if you drank the kefir, and\or took the *right* probiotics long enough - real, home made, raw milk kefir being the most beneficial as it contains beneficial yeasts, bacteria, etc... (I think of all the probiotics I have tried LB17 is perhaps the best) your intestinal tract was given time to repair - the beneficial microflora contributing greatly to this repair by cleaning out the sludge, debris, and eliminating toxins... then the beneficial microflora would begin, AFTER that has been accomplished, to colonize by laydown their own substrate against the intestinal walls... as the pH changes throughout the length of the intestine, each beneficial strain would eventually find its correct niche and place and colonize.

Due to the harsh environment though, it is important to continue to eat cultured\fermented foods as ALL people did almost daily before the advent of refrigeration...

This is also assuming that you have\had made great efforts to eat correctly and balance the weak acids with alkaline mineral intake in order to increase the buffering capacity of the body's fluids.

Once you have done that... the likely hood that established colonies would stick around (pun intended) for a longer period of time, goes up exponentially.

One piece of terrible junk food, especially the foods that are laden with artificial or refined ingredients, has the potential to change bacterial expression and reduce the population of the colonies.

The ideas presented here that these bacteria do not colonize has more to do with the way things *are* (damaged digestive tracts from mouth to anus, poor polluted environments, food, air, and water - along with the chemicals such as pharmaceuticals and OTCs, that people ingest), than the way they have been in the past, or the way that they should be.

grz-

You can totally disagree till the cows come home but that does not change the fact that probiotics either in cultured food or store bought will not implant and will not cure dysbiosis. Look folks, we have evolved with certain friendly bacteria in the gi tract over millions of years. they are specific bacteria that provide many benefits.The human intestinal tract is one of the richest bacterial communities in the world. Once this community is obliterated by Antibiotics , it will never be the some. It is as diverse as the Amazon rainforest, then it is clearcut by Antibiotics , then what comes back is never the same bacterial community. Probiotics in no way can even come close to duplicating it. If you think that probiotics offer you some benefit then by all means keep taking them. The sad truth is once you have destroyed this diverse ecosystem you can never recover it like it was pre- Antibiotic therapy. This is information that is available if you know where to fin it. The other sad fact is doctors continue to over prescribe Antibiotics and then tell you to eat some yogurt to replace what has been destroyed and people believe this nonsense. IT IS CRIMINAL. The medical care system has not kept up with science. As many as 5000 species are involved in one's microbial community or microbiome, not hte dozen or so found in your probiotic. The misinformation is promulgated by people who think probiotics will help the hukan microbiome recover once it is gone. Tell me, how can a probiotic replace a species of bacteria that is missing after Antibiotic use. It can not and will not replace bacteria. thERE IS A THING CALLED COMPETITIVE EXCLUSION. If you want to know more then I will be glad to share what I know, but I am not interseted in debating these ponts further. My info is based in science. I wish it were easy as taking a probiotic but sadly it is not much use.