Making homemade yogurt with Natren® YOGURT STARTER will easily fit into your busy lifestyle! Once you have mastered the method, it usually takes less than 30 minutes to prepare the milk for incubation. Equipment - Natren YOGURT STARTER 2 quarts (or two liters) of organic milk (do not use powdered milk) Cooking/candy thermometer (temperature range 110° - 200° F / 40° - 95° C) 2 - 3 quart double boiler with lid Oven or yogurt maker for incubation If your double boiler or pan is oven-proof and has a tight-fitting lid, you do not need a separate utensil. Casserole dishes with lids are preferred ..read more

In the past couple of blogs, we have been discussing how probiotics are popping up everywhere - in coffee, cereal, dog food, and cleaning products. We explained spore-forming bacteria and why they are convenient to the manufacturer but may have no benefit to the consumer. Then, we took a closer look at kombucha -- we went over the ingredients in the drink, the heavy sugar load often associated with these drinks, common homebrew issues, some risks for biological and chemical contaminants and even cited a few extreme cases where the drinks were linked to consumer deaths. If you haven’t read thos ..read more

  Last month we discussed how probiotics are popping up everywhere - in coffee, cereal, dog food, and cleaning products. We explained spore-forming bacteria and why they are convenient to the manufacturer but may have no benefit to the consumer -- that’s you! And, we mentioned how a large percentage of Kombucha drink manufacturers are now adding these questionable bacterial species to their drinks. If you haven’t read that blog, and you fancy your Kombucha, you may want to start there. Here, we are going to take a closer look at Kombucha, what is it made out of, its potential for both bio ..read more

Have you noticed that probiotics are popping up everywhere? And it’s not just in the form of supplements anymore, suddenly they’re in coffee pods, granola bars, cleaning products, and even Fido’s dry dog food? If you’ve been following along with our blogs here at Natren, you know that we are pretty adamant about how we handle our products -- being careful to ship our probiotics in thermally-controlled boxes with gel-ice packs and even dry ice in the summertime. Why? Because they are living microorganisms that can be damaged by overexposure to light, heat, and moisture. If you’re new to Natren ..read more

We often get asked when is the best time to take probiotics – morning, evening, before or after food. Taking probiotics at any time is better than not taking them at all, of course, but taking probiotics at the right time can optimize the health benefits of this supplement. Staying on a regular routine can be difficult for some people, as hectic lifestyles can make it hard to do anything at the same time each day. Other people take so many medications that they simply add probiotics to the handful of pills they already take, with little regard as to how probiotics and these medications might a ..read more

  What is Fibromyalgia? Fibromyalgia is a long-lasting or chronic disorder that causes muscle pain and an overall feeling of tiredness. People with this condition experience pain and tenderness throughout many parts of their body. It is often associated with other chronic conditions such as Chronic fatigue syndrome, endometriosis, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and more. Anyone can get this but it does occur more frequently in women and often starts in middle age.   Understanding Your Gut Microbes Gut microbes, also commonly referred to as gut flora or gu ..read more

Natren has always held the position that multiple strain probiotics are not necessarily better than targeted single strain probiotics, or probiotics with a select few strains. As the industry continues to be flooded with more and more products we think it is a perfect time to review the reasons behind our targeted approach. What is a multi-strain probiotic? A multiple strain or multi-strain probiotic is any product containing more than one strain of bacteria in the formula. For example, Natren’s Healthy Trinity combines three strains in one capsule: Lactobacillus acidophilus NAS strain, Bifid ..read more

Are you curious about probiotics?  You’ve heard good things about their benefits, but never tried them yourself? Well – here’s your chance to find out. Every day throughout the month of July, we will be giving away a one-month supply of Health Trinity – our internationally recognized probiotic product.  Each capsule contains a minimum 30 billion colony forming units (cfu) of three powerful super strains of beneficial bacteria: Lactobacillus acidophilus NAS, Bifidobacterium bifidumMalyoth, and Lactobacillus bulgaricus LB-51, delivered in a unique oil matrix ca ..read more

Halloween can be a lot of fun, for kids and adults. First, there are the costumes. Many families make a project out of this and actually make their own. If not, store bought costumes are easy to find and offer a huge range for all interests. This is your chance to be whomever you want.Then there are the parties. Some schools even have Halloween parades, which may just be the cutest thing ever. Adult Halloween parties can also be quite entertaining, especially with themed food and treats. Candy Is Not Dandy And then… there is the candy. Bags and plastic pumpkins filled with chocolate bars, cand ..read more

From the moment we bring them home, our pets become members of the family. Obviously it is much easier to hug a dog or cat and feel a special bond with them than it is a goldfish, but animals of any kind bring much joy and happiness to our lives. We would do anything for our animal kin. Safe And Secure October is National Animal Safety And Protection Month. Perhaps it is not ironic that it is also Emotional Wellness Month. If our pets are not doing well it can take a huge emotional and mental toll on us, as well. Preventative health care is extremely important. We all know that we should get a ..read more