Is yogurt with live cultured bacteria vegetarian friendly?

[sandra 0]

Hare krishna! Just wondering where the live cultured bacteria in certain yogurts are derived from... Like Lactobacillus, Bulgaris, Streptococcus Thermophilus, Acidophilus and Bifidum... Are they vegetarian-friendly? I know that gelatin (exception is agar agar) and rennet (most commonly found in cheeses) aren't...

[theist 1]

now that i think about it. but they grow in yoghurt and I had always assumed they were natural to it.

 

I don't think we need to worry about them.

[sandra 0]

I thought so too but there's one article that particularly disturbed me: It said that Bifidum was extracted from the guts of animals... I was like "EW".

[theist 1]

Seems like one has to be a bio-chemist just to eat breakfast anymore. I don't eat yoghurt but I take acidofilus and related bacteria separately. I going to check for the .-whatever also.

 

I have to watch myself on this stuff as I can become overly obsessive quite easily. I used to worry over passing burger and chicken joints and smelling the fumes. i could envision those molecules of meat in the air and entering my body where they were sure to displace the good molecules. /images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

We must ask Krsna to please *quickly* transfer us to the clean atmosphere of Vaikuntha. Irt will only get worse here.

[sandra 0]

I made a few online research on the matter but nothing seems to indicate that any of the bacteria cultures are from an animal source. *crossing fingers here*

 

One site i went to emphasizes on regular probiotics consumption:

http://www.medicinalfoodnews.com/vol02/issue5/yogurt.htm

 

An extract:

 

"To be truly effective it is important that the bacteria in yogurt are alive when consumed. Proper production, packaging, storage, shipping and refrigeration are necessary to ensure this. Although no standards exist, it is generally agreed that to be effective yogurt should contain 100 to 1000 million live bacteria per ml. Why so many?

 

The stomach is the first line of defence of the body against possible disease organisms. The low pH (or high acidity) of the stomach kills most foreign bacteria before they pass into the intestines. If this weren't so we would be sick more often. By consuming a very large number of bacteria in yogurt, some survive and pass through the stomach. However, the environment in the intestines is not friendly either. Our intestines are home to a wide variety of different bacteria; some of these bacteria are beneficial and some are not. The yogurt bacteria must compete with the normal intestinal bacteria for nutrients and sites to adhere to. Because the yogurt bacteria are foreign, they do not find adhesion sites along the intestinal wall and are quickly flushed through the intestines and are excreted in the feces.

 

Yogurt must be eaten regularly to be effective. This is not a ploy by yogurt makers to get us to buy more yogurt. This is the true. A steady supply of yogurt means that the yogurt bacteria are present in the intestines where they can benefit the host. Stop eating yogurt and very soon they are all eliminated."

 

But in your case, as you're vegan, i guess you're probably better off taking your probiotics regularly as the article stresses.

[theist 1]

I just read the label of what I take. Advance acidophilus 500 million per veggie cap. i was surprised to find no other bacteria are listed. Maybe there is a better product out there. i am not sure if they are alive. i just assumed so.

[Kulapavana 0]

most bacterias sold as separated product come from cultures isolated and purified from original source (yoghurt, intestines, etc) which are then grown on a suitable substrate (food) like agar, dried and packaged.

[theist 1]

I always though agar was some kind of plant??? What you said is true of b-12 also, right?

[sandra 0]

EW. And i suppose there's no way of tracing back the exact source... I don't think any yogurt brand actually mentions where their live bacteria are derived from.. I've always assumed they're vegetarian-friendly. Hopefully they use yogurt starter cultures... makes more sense to me but i wouldn't really know.

[sandra 0]

they should be live bacteria because it'll be ridiculous to sell such tablets if it weren't the case. Also, who would buy them if it were the case?! Except maybe theist?! Kidding! =) I found a nice site on probiotics... Might want to check it out:

 

http://www.bodyandfitness.com/Information/Health/Research/friendly.htm

 

The two mostly stressed probiotics are acidophilus and bifidum (they occur naturally in the human gut)

[theist 1]

Yeah, maybe that's why they charged me the extra money for a very special order. Oh man everybody always picks on me.

 

Thanks I'll check the sites.

[Kulapavana 0]

agar is derived from sea plants (seaweed). and the B group vitamins are mainly derived from special (bio-engineered) bacterial cultures.

[Guest guest]

your gut is a colony of different bacteria, vira, bacilli and microbes - a veritable slime city, with highrisers, transport systems, cops and robbers and an entire economy based on cooperation.

do not worry about getting bacteria in your body, for then you would have to ask the question: Is breathing vegetarian?

you also breathe in countless critters at every breath. they are part of life and serve you very well.

the material world is eat or be eaten. Karma is everywhere, except in Krsna consciousness. then karma stops, but you still get reactions from your previous life.

Haribol!

VDK