Growing mutaflor - by Sarah Myhill

[godlovesatrier]

https://drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Growing_Mutaflor

Never seen mention of this so posting for those who may be interested.

Mutaflor is a preparation containing Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain Nissle 1917 and is manufactured in Germany by a company called Ardeypharm.

Growing Mutaflor
The bacteria can be cultured at home just like normal yoghurt. I have not yet experimented with different substrates, sugars, times or temperatures, so do not know what is likely to give the best results, but here is a method I have found to work.

Ingredients/Equipment
Ingredients/equipment and notes

½ litre unsweetened soya milk - If using sweetened soya milk, reduce the sugar accordingly - aim to make the milk taste slightly sweet but not sickly.
2 dessertspoons sugar - Some sugars may work better than others; I had success with 1 dessertspoon each of unrefined cane sugar and Sweet Freedom syrup (a honey-like substance made from concentrated fruits). Probably best to avoid real honey as it has antibacterial properties.
5 ml Mutaflor suspension - After the first culture use some of the previous batch as a starter for the next.
Large jar, flask or plastic container and somewhere warm for the culture to grow (around 37-40°C) - I strongly recommend using a yoghurt maker. Yoghurt can be cultured in a thermos flask, airing cupboard or oven, but it is very hard to maintain the right temperature. Too cold and the bacteria won’t ferment; too hot and they will be killed.
Method
Heat the soya milk in a pan until nearly boiling to kill any existing bacteria.
Allow the milk to cool to about 38°C - use a thermometer or wait until it is just slightly warm to a (clean!) dipped finger.
Top tip: If using a new carton of long-life milk you can skip step 1, and save on washing up by simply leaving the carton to warm up in the airing cupboard or oven before opening.
Dissolve the sugar in the milk and pour into the container.
Stir in the Mutaflor suspension or yoghurt from previous batch.
Place container in the yoghurt maker, airing cupboard or other warm place and leave it to do its thing. It should take about 6 - 10 hours, depending on the conditions, and will appear thickened, with a mildly acid taste.
Once the required consistency is achieved, scoop out a couple of tablespoons worth to keep in a sealed jar for use as the starter in the next batch.
Allow to cool then keep the yoghurt in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Enjoy!
Note 1: Home cultured yoghurt is not as set as shop bought, which usually contains added thickeners. There may be some separation of curds and whey; if so, just mix it all together. You could also strain off the excess liquid, but this might lose some of the bacteria.

Note 2: For those who do not use soya products, I'd suggest experimenting. I tried rice, almond and coconut milks, found rice didn't go well at all, almond was bearable but not pleasant and coconut worked ok as long as you use one that doesn't separate too much.

None of them has the protein needed to make it thicken, so you get a drink rather than a yoghurt unless you add a thickener.

Coconut water is quite nice too (as long as you can tolerate the high potassium content), no need for extra sugar and makes a kind of refreshingly light sour drink. To make with coconut water I simply added the Mutaflor and let it ferment in the yoghurt maker as if it were in soya milk.

But mostly I'd say just give it a go and see what you like!!

There are a few other threads on PR about mutaflor:

https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads/e-coli-nissle-mutaflor-and-b12.8665/

https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads/mutaflor-linked-to-colon-cancer-2020.85809/

https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads/has-anyone-tried-mutaflor.8576/

@Nuno

 

[Judee]

It comes out a little more like real yogurt in texture if you add an extra spoonful of sugar. Don't expect it to taste the same as lacto-bacteria yogurt though.

I don't do well on soy and am for sure allergic to coconut so I use a product called Elmhurst Unsweetened Milked Almonds. The unsweetened is just almonds and water and however they process it, it stays creamy and doesn’t separate that much. It's kinda expensive but I think still cheaper to make the Mutaflor yogurt with than to continuing buying the capsules all the time. (It also may not be available outside the US. Sorry.)

Also this guy has an excellent tutorial VIDEO on how to make it. He also has a 2nd video on how to turn the yogurt into capsules if you happen to have a freeze dryer. (I'm not going to post that as I don't think most of us do.)

I now use my Instant Pot to pressure cook/sterilize it as he shows in the video and then I bought the same yogurt maker as he has just so I could replicate as closely as possible. (I'm not sure if they still sell that one though.)

I think one time though, I also made it all the way through using just the Instant Pot for both steps but I had to pick a manual setting so I could get the temperature just right as that is also different than for making regular yogurt.

Also the 6-10 hours is not right. It actually is more like 22-24 to get it to culture...that again was the reason I bought the same yogurt maker as he has as it has a 24 hour timer. (Just looked and cannot find that model anymore so yeah, I think it has been discontinued. Sorry.)

Edit: Oh, one more comment. Mutaflor stopped working for me when I tried to cycle off and then back on it. It was helping me with the ME/CFS before.

If I ever find it works for me again, I'm going to keep taking it until it stops.

Edit 2: I use the capsules so also do it differently. I realized that video uses a quart. A liter is a little more than a quart but Dr Myhill's recipe calls for a 1/2 liter so the sugar amount in hers would probably be correct. Yikes. Sorry again. (Is everyone thoroughly confused now?)

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

(Is everyone thoroughly confused now?)

Totally. But I cant blame it on you. Natural state .....

