Let's raise a glass and have a toast of champagne.
Cheers.
Mm. No, that's not what you think.
There's no sparkling wine in this glass.
Instead, what I'm drinking is the champagne of dairy.
And what we have here is a glass of milk kefir
which is a tart and tangy fermented drink.
It's similar to yogurt but it's less thick.
So it's even to drink even out of a champagne glass.
And in this video, we're going to look at
the seven major health claims of kefir
and which are true and which are not.
In order to find out whether it's really a superfood
or just another overhyped fad
and of course, if you're already getting yogurt
and other fermented foods and drinks in your diet,
we'll look at whether it's worth making room in your fridge
for kefir.
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The number one reason most people drink kefir
is to support their gut health.
And if that's why you love it too, then you're in luck.
You see, it turns out this health claim is true
and kefir is fantastic for gut health.
The main reason it helps so much
is because of the good bacteria also known as probiotics
you'll find in every glass.
In fact, when it comes to probiotics, kefir is even better
than the most popular culture dairy product on the planet
which is yogurt.
Here's a clip from our kefir versus yogurt video
explaining why.
And that's because milk kefir grains contain a much richer
and diverse world of beneficial microorganisms
compared to yogurt sort of culture.
And so unsurprisingly,
they are able to produce so much more good bacteria
as well as beneficial yeast in the kefir drink itself.
In fact, in a single cup of homemade milk kefir,
you can typically find between 100 to 300 billion CFUs
of good bacteria and yeast
which can come from 30 to 100 different probiotic species.
That's huge!
And let's compare that to yogurt,
which typically has only one to 5 billion CFUs per serving
and usually from only two to four
different probiotic species.
Apart from being so much more potent,
the good bacteria and yeast in kefir
are also much more useful
as they're able to stick around the gut much longer,
which means they can have a greater impact
on your intestinal health,
especially when it comes to crowding out
both bad bacteria and yeast.
Pretty cool, right?
And given that many gastrointestinal problems
are associated with low levels of good bacteria in the gut
and poor diversity of gut bacteria,
kefir's ability to deliver billions and billions
of good bacteria to our microbiome,
something to get excited about.
Indeed, based on this benefit alone,
we'll raise a glass to the champagne of dairy.
High cholesterol levels have been linked
to some serious health issues over the years.
In particular, some aspects of LDL cholesterol,
which is the bad type of cholesterol and triglyceride levels
which is a type of fatty substance
that circulates in your blood have both been associated
with an increased risk of heart disease.
Unsurprisingly, doctors like to prescribe statin drugs
to manage cholesterol levels.
In fact right now, over 35 million Americans
take statin drugs to manage their cholesterol levels
day to day.
So the health claim that kafir may help lower cholesterol
is worth investigating.
Let's take a look and find out what we found.
Overall the results we've seen in human studies
are a mixed pack.
While some studies have shown promise,
others did not find any cholesterol lowering benefits
from consuming kefir.
In fact, in one study focused on diabetics,
the subjects were drinking a whopping 20 fluid ounces
or 600 meals of kefir every single day for over eight weeks.
That's a whole lot of kefir
and yet it couldn't move the dial on total cholesterol, LDL
or other cholesterol markers.
There is some good news though.
We came across a giant meta-analysis done of 39 studies
involving a total of over 2200 participants
who consumed fermented dairy products.
And the researchers concluded
that probiotic fermented milk products like kefir
may help reduce serum total cholesterol and LDL levels.
The catch with these results,
the benefit was greater for men than women
and was only noticed after eight weeks
of continual consumption.
Now our research team found another promising study
that showed kefir reduced LDL cholesterol,
the bad type, and raised HDL cholesterol, the good type.
But the catch with the this study,
it was done in mice with high cholesterol
and used a probiotic strain
isolated from Tibetan kefir grains.
Now it's nice to know that kefir can help mice in Tibet
enjoy more cheese, (laughs)
but hopefully in the future
there will be more conclusive research
that shows kefir can help lower cholesterol in people
as well.
So for now, when it comes to lowering cholesterol,
the jury is still out.
Blood sugar levels are on the rise worldwide
along with diabetes and pre-diabetes.
In fact, roughly one in 10 Americans
have been diagnosed with diabetes.
That's approximately 37 million people.
And the vast majority of them, like 90 to 95%,
have type two diabetes.
That means they struggle with insulin resistance
and blood sugar transportation.
And it is obviously a big problem
because this is associated with a high risk
of heart disease and other chronic conditions.
So the health claim that kefir may be able to help
reduce blood sugar levels is fascinating
but is this claim true?
Well our research team was very excited
by the first study we came across.
It showed that after eight weeks of drinking kefir every day
the participants' blood sugar levels dropped
by 16% on average.
That's pretty impressive
especially since the people involved had type two diabetes.
Unfortunately, we couldn't find any other research
that mirrored these results.
So for now, the benefit remains a maybe at best
and we will need more research to support this claim.
If you or your parents have experienced the impact
of poor bone health or osteoporosis itself,
then the claim kefir may strengthen bones
and reduce the risk of osteoporosis is worth looking at.
So the first thing we do know is that milk kefir
is obviously going to contain a good amount of calcium,
usually around 10% more than whole milk
and calcium is of course
an important building block of strong bones.
