Can I cultivate store bought probiotic in Kefir? Attempting to extend/boost probiotics with home ferments

[anandamide]

Hi, is there such thing like a dairy product that I can use in order to cultivate the specific strains found in some probiotic blends (e.g. targeted for women's reproductive health), by emptying in the contents of a capsule? I'm not looking to prepare a home-made yogurt from scratch.

 

[Michael Harrop]

It's difficult/impossible. The microbes you want (in the probiotic) are not necessarily the ones that will best thrive on the substrate (kefir, other dairy, etc.). It's difficult/impossible to find out what substrate the targeted microbe(s) thrives on. In the lab, I believe they generally keep the substrate sterile, so only the targeted microbe grows. You will need lab equipment to verify that you've done what you think you have.

There's a lot of misinformation about this on the internet -- people suggesting you can easily boost a probiotic by making yogurt with it.

It's covered in the probiotic guide, especially this section: https://humanmicrobiome.info/probiotic-guide/#some-additional-citationsinfo.