If you're a fan of plain yogurt, then you'll probably be a fan of kefir. This fermented
foodstuff dates back centuries and is packed full of probiotics that make for better gut
health. From its history to the many benefits and how to use it, here's the skinny on kefir.
According to Kefir 101, there are various myths surrounding the origin of kefir, including
one that suggests the Prophet Mohammed gave kefir grains, the bacteria cultures that ferment
milk into kefir, with magical powers to Tibetan monks or possibly even Orthodox Christians.
These recipients were given strict dictates not to share the grains with others, lest
they lose their magical powers. In a nod to this piece of folk history, common alternate
names for kefir grains and kefir, respectively, are "Grains of the Prophet Mohammed" and "Drink
of the Prophet."
Understandably, this legend isn't widely accepted as fact. It's more likely that kefir originated
when shepherds in the Caucasus Mountains mistakenly fermented milk in their leather pouches, turning
it into this beverage. And only with more time and history did the shepherds start to
uncover the significant health benefits associated with the drink, and rumors of its "magical
powers" spread to nearby Russia, Asia, and more recently, Western Europe and the United
States. Kefir 101 notes that hospitals in the former Soviet Union used kefir to treat
a number of physical ailments and illnesses, including allergies, digestive conditions,
and even cancer.
The most popular form of kefir is made when milk is fermented in kefir grains. According
to Cultures for Health, true kefir grains have roots near the Caucasus Mountains, having
been cultured, grown, and passed from one person to the next for centuries. These specific
and unusual cultures, primarily kefiran, which gives kefir its name, contain bacteria and
yeasts that feed on milk and look a little bit like gelatinous cottage cheese. Kefir
is the only fermented dairy product known to come from grains.
Because these kefir grains are made up of active bacteria and yeast, they're essentially
a living organism. Depending on where you get your grains and how they're being used,
the makeup of the microorganisms in the grains and kefir can change. The actual fermentation
is simple. The grains go in a bottle or container of milk for about a day to "feed," fermenting
the milk and creating kefir.
While milk kefir is the more popular kefir drink, water kefir is also an option. But
you can't simply place the milk kefir grains in water and end up with water kefir. You
need different grains. Water kefir grains have a similar consistency to milk kefir grains,
but according to Kefir 101, they're more crystalline, looking more like rock salt than cottage cheese,
and the resulting drink has more fizziness to it, with an appearance closer to beer.
Water kefir grains are placed in sugar water, juice, or coconut water, giving the grains
sugars to feed on as they ferment the liquid.
"It tastes better than it smells."
"Oh, it's actually a little bit carbonated. It's got a little bubble to it."
"It's carbonated."
"It's not bad."
According to Cleveland Clinic, probiotics are the beneficial bacteria and yeasts that
live inside the body. It's completely normal and healthy to have bacteria living inside
your gut to help combat bad bacteria and support healthy immune function. While everyone has
probiotics living inside their bodies naturally, illness, stress, an unbalanced diet, and taking
antibiotics can all affect the body's microbiome, and in some instances, wipe out healthy bacteria.
Consuming probiotics in your diet can help restore a healthy microbiome and support overall
health.
Kefir is packed with probiotics. According to the book From Kefir, With Love: An Irreverent
Guide to Making Kefir and Healing Your Gut Naturally, kefir has the most probiotics of
any naturally fermented food, with between 30 and 50 strains of bacteria. Author Whitney
Wilson explains that kefir is one of the only probiotics that can help repopulate the gut's
good bacteria rather than simply passing through the digestive system. Even though the composition
of kefir can change from batch to batch, or adapt to different environments, the vast
number of bacteria and yeasts found in milk kefir is impressive.
It even has a leg up on yogurt. If the main reason you've incorporated yogurt into your
diet is for its probiotics, it may be time to make the switch to kefir. According to
an article on Healthline, kefir grains contain up to 61 strains of bacteria and yeast. This
is far more bacteria than other fermented dairy products, and some fermented dairy products,
including yogurt, don't contain any strains of yeast.
Even more significantly than that, according to Cultures for Health, which sells starters
for yogurt and kefir, the bacteria in milk kefir has the ability to colonize within the
intestinal tract, which can help improve and enhance gut health over time. Yogurt, on the
other hand, contains transient bacterias, which provide food for the healthy bacteria
already found in a healthy gut, but they pass through the tract without colonizing within.
Milk kefir isn't just full of gut-healthy probiotics, it's packed full of nutrition,
too. Generally speaking, milk kefir is made from whole milk. As such, the nutrition content
you typically find in milk is also found in kefir. According to an article on Well.Org,
a 6-ounce serving of kefir delivers between 3-6 grams of fat, depending on the type of
milk used, along with 6 grams of protein, 7-8 grams of carbohydrates, 20 percent of
the recommended dietary allowance for both calcium and phosphorus. In that same serving,
you'll also find 14 percent of the recommended allowance for vitamin B12, 19 percent of the
recommended amount of riboflavin, 5 percent of the recommended amount of magnesium, and
small amounts of vitamin D, K2, organic acids, and peptides.
Of course, nutrient profiles can vary somewhat depending on the fat content of the milk you
use. And if you're making non-dairy kefir, like water kefir, or milk kefir from coconut
milk, the nutrient profile would change accordingly, mirroring the base that you use to ferment
the kefir.
