Probiotics - Not all the same so choose carefully - Part 1

This is a three post article because it has turned out to be so long!

I recently read an article called 'Probiotics-There is a Difference' published in Issue#114 of Wellbeing Magazine. The article was by John Ellerman a microbiologist who developed the probiotic formulation that we take.

I have heard him speak before. He is an Australian, typically laconic, dry to listen to, but his information is fascinating. Hearing John Ellerman speak about a year ago convinced us to begin taking probiotics seriously (& regularly).

(Just an aside: We even gave some to our baby who was having trouble with his poos. They were hard enough to cause a major injury, if you threw one, and he was only a few months old. He had had constant painful wind since birth. A nurse asked me if his was cesarean section birth, and when I said "yes", said that C-section babies miss out the extra gulp of good bacteria to line their intestines that other babies get as they go through the vaginal canal. She suggested we put him on our probiotic, only a reduced dose (1/4 the adult dose). It took only days for him to be a completely different child. Happy to feed, happy to poo and calmer to sleep.)

The probiotic we take contains Lactobacillus Acidophilus LAFTI strain L10 and Bifidobacterium Lactis LAFTI strain B94 (both probiotics - good bacteria). These are combined with Hi-maize 958 (a resistant starch) & Inulin/Fructo-oligosaccharide (both prebiotics - in laymans terms food for the probiotics).

When mixed together with prebiotics the probiotics multiply very rapidly so you get a super dose.

I'll summarize and quote Ellerman's article here because I've been reminded why Probiotics are so good for CFS sufferers.

It's divided into two posts - Why bother with Probiotics? and Aren't all Probiotics the Same?