Irritable Bowel Syndrome Treatment

Question by m: Is there a probiotics-type of health benefit to the cultures in various types of cheese?
I know that there are benefits to the cultures found in yogurt (acidophilus, lactobacillus, etc.).
I often find that I specifically crave certain types of cheese (parmesan, cheddar, or cottage) as well. These cravings aren’t helped by eating other dairy or high-sodium foods. It can’t be a fat craving, as I always go with the fat-free variety of the cheeses anyway.
Is there possibly some probiotic benefit to the cultures used to produce cheeses and/or some nutrient released in the production process that is not found in other dairy (yogurt, milk, sour cream, etc.)?

Bonus question: Are there health benefits to the cultures in buttermilk and sour cream?

Thanks.

Best answer:

Answer by thenoseknows
Most cheeses and other standard dairy products contain minimum amounts of probiotics. Kefir is actually superior to buttermilk and sour cream and you can make it at home with a starter culture. Most standard yogurts contain very small amounts of probiotics, because pasteurization kills the probiotic cultures, sorry to say. Heat kills probiotics, even the body heat from your stomach.
Most quality probiotics are refrigerated and enteric coated to live through the journey through your stomach. Liquid drinkables like BioK get around this by using 50 billion live cells — higher numbers have a better chance of making it to where they’ll do the most good.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

I was reading a yogurt and it said it had 2 active bacterial cultures and 3 probiotics

I want to get the equivalent number of active cultures found in probiotics. How can I do that?