You know, John, I have no clue about this. Here is what I can tell you. If the probiotics are fermenting/culturing the milk, then it should be fine to drink it. When I make kefir, I put the starter in a quart jar of plain old store bought milk, and just let it sit out until it cultures and gets thick. It is still a good food because the cultures are beneficial ones. It is totally different than if I just put a jar of milk out on the counter and left it overnight and it spoiled, because that has bad bacteria in it. So, if your probiotic capsule is working, then it should be making healthy bacteria in the container. In the refrigerator, the activity will slow way down, but not stop completely. Maybe just do an internet search about how to incubate probiotics before swallowing them. If the milk tastes/smells BAD, then it probably is bad. If it smells like yogurt or kefir, then it is probably good. Sniff it , and then taste some on your tongue, and see. That small amount wont hurt you. Or maybe, just drink a small glass of milk when you take the probiotic and hope it multiplies in your body ? Yes, it can incubate too long, and when the probiotic bacteria/yeast run out of food, they are going to starve. I think that when I leave my kefir out until it thickens (usually 12 hours, depending on room temperature), then it still has some food left and stays alive in the fridge until I use it up in the next day or so. The book I am reading (Super Gut) that describes the L.Reuteri yogurt culture is basically doing what you are asking about. It takes a probiotic culture tablet, smashes it into a powder, adds extra inulin for feed, and milk or cream, and then incubates the whole thing at 100 F until it has reached the end of being able to multiply. Less than 36 hours, it can still develop , and over 36 hours, it is out of food and dies. How that would work with your probiotic capsules, I have no idea, because they can probably take a higher heat, but might need a lot less time since there would not be much food in the little dab of milk you put them in. Maybe you need to read the book ? It is about all sorts of gut issues.
Thanks, Yvonne. I found the entirety of a study-related scientific article on the NIH website, and it seems that they actually heat-cultured the probiotic and then used it for an extended period of time (weeks?) Maybe I could put a week's worth of capsules into a glass of milk and add some prebiotic, let it sit for a week, and then consume it for a week. I went to the YouTube page for the video you posted so I could read the comments. I think that L.Reuteri survives up to 109° if I recall correctly.
Both Dr. William Davis and Donna Schwenk also have websites where you can read more information about culturing from probiotic capsules. Once I make my first culture (hoping it turns out okay) then I will just be using that for successive batches , and not using the tablets. I like making the living cultures. https://www.culturedfoodlife.com/ (Donna Schwenk)
My first batch of the L.Reuteri cultured milk is finished, and it turned out fine (as far as I can tell). I have it in the fridge cooling down and mixed a little bit in with my morning kefir. It tastes a little different than regular yogurt, but not a bad taste, and it is not really sour, which i thought might happen after a 36 hour culture time. I have been reading Dr. Davis book, Super Gut, and he explains why it is SO much better to culture your own probiotics than to take the tablets or capsules of probiotics. He compares it to the old question of whether it is better to have a million dollars or a penny that doubles each day for 30 days. At the end of the 30 days, the penny would have developed into over $5 million dollars, He states that there are around a million CFU in the probiotic tablet, but somewhere over a trillion of them after the 36 hour culture in the half and half with inulin. A really BIG difference in how much probiotics you actually get ! So, it seems to me that if you decided to culture whatever probiotics you are taking, @John Brunner , you would have a whole lot more of them after an overnight culture, which is probably all you could do without adding inulin or some other food for the bacteria you are culturing.
I'm glad that ended up OK, Yvonne. 36 hours is a long time to ferment. I'd like to hear how that sits with you after a few days of taking it. I had some really bad digestive issues for 10 days or so, and I think it's because I switched my probiotics(although it could have been something else.)
From what I have read in the Super Gut book, it sounds like if you are killing off the bad bacteria, then all those dead little bodies are being taken out of your body, and if too many die all at once, then you could feel bad while it is happening . I will only be taking about a 4 oz each day, at least to start (plus the kefir), and so far, this morning, I am FEELING GREAT ! We can’t go to the fitness center because there is supposed to be a thunderstorm, but I feel like I could swim for a couple hours and be fine today. Not bad for an old gal like me…..
I have been making tea with actual burdock and dandelion root, not pills, and eating the leavings. I might make yogurt including those as my inulin source. My leg is actually feeling better for several days in a row. Not 100% but maybe with the addition of correct exercise....
That puts a smile on my face!!! I may have to try it. I've read instructions on using a sous vide machine to make yogurt in a hot water bath, but not the 36 hour kind. Regarding the bad bacteria dying causing my issues...I wondered that myself. But I've been on a probiotic for several years. I just upped the volume and added a few strains. I'm not sure what was going on. I'm tempted to try the new probiotic again, but I really don't want to go through that again if it was the issue. Maybe I had COVID
According to Dr. Davis, the sous vide machine is fine to make yogurt with, even the L.Reuteri one that needs a 36 hour culture. Some people use an instant pot and some use their oven with the light left on. None of those methods work for me, and my Cuisinart yogurt maker cultures at 110 F, so too hot for the LR yogurt. I would much rather make a quart at a time than all of the little glass jars, but it worked fine, and since i only need to eat one of those each day for the benefits, it is actually fine. I make my kefir by the quart, but when it gets too cold for it to culture this winter, I may use the yogurt maker to culture my kefir as well. I like that i can set the time and temperature , even up to the 36 hours I needed for the LR culture. Here is Dr. Davis website, and he has information there on making the yogurt, since I know you do not watch the long videos, @John Brunner . https://drdavisinfinitehealth.com/
Thanks for the link, @Yvonne Smith. I took a look at my Excalibur dehydrator manual, and it has instructions for making yogurt: The thermostat operates between 85°F and 165°F.
I have been considering using the dehydrator to make it as well. It is the only appliance I have that can hold 100 F. for 36 hours. I used to have flat dishes for making yogurt, but I no longer know where they are if I even still have them.
Why flat dishes? What part of the process would you use them for? If I decide to try this, I would likely use my dehydrator instead of the sous vide machine if I did the 36 hour process. For the 5 hour version the sous vide machine would suffice, although since the containers are always covered, the sauna effect of the hot water would not be a benefit. I'm still wondering if multiplying the bacterial count from probiotic capsules might be a bad idea. The article @Yvonne Smith posted said that the L. reuteri capsule only had 100 million CFUs, while most probiotics are tens of billions of CFU. I gotta think there's a point where you're gonna cause distress from sheer volume.