Kefir. - does taking it really improve your health?

Primrose

Help please!
My OH has just bought me packet of "Nourish Kefir" freeze dried starter culture packs (6 for £12) from local health food shop trying to be helpful in my new venture.

Just noticed that the pack Use by date is 31/12/19. I'll never use all the sachets up by then. Can I store them in fridge or freezer to prolong their life otherwise it's going to end up being pretty expensive Kefir!

These cultures don,t grow into grains apparently but pack says you can make up to 4 batches from each sachet by taking some from existing batch and adding to fresh milk. Will this powdered culture method , as opposed to using grains, make an inferior version of the product? Real newbie at this I,m afraid so advice appreciated.

shykins

you can certainly store the grains in some milk in the fridge or freezer. not sure if freeze dried is the same but no reason you cant try

other than that I wouldnt take too much notice of the date as kefir grains are years old, some families have held on to theirs for generations!!

you might find once yours get going you wont need the other packets as they should keep multiplying

Primrose

I started the first one off yesterday morning - (these sachets contain freeze dried powdered cultures, NOT actual grains) and this morning I noticed the milk mixtures has started to thicken a little but is still effectively very gloopy so wondering if it had a way to go yet before it thickens up?

Presumably if I want it the thickness of commercial keffir (ie like yoghurt) I need to leave it for a while longer to co to ue the process before moving to fridge for storage?

shykins

even with actual grains it takes a few days to get them growing again. you might need to strain and replace the milk a few times before you get thick kefir

once i had removed the grains from the kefir i used to strain it again thru a muslin to make it really thick as thats how i like it

Primrose

I,ve now tried several attempts using the freeze dried powdered culture but on every occasion after around 48 hours find mixtures has thickened but when I strain it off I'm losing around 50% of the original milk in whey which just has to be thrown away.so end up with a relatively small amount of end product.

What am I doing wrong or is this amount of wastage normal?

maddiemay

Someone I know buys these sachets from the health food shop and I intend trying them soon. As far as I know (I also read the packet at the store) he doesn't need to strain it (you do with the grains) and he can start a new batch by keeping back an amount from the one in use.

shellycooper928

I am not very familiar with health benefits of kefir but it really helps me control my apetite, plus, it's low in calories. If you're looking to loose weight, it's a great option

BananaRepublic

There is scepticism as this is just one bacterium and it might not get through to the gut. Healthy guts have a whole range of organisms. Faecal transplants are one approach to improving gut health. :eek:

I take the view that a healthy diet with unprocessed food, lots of fibre and a wide range of foodstuffs combined with exercise is the way to health. I had my first cold/flu of the year in November which I attribute to exercise keeping my immune system healthy. That said I was on antibiotics for over ten years and it must have stuffed my got fauna.

savingfortomorrow

I drink kefir daily, I use the commerical products and have found it makes me feel better. I use instead of yougart and pour it over cereal. I have added it to food instead of sour cream. I like to drink it daily. I never used the real kefir grains as i read a lot can be inactive when bought online and have not found a supplier, The cost of the commerical kefir is not much above a litre of milk. I find it is a nice refreshing drink, it seems to help reduce my sugar desire and fills me up.