According to Healthline, it's estimated that roughly 75 percent of the world's population
experiences digestive discomfort after consuming dairy products. This discomfort is called
"lactose intolerance" and refers to a person's inability to digest the sugar commonly found
in dairy foods. It's a real bummer for people who have a penchant for cheese and ice cream,
but end up suffering the consequences if they choose to indulge.
"I hate ice cream. I'm lactose intolerant. It makes me do diarrhea in my pants."
But, there's some good news for dairy lovers when lactose doesn't love them back. According
to a study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in 2003, consuming
kefir may improve lactose digestion and tolerance. When kefir was studied next to milk and yogurt,
breath hydrogen levels for milk, which helped determine how well the lactose was being digested,
were much higher than that for plain yogurt or plain kefir. And when it came to digestive
discomfort, all the yogurts and kefirs reduced the perceived severity of abdominal symptoms
by between 54 and 71 percent.
So if you're looking to slowly add lactose to your diet, kefir or yogurt might be a good
place to start. Just make sure you're sticking to plain flavors, which seem to be tolerated
best.
As beautiful as it is to bring a new life into the world, anyone who has been pregnant
knows that there are some unfortunate side effects that rear their heads during pregnancy.
And as unfortunate as it is, many of those symptoms are gastrointestinal in nature. According
to Lifespan, some of the most common gastrointestinal symptoms that pregnant women face are diarrhea,
constipation, and in some cases, Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Because probiotics are helpful
in addressing gastrointestinal problems, according to the American Pregnancy Association, many
pregnant women take a probiotic supplement during pregnancy.
The good news is, a study published in Canadian Family Physicians in 2011 found that probiotics
are considered safe for use during pregnancy. That said, there's no reason pregnant women
can't look to bolster gut health naturally by consuming probiotic-rich foods, and kefir
is a good choice because it can colonize in the intestines and improve gut health with
time.
Strong bones are essential for maintaining overall health with age. Individuals who experience
bone loss are more likely to experience fractures, which can significantly impact a person's
quality of life and can even lead to an early death. In fact, a 2010 study published in
the Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation journal found that while the relative risk
of mortality in elderly individuals increases 4 percent per year, those who suffer a hip
fracture see a substantial risk of 1-year mortality. Specifically, the year after sustaining
a hip fracture was linked to a 14 to 58 percent increase in the likelihood of death. That
seems like a pretty good reason to bolster bone strength when you're young, right?
According to an article on Healthline, kefir appears to be a good way to increase calcium
intake to meet recommended daily allowances. Plus, kefir contains vitamin K2 in addition
to calcium, which helps enhance calcium metabolism and can help reduce the risk of fractures.
"My asthma. They said they'd fix it but it didn't make any difference at all."
Maybe kefir can help. One truly surprising benefit of kefir is that it may help reduce
the symptoms of allergies or asthma. While studies to this effect are still limited,
and mostly focused on animals rather than humans, there's some evidence that kefir can
suppress airway inflammation associated with asthma. In a 2007 study published in Immunobiology
, researchers administered kefir to mice an hour before inducing airway inflammation that
would mimic asthma symptoms. For mice that were given kefir, the increase in inflammatory
cell count was significantly inhibited, leading researchers to note:
"Kefir displayed anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic effects... and may possess new therapeutic
potential for the treatment of allergic bronchial asthma."
But to be clear, this study was performed on mice, not humans, so please don't go replacing
your inhaler with a cup of kefir. That said, if you're looking for a natural way to support
your other asthma and allergy symptoms, kefir may be able to help you out, and in all likelihood,
it won't hurt you.
While you can always grab a bottle of pre-made kefir off your grocery store shelf, kefir
is surprisingly easy to make at home. Really, the only ingredients you need to make it are
kefir grains and milk. You can ask a friend who makes kefir to "grow extra grains" for
you, or you can purchase dehydrated grains from an online retailer.
Once you have your milk and kefir grains, it's really just a matter of mixing the two
and allowing the fermentation to do its thing. Cultures for Health notes that you need a
clean glass jar, a breathable cover for the jar, like a coffee filter or paper towel,
and something to secure the cover to the jar like a large rubber band. Then, you simply
place the grains in the jar and add milk, securely covering the jar with your preferred
cover.
The jar can be placed on your counter, allowing the milk to ferment for about 24 hours. Once
the kefir is fermented, stir the mixture with a non-metal spoon and transfer the kefir to
a separate glass container, using a strainer to remove the kefir grains.
The beauty of kefir, beyond its health benefits, is that it's easily incorporated into recipes
in place of milk or yogurt. One obvious place to use kefir is in smoothies. You can simply
use the liquid in place of water, milk, or yogurt, enhancing your daily probiotic intake
when you make the switch. Though sites like Buttered Side Up offer up recipes for indulgences
like a strawberry cheesecake smoothie, you don't need a fancy recipe — just throw blueberries,
a banana, a handful of spinach and some kefir into your blender and whip up a tasty, nutrient-packed
breakfast in minutes.
But smoothies aren't the only way you can put kefir to use. According to Kefir 101,
you can incorporate kefir into bread, cultured vegetables, or even guacamole. And Health
Food Lover offers more than 80 ways you can use milk kefir in your cooking, offering ideas
like kefir-based pizza dough and kefir-infused cakes. And if you ever run out of ideas, Pinterest
is your best friend. You're unlikely to run out of ways to use kefir while scrolling through
other people's blog posts about it.
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