Given many Americans don't get enough calcium
through their diet or in fact deplete their calcium stores
due to poor diet,
kefir could be helpful.
But is that the whole story?
Well it turns out that in order to increase
absorption of calcium and thus actually strengthen the bones
your body also needs vitamin K2.
In fact, studies show that consuming enough K2
may cut down your risk of osteoporosis by as much as 81%.
Unfortunately, nearly all adults over age 40
may be deficient in vitamin K2
with some studies suggesting up to 97% of older people
are deficient in it.
And so this is where kefir,
which is an excellent source of vitamin K2
and much higher in K2 than normal whole milk
may really help.
Indeed, vitamin K2 may be the X factor nutrient in kefir
when it comes to bone health.
Best of all, the friendly bacteria in kefir
may actually enhance the nutrient content
of certain vitamins such as vitamin K.
So giving kefir is packed with calcium
and even more importantly vitamin K2,
there is good evidence to suggest
it will support bone health.
High blood pressure is a silent killer.
Without warning, chronic elevated blood pressure
can lead to a debilitating or even fatal stroke
or heart attack.
In fact, it is one of the leading causes
of premature death worldwide.
So can kefir reduce blood pressure?
Well just before we jump into this, let's be clear.
Certain lifestyle factors like alcohol and smoking
will cause high blood pressure
regardless of how much fermented milk one drinks.
So in other words,
we're not expecting research studies to show us
that kefir can help the Keith Richards of the world
miraculously have blood pressure within the normal range.
But is there any merit to the health claim
for the rest of us?
Well, from our research,
we didn't find any overwhelming evidence
to support this claim
but we did find reason to be cautiously optimistic.
You see, one small study and my small I mean microscopic,
compared the blood pressure levels of 12 people
who drank about six ounces of kefir
every day for three months
and 10 people who were given regular milk.
The result was that the kefir drinking group
experienced a significant drop
in both systolic blood pressure
and diastolic blood pressure.
The regular milk drinkers only experienced
a slight drop in systolic blood pressure.
With all of that said,
the overall impression our research team formed
is that while these results are promising,
much more research is needed.
Lactose intolerance is a big deal in today's world.
In fact, did you know that experts estimate nearly 70% of us
struggle to digest the lactose milk sugar
found in dairy products?
The main reason for this,
many of us don't have enough enzymes to digest lactose.
And in case you wanna know the name of that enzyme,
it's called lactose.
So the idea that kefir can improve lactose intolerance
is really interesting.
And even more so, when we take a moment to realize
that traditional kefir is actually made
from cows, sheep or goat's milk
which they all contain lactose, how does that make sense?
Well, there are claims that kefir
is actually a cultured dairy paradox.
And what I mean by that
is even though kefir is typically made using milk
which contain lactose,
it also contains friendly lactic acid bacteria
which love to gobble up lactose
and break it down for us into lactic acid.
That means kefir has less lactose in it
than the milk it was made from.
Now what all of that means to us
is that kefir is indeed easier to tolerate the normal milk
but, and this is a big but,
it does not mean that kefir is going to to improve
your ability to digest lactose and other foods and drinks
that you consume throughout the day.
Throw away your antibacterial hand soap
and instead wash your hands with kefir.
Just kidding.
Don't try that at home.
But there are claims online that kefir
or at least the probiotics in kefir
have potent antibacterial properties.
So is this true?
Well in one study, our research team found
salmonella was placed in a bottle of kefir.
And just before we go on, in case you don't know,
salmonella is the bad bacteria that is responsible
for about 1.35 million cases of food poisoning a year
in the U.S. alone.
Now guess what happened 24 hours later
when the researchers checked the bottle of kefir.
To their astonishment,
there were no traces of salmonella left
like David Copperfield
making the Statue of Liberty disappear.
Kefir pulled off a remarkable vanishing act.
And while this all sounds very promising,
it should be noted that in these studies,
the probiotics in kefir did not have any impact
on other pathogens such as E.coli.
So while kefir does have some antibacterial properties,
it's hard to conclude just how useful it is as a tool
in the fight against bad bacteria.
As we've seen, there are a lot of different health claims
being tossed around by kefir lovers.
But the reality is that most of them need more research
and in particular, they need better quality studies
both in terms of study design and participant count.
The good news though, is that for us drinking kefir
for the benefit of gut health,
the verdict is clear.
Kefir supplies billions and billions of good bacteria
and this is extremely helpful
for supporting the diversity and abundance
of our microbiomes.
And given the low levels of good bacteria in the gut
are associated with many gastrointestinal issues,
this is a huge win.
So for that reason alone, kefir is a fermented food
worth stocking in your fridge.
Now that you know more about the benefits of kefir,
I'm sure you've got a few questions
like how do we make my own kefir at home
or which ready-made kefir brands are the healthiest?
Well to find answers you're looking for,
check out our Free Fermented Foods Compared Tool
where we compare kefir against kombucha,
kimchi, sauerkraut and a host of other fermented foods
and you'll find the link to this in the description below.
Now we wanna hear from you.
Have you tried kefir
and experienced any of these benefits?
And if you bought it, which brand did he go with and why?
And if you enjoyed this video
as part of our Fermented Food Series,
I'd love for you to join our Essential Stacks community
by clicking the subscribe button below.
We research the most important ways you can improve
your digestive health
so you can love your gut again.
Bye for now.
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