That's really helpful info @Judee, and expands and clarifies the original posted by the thoughty @godlovesatrier nicely. Thanks for posting it, both of y'all ....

 

[Carl]

Allow the milk to cool to about 38°C - use a thermometer or wait until it is just slightly warm to a (clean!) dipped finger.

I haven't [have EDIT: got this wrong in haste] made yoghurt using these bacteria but I used to make lots of yoghurt using various types of bacterial/yeast (Saccharomyces boulardii) capsules as a starter. I used skimmed milk powder as the base mixed to a higher than stated ratio of milk powder to water. Boiled which causes the break up of the milk proteins which helps to thicken the yoghurt. The Saccharomyces boulardii came out extremely well because there was virtually no curds & whey no matter how long it was left going. Bacteria were far more time critical and produced lots of curds & whey if they went over time.

BTW NEVER use your finger as a temperature guide because it will introduce bacteria, potentially harmful into the yoghurt! Washing your hands won't make a big difference TBH. A cheap digital thermometer helps a lot in my experience.

I have a yoghurt maker but found that the temperature regulation was very poor and the temperature went far too high. It does help to have a digital thermometer as I mentioned. Putting a pot[put EDIT:Smelling mistake] filled with water into the yoghurt maker and leaving it running for some hours and then testing the temperature of the water should give a fairly accurate temperature reading. I would say that this is necessary to determine whether the yoghurt maker that you have functions satisfactorily. If it does not then send it back! Mine seemed to get worse the longer that I owned it and I had to take some action to lower the temperature.

BTW I compared using part of a capsule as a starter and compared with some of the previous yoghurt as a starter and the capsule took around 12 to 14 hours, long time ago and the memory escapes me, compared with around 3.5 hours for the yoghurt starter. That shows how many more micro-organisms there are in yoghurt than in some ~ 5 million CFU capsules. Supplement makers would tell you different to encourage you to spend money on their products but my results indicate very different.

 

[YippeeKi YOW !!]

BTW I compared using part of a capsule as a starter and compared with some of the previous yoghurt as a starter and the capsule took around 12 to 14 hours, long time ago and the memory escapes me, compared with around 3.5 hours for the yoghurt starter.

This is a really helpful post, and thank you for adding to the string of knowledge and experience in this thread. Much appreciated !!!!

 

[triceratops]

Reviving this thread to add my own recipe for growing mutaflor in coconut water in case it helps anyone.

As someone with a lot of physical limitations, I think coconut water is easier to make, store, and clean up after than yogurt. Since coconut water is naturally sweet you don’t need to add any sugar. The finished product is a sour liquid drink.

Equipment:
-instant pot
-funnel

Ingredients:
-1 capsule mutaflor
-around 1 liter coconut water (make sure the only ingredient is coconut water; I get organic unsweetened coconut water from Costco) (I find using 4 individual 11 oz containers easiest as I drink one container per day, but you could also do 1 larger 1 liter container)

Instructions:
-Make sure your instant pot is clean and the inner ring of the lid doesn’t smell (or the smell/taste will transfer to your drink). Probably best to buy a ring just for yogurt making if you also use your instant pot for savory meals.
-Wash your hands well.
-Sanitize your instant pot by boiling water in it. Pour 1-4 cups of water into the pot and put on the lid, then set the “steam” function for 20 minutes. When it’s done pour out the water.
-Pour in your coconut water. If you are saving your coconut water containers then put the empty container in the fridge so it doesn’t get nasty sitting out for 24 hours.
-Boil your coconut water by pressing the “yogurt” button until it says boil. This only takes a few min, the instant pot will shut off automatically when it’s done. This step will kill off any bacteria in the coconut water that could contaminate your drink. Do NOT add the mutaflor yet, the heat will kill it.
-Let the coconut water cool off until it’s just warm. It will take 1-2 hours sitting on the counter, or you can put the inner pot in an ice bath for 10-30 min.
-Add the contents of 1 capsule mutaflor to the coconut water. It’s kind of a pain to chip off the outer red coating to be able to break open the capsule. Don’t put the red coating in your coconut water; just add the white powder that’s inside the capsule.
-Swirl the pot to mix in the mutaflor, or stir using a sanitized spoon.
-Put the inner pot in the instant pot and put the lid on, then click the “yogurt” button until it says “24:00”. Once the instant pot turns on the timer will set to 0:00 and will start counting upwards.
-After 24 hours, pour your finished cultured drink into whatever container you want - either your own containers that you have properly sanitized, or the leftover coconut water containers that you’ve been keeping in the fridge. I use a sanitized funnel to pour. If you are saving some of your cultured drink as a starter for your next batch, make sure you use a 100% sanitized container to avoid contamination.
-Keep the cultured drink in the fridge and consume within 4 days. I drink one 11 oz container per day (half in the morning and half at night), but some people do well on only 4 oz a day.

The finished drink is sour and has a very distinctive taste. To be honest it’s pretty gross. However it should NOT taste/smell rancid. A rancid product means you’ve contaminated your batch by not properly sanitizing everything.

This brings a one month supply of mutaflor from ~$160 (cost of capsules) down to around ~$50. The potency of cultured mutaflor drink is also much higher than the capsules.

Hope this helps!