Probiotics and Gluten-free Diet

Earlier in June I posted the article The Dangers of a Gluten-Free Diet. In this article it talks about a study Published in the April 2009 edition of the British Journal of Nutrition. The researchers in the study followed 10 healthy volunteers and tracked their progress with a gluten-free diet over a period of time. According to the article, "When the experiment was over, the levels of “good bacteria” (called probiotics, which are found in yogurt, among other things) in the stomach were measured against the first batch they took prior to the diet change. The levels of helpful stomach bacteria were significantly reduced as well as a number of markers that decide immune health."

So, where am I going with this? For those of you NOW worried about low levels of "good bacteria" due to eating "Gluten-Free" there are several products that you can take daily to help.

Yakult is "a Japanese probiotic milk-like product made by fermenting a mixture of skimmed milk with a special strain of the bacteria Lactobacillus casei Shirota."

Here is what I know about it:
IT IS GLUTEN-FREE. Yakult contains it's own probiotic (live, friendly bacteria) called Lactobacillus casei.
Yakult needs to be refrigerated in order for the Lactobacillus casei to stay alive. In fact all probiotics need to stay refrigerated in order for the bacteria to stay alive. You cannot get the proper amount of Lactobacillus casei from any other products you would normally eat on a daily basis, even yogurts. Yakult tastes just a little bit sweet (kind of like horchata). They come in small individual 2.7 oz bottles.
If you are looking for Yakult you can go to almost any grocery store to get it, even the commissary if you are military.