Yay for your first "official" day tomorrow Jenn!!
Vitamix, a few ladies were talking about this on the Organic Thread. Justine shared this link and it was helpful when I read about it.
http://www.all-about-juicing.com/the_vitamix.html Many ppl who have the Vitamix also use a real juicer for the full benefits of juicing. I don't have one, but from what I've read, the Vitamix seems very versitile and it does look like it would be particularily helpful when you're cooking everything from scratch like we're doing. As an actual therapeutic juicer, my verdict is still out on that one. We're doing juicing with a real juicer and from what I've read the pulp needs to be removed for maximum high nutrient absorbtion. The link I posted above talks a bit more about the differences between juicing and a high power blender. The fibre might not be an issue for you, but down the road if you start juicing for Emily you may need something that removes the pulp
You'll still get tonnes of nutrition from a high power blender, again, it's just different and a different theory behind it, kwim?
((hugs)) Erin. So sorry to hear James is still under the weather. Hopefully his little immune system revvs up soon! Yes, you definitely have to wait between dosing probiotics and antibiotics. They should be taken as far away from the antibiotics as possible (for example, if the antibiotics are to be taken every eight hours, the probiotics should be taken about four hours after the antibiotics). Probiotics should be continued a week to a month after the antibiotic treatment period to replenish any beneficial bacteria lost during the antibiotic use.
As for the "best" time to take it around food.. well, I've read a lot about that. In GAPS it's suggested to take a probiotic first thing in the morning with a full glass of water or when juicing. I've also read a half hour after a meal seems to be one of the best times to take a probiotic because the pH of the stomach is the highest at that time. The pH of an empty stomach is about 1 or 2. The pH of a stomach after a meal is 4 or 5 because the gastric juices have been diluted by the food. The higher the pH, the more bacteria will survive the journey to the small intestine. The more that survive the better your ecology will be. To be a probiotic, a bacteria must be resistant to gastric, bile, and pancreatic juices in order to survive the trip and arrive in the small intestine alive and able to do its job. Lactobacillus is one that is resistant to the acids.
The problem is when taking it with food, the digestive enzymes that the body produces to digest will likely kill a lot of the probiotic, kwim?
Definitely give him lots of bone broth
And if you have a juicer, I would consider juicing for him as well... maybe carrot juice, broccoli, apples ect. Easy to digest in that form and loaded with high vitamin therapy.
HtH
