk sugar is gone. This gives 2 quarts of yogurt and I eat a tablespoon every morning with breakfast. Way cheaper than the pills, plus I have a problem swallowing the capsules. Has worked great for me.

You don't need to order more starter once you have your yogurt. You can use a spoonful of your last batch to start the next batch. I go 30 minutes at 180-190*f with the milk, then i let it cool to 110*f, then I add my scoop of yogurt, then I will hold that at 110*f in a separate container in a 110* waterbath (just a big pot of 110* water holding my yogurt tupperware containers that I periodically splash more hot water into) for like 8-12 hours or so (I sometimes forget about it on the stove...). Then I put it in the fridge for two days and after its good to go. If you want it to be more like greek yogurt you can strain it with coffee filter paper and use the whey liquid for various things.

Try searching for "soil bacteria Probiotic". Amazon has several products that include lots of bacteria not commonly used in yogurt or similar products.

A quick search turned up this one that claims to have 12 strains of bacteria. It is also USP verified. I'm not an expert and have never tried it, but hopefully that info helps.

https://www.costco.com/trunature-advanced-digestive-probioti...

I started taking these a month ago. They’ve worked wonders for my IBS: Healthspan Super20 Pro 60 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B085632HRB

What have you noticed? (I have IBS-C)

Just start gardening. There is a lot of good bacteria in the soil.

chobani claims six strains of yogurts, I used that as starter for my homemade yogurt batches since then. Otherwise I try and get my exposure in from the environment. I'm vaccinated so I don't bother with the mask unless there are hard rules. I will avoid overusing hand sanitizer. I take crowded public transit and otherwise walk around sidewalks and stores with a bunch of people vs private car and delivery of all my needs. I do computer work but I do almost all of it outdoors on a patio table, where I am exposed to pollen and spores and microbe aplenty (but probably better air quality than indoors given the plastic off gassing in the modern home). Basically I am trying to inoculate myself with a wide variety of things available in my local environment, just like people used to be before all this modern society stuff locked us sitting in rooms. It seems to work as far as I can tell anecdotally; I can't remember the last time I was sick.

Is that beneficial if it's a busy area? There's some pollution that I want to simply avoid, primarily car exhaust and fine particles like tire dust.

You would be surprised. According to the EPA:

"In the last several years, a growing body of scientific evidence has indicated that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialized cities. Other research indicates that people spend approximately 90 percent of their time indoors. Thus, for many people, the risks to health may be greater due to exposure to air pollution indoors than outdoors."

https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/inside-story-guid...

If you want variety of bacteria, then the highest is probably in milk kefir, and the second highest in aged, hard cheese.

Kefir, we don't even know how many or what bacteria it hosts, but we know it's a lot. Different studies have reported wildly different communities, but all of them with upwards of a dozen species. For example:

> Sequencing-Based Analysis of the Bacterial and Fungal Composition of Kefir Grains and Milks from Multiple Sources

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...

Aged hard cheese, unless made with raw milk, is usually inocculated with a couple of strains of lactic acid bacteria, but during aging a varied flora develops, of "adventitious bacteria" and yeasts from the environment.

To be honest though, I made kefir for a couple of years and I've been making cheese for about four now and I make the occasional yogurt now and then, but I'm still not convinced about the health claims of "probiotics". And I'm not the only one to be skeptical:

> A growing probiotics market has led to the need for stricter requirements for scientific substantiation of putative benefits conferred by microorganisms claimed to be probiotic.[7] Although numerous claimed benefits are marketed towards using consumer probiotic products, such as reducing gastrointestinal discomfort, improving immune health,[8] relieving constipation, or avoiding the common cold, such claims are not supported by scientific evidence,[7][9][10] and are prohibited as deceptive advertising in the United States by the Federal Trade Commission.[11] As of 2019, numerous applications for approval of health claims by European manufacturers of probiotic dietary supplements have been rejected by the European Food Safety Authority for insufficient evidence of beneficial mechanism or efficacy.[8][12]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Probiotic

Btw, you know what elese has plenty of lactic acid bacteria, therefore probiotics? Sourdough. Alhtough if you make kefir, you can use it instead of sourdough as a bread starter.

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