Hello my fellow cave dwellers, I've started the Paleo diet a few weeks back in order to treat some kind of inflammatry bowel problem I had been suffering from (never been so sick!) and my symptoms seem to be subsiding somewhat and I would like to reintroduce some kind of probiotic.

Prior to being on the Paleo diet I was on the candida diet, which didn't seem to do enough, and was taking non dairy probiotics and having a natural yogurt each evening. I couldn't tolerate the yogurt very well it just made my symptoms flare up and I feel as though I was just wasting my time taking the non dairy probiotic tablets as my GI tract was still very inflamed and bloated and I felt as if it may actually be making things worse.

Now that my gut has calmed down somewhat I want to get back on the probiotics- I've heard that goat's yogurt is highly effective but given my past intolerance to dairy on the candida diet, and the fact that I don't have any other dairy in my diet, I'm wondering If I should just take the non-dairy probiotic. Can anyone give me any tips here? Also, am I starting the probiotic too early?

Thank ya

I am on the SCD diet, which is extremely close to the Paleo diet in many respects, and it focuses on killing off bad gut bacteria. The SCD treats IBS and other health conditions.

I followed the directions from the pecanbread.com web site to make goat yogurt, but I did find that when I was having symptoms, the yogurt made things worse, especially if I ate too much of it. Dripping it through a coffee filter does help, but the yogurt has a LOT of probiotics in it due to the long fermentation process. Using the directions on the web site, the yogurt is lactose free but it's like a megadose of probiotics, so you have to start slow and work up.

The one probiotic that really helped things for me was Saccharomyces Boulardii. It's a type of good yeast that takes up room in your digestive system so it crowds out the bad bugs.

I get both the boulardii and yogurt starter from giprohealth.com because their stuff is dairy free. I can't really tolerate cow dairy at all.

Susan

I am about a month and a half into a mix of the SCD diet/Paleo diet. I have Crohns and I read BTVC and was blown away by how much sense it made, then I read the Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain and was even more blown away. Being a heavy, HEAVY grain eater my whole life (pizza, pasta, cakes, breads, cookies, sandwiches), and pretty much despising any type of green food and even meat, it's just so blatantly obvious that has been my problem all along. Like I said, I'm a month and a half in and have noticed SUBSTANTIAL improvements already. I have more energy, whenever I go out and play football with my friends I  NEVER get tired while everyone else is worn out. I NEVER have stomach pains anymore. I've started reading a lot more, my mind is more clear. My bowels still aren't perfect yet but give that a little more time and I'm positive that will get better too. Actually my bowels were pretty good until my mom made a whole loaf of almond floured banana bread the other day and I ate the whole loaf in a few hours (that'll probably do it) lol. I am kind of in your situation also, I am trying to incorporate a combination of both of the diets into my life. I was making goat yogurt but I'm afraid that may be too high in saturated fat, plus it seemed like when I started the Paleo Diet and cut out the dairy it seemed like my bowel movements improved. When I was eating the goat yogurt I never really noticed any differences, so I'm not sure if I should keep going w/ that. Actually what I feel really settles my stomach the most is bone/chicken broth.

Do you like sauerkraut? Sauerkraut is a probiotic 

I was taking a dairy probiotic before I went paleo and I was a little nervous about going complete off of probiotics at first. So to make the transition I decided to eat some sauerkraut on top of some dishes. I was weaning myself off of salt then too, so instead off adding a little salt I would add a little kraut.

It is great on salads, or with meat. It's important that you don't heat it up though or you could kill all those good bacteria.

It's also important that you get kraut that is made properly. I used to help my mom and grandma make kraut every summer and all we used was green cabbage and salt. I think one without vinegar is best. It's also best to buy it from someone who makes it locally so it is fresh and "alive."

Where I live there is a women at the farmers market who sells a really good one. A farmers market is a good first place to look I think.

http://www.culturedpickleshop.com/Sauerkrauts.html

It's pretty easy to tell how alive the kraut is by how quickly it spoils in the fridge. The good ones will stay alive and not spoil for over a couple of months. I once tried a different brand that too was only cabbage and salt but I think they may have cooked it at one point and the kraut spoiled in the fridge in under a month.

You can also make your own at home. You'd probably want to put it in the basement (that's where my mom kept it anyway) while it brews for a couple of reasons - so it doesn't get to warm and so it doesn't smell up your living area. It's not a bad smell but not one I'd really want to smell all day.

Here's a link I quickly found that gives pretty good instructions...

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/1980-07-01/Sauerkraut.aspx