Kefir. - does taking it really improve your health?

Primrose

I,d be interested to learn who is taking this yoghurt type substance on a regular basis and whether it does actually improve your health?

I've read it has far more "good" bacteria than ordinary bio yoghurts. Is there any evidence they can help speed up the healing period from low grade lingering bugs or viruses?

uknick

"Good" bacteria definitely help speed up healing and improve the immune system.

My partner has gut dysbiosis, caused by too many prescribed antibiotics over the years, and she's been on probiotics for a couple of years now and has definitely noticed improvements in her health

She's not so prone to chest infections and the blood blisters she gets in her mouth, due to her asthma inhaler steroids, no longer get infected when they burst.

But, and this is a big but, she takes pills containing the recommended probiotics and they're not cheap, some are £1 per pill per day. At present she is taking 2 different pills per day.

The ones she takes have been recommended by medical professionals. The professionals she's seen are NHS consultants (seen as a private patient) whose main area of expertise is the gut and they're now starting to specialize in the gut microbiome system,

She has also spent a lot of time surfing the net to find recommended ones to take. But, she only takes these once they been cleared by one of the aforementioned professionals.

She always checks first because, if you get it wrong, at the very least you're wasting your money, at the worst you could cause harm to your gut microbiome system.

Finally, to answer your question about Kefir, she tried this for a few months but never noticed any real improvements in her health,

In my opinion, which seems to be shared by the medical profession, probiotics are going to be a big market in the next few years. As such, you're going to get many expensive products come on the market, making claims which can't be substantiated by medical evidence. I think it'll be like the vitamin market was a few years ago where manufacturers claimed one magic pill a day would ward off all evils. But, it never did.

Primrose

I,m inclined to agree with you about the health products industry wanting to climb on this latest bandwagon although my jury be out for a trial period while I give them a run. I'Ve only been eating it for a week and I suspect that any slight increase in my current feeling of wellbeing may be due to the exercise classes I,ve recently started.

uknick

No question it's the exercise classes. I don't know your fitness state, but even a minor increase in exercise will make you feel better at the start.

ess0two

I take Kefir daily, its mainly cured my acid reflux symptoms,been Lansoprazole free for months.
Also got a general feeling of well being? as best I can describe?or is it a placebo effect?although when I take a break every few weeks can feel the difference.
Don't buy shop sold kefir,buy some grains and ferment yourself,real easy and a lot cheaper.

Primrose

ess0two wrote: »

I take Kefir daily, its mainly cured my acid reflux symptoms,been Lansoprazole free for months.
Also got a general feeling of well being? as best I can describe?or is it a placebo effect?although when I take a break every few weeks can feel the difference.
Don't buy shop sold kefir,buy some grains and ferment yourself,real easy and a lot cheaper.

That,s interesting about the acid reflux. How much kefir did you take every day? The equivalent o a small carton or just a couple of spoonfuls ?

When you mention taking a break every few weeks can you elaborate? Do you mean taking a break from the kefir every few weeks?

Could you describe how to ferment the grains please? I,m new to this product so wouldn,t know which grains to buy and how to start.

ess0two

Primrose wrote: »

That,s interesting about the acid reflux. How much kefir did you take every day? The equivalent o a small carton or just a couple of spoonfuls ?

When you mention taking a break every few weeks can you elaborate? Do you mean taking a break from the kefir every few weeks?

Could you describe how to ferment the grains please? I,m new to this product so wouldn,t know which grains to buy and how to start.

I take 300ml before bed, each day.

Every 6 wks i'll take a week off the stuff,just to give the grains a rest etc and myself.

You can buy the grains on ebay, start fermenting with a pint of whole milk, after 24-36 hrs,sieve the mixture and re-capture the grains,you'll find they've multiplied also.

When not using the grains, store them in fresh milk at the back of fridge,they're quite resilient.

The more you ferment the more grains you'll produce.

The shop bought stuff is expensive and pasteurized to some extent, using your own grains you'll get full benefit.

Plenty of guides on google etc, to get you started.

shykins

long thread about kefir if anyone is interested

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=181557&highlight=kefir

Primrose

shykins wrote: »

long thread about kefir if anyone is interested

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=181557&highlight=kefir

Many thanks for this. I shall read and digest nd think about experimenting by making my own. Gave away my Easi Yo yoghurt making kit a while ago because I hadn,t used it for a time. May live to regret doing that. Could probably have used it for making Keffir.

shykins

i just used a large jar, piece of muslin and a plastic tea strainer lol. no need for anything complicated

i trained mine onto cream as i am a lowcarber, was really thick and luscious and if you double strain it you get a cream cheese, creme fraiche type consistency

Katiehound

There's a lot of new info about the gut flora these days- see the book 'The good gut diet book' by Dr Michael Moseley.
One thing I would like to try is to make kombucha- which is fermented black tea. Expensive in the health food shops- not sure how easy it would be to brew.
Another thing to try is (live) saurekraut- not the pasteurised variety.

The theory seems to be that giving the gut microbes an extensive range of foods (unlike a limited western diet) they increase in quantity and variety and that helps to support the immune system.