5 amazing health benefits of Kefir – not many people know
What’s Kefir?
Kefir is very is a unique and a rare fermented food that existed for many centuries. The people of Caucasus mountains are one the first peoples who discovered kefir.
They discovered kefir by keeping milk in leather pouches, and the milk occasionally used to ferment into a delicious yogurt-like beverage.
Nowadays, kefir is a very popular super healthy beverage that is available in so many countries around the world.
Kefir is a powerful fermented probiotic super food.
What makes Kefir have its amazing health benefits is the fact that it’s stacked with many different types of beneficial bacteria and yeast strains.
Many experiments were conducted to identify the number of bacteria and yeast strains in kefir. They found that kefir contains so many bacteria and yeast strains. (1 ,2, 3)
This table above shows the amount of different bacteria and yeast strains in kefir
There is also, no comparison between kefir and the very best probiotic supplement on the market right now.
One of the best probiotic supplement out there contains 12 bacteria strains, and that’s not even half of what you find in Kefir.Comparing it to other foods of any kind (fermented/non-fermented). Kefir is the only food that contains this amount of beneficial bacteria and yeast strains.
What I’m trying to say is that what makes Kefir different to other foods is the number of bacterial and yeast strains it contains.
what are the amazing health benefits of kefir?
1- Your Gut and your immune system will love Kefir
We all know the famous Hippocrates saying “ALL DISEASE BEGIN IN GUT”
The Gut and the immune system connection is undoubtedly very strong and evident.
Around %75 of the immune system tissue is located in the Gut. A healthy Gut leads to a strong immune system and vice versa.
The Gut contains billions of good bacteria (probiotics) that are involved in synthesizing B vitamins, enzymes, regulating hormonal levels, boosting the immune system and much more.
Good bacteria are simply what makes it or breaks it in terms of the health of your Gut.
Infections come from the fact that our immune system is weak and fragile, to prevent all kinds of infections you need a healthy Gut and a strong immune system.
Probiotics, vitamins, minerals and proteins that are found in Kefir will boost your Gut health and your immune system. With regular Kefir consumption, you will reap the health benefits of Kefir.
Kefir has been proven to help in healing various gut-related diseases and infections such as:
- Constipation
- Crohn’s disease
- Leaky Gut
- Ulcers
- Gastritis
- IBS
- Candida
The bottom line is if you want a healthy Gut and strong immune system, then stack up on good bacteria by drinking delicious Kefir. (1)
when I first started taking Kefir, the first positive reaction that I noticed was the regular bowel movement, no more constipation. Getting rid of constipation and having a healthy and a regular bowel movement is probably the foundation for good health.
2- Kefir-brain connection
Did you know that the Gut is called the “second brain” among scientists?.
There are numerous studies that have proven the strong and undeniable connection between the Brain and the Gut, and how the good bacteria plays a pivotal role in not only keeping your Gut healthy but your Brain too.(2) (3)
What has been proven is that the Gut and the Brain are closely connected to each other when it comes to anxiety and depression.
Studies suggest that if you have a healthy Gut (more friendly bacteria than bad bacteria), then these probiotics will have a positive reaction in the brain by reducing anxiety and depression.
what I found fascinating is that when I take Kefir, I feel this mental clarity, especially in the morning.
3- Kefir as a pre and post workout supplement
Kefir is a great energy booster, and can give you that extra push when you need it for pre-workout and also, post workout recovery drink. ( 7 easy ways to keep yourself motivated to workout)
Kefir provides 10-15 grams of easily digestible complete proteins. Complete proteins as we all know have all the essential amino acids.
You find essential amino acids in whey protein, and that’s what most of us use for post-workout recovery to repair tissues and build muscle mass.
The trend always has been to come with this perfect whole food protein powder or beverage to replenish our body before and after workouts.
If you are looking for a perfect whole food that is 100% made by nature and contains no:
- no sugar
- no artificial sweeteners like ASPARTAME, ACESULFAME POTASSIUM, GLYCEROL, SORBITOL etc.
- Incomplete protein, like hydrolyzed collagen. They don’t provide all the essential amino acids
- Lactose, if you are allergic to it
- Heavy metals
The other thing you have to consider is that Kefir is not a human made protein shake that goes through god knows how many processes to get to you.
Kefir is truly this perfect whole food you are looking for and it will give you:
| MINERALS | VITAMINS | AMINO ACIDS |
| Calcium | Vitamin A | Methionine |
| Iron | Vitamin B1 | Cysteine |
| Phosphorus | Vitamin B2 | Tryptophan |
| Magnesium | Vitamin B3 | Phenylalanine |
| Potassium | Vitamin B6 | Tyrosine |
| Sodium | Vitamin B9 | Leucine |
| Copper | Vitamin B12 | Isoleucine |
| Molybdenum | Vitamin C | Threonine |
| Manganese | Vitamin D | Lysine |
| Zinc | Vitamin E | Valine |
| Vitamin K2 |
kefir is a natural and healthy home made fermented whole food, that is very safe and effective to consume for the whole family, and especially the active people in your life.
After my workouts, I add kefir to my post-workout protein shakes. I really feel this instant energizing feeling that I get and boost that I usually don’t feel when I don’t add it to my protein shake.
4- Kefir is weight loss’s best friend
- A healthy Gut
- Strong immune system
- No anxiety, No stress, No depression
These are the foundation for weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight.
The true health benefit of Kefir is that, by treating one condition, it actually treats and corrects multiple conditions at the same time.
5- Say goodbye to lactose intolerance
Lactose is digested in Kefir milk, for those people with lactose intolerance, you don’t have to worry about that.
The health Benefits of Kefir are endless. But, what I shared with you today are my personal experiences, and I hope I have been able to get you guys to at least give it a try.
Want to know more about fermented foods – CLICK HERE
How to make kefir the easy way
1-How to Kefir from kefir grains
Kefir is really easy to make and takes no time to prepare it.
- Put the kefir grains in a clean glass jar of your choice. preferably wide mouth glass jar
- Add milk of your choice to the glass jar. You can use any type of milk, goat or cow etc.
- Cover the jar with a piece of cloth, and let it sit for at least 24 hours. You can leave it for up to 48 hours, that will make the kefir sourer.
- When it’s ready, remove the cloth that was covering the jar and stir the kefir vigorously
- Pour the ready -made kefir into a clean jar using a plastic strainer and collect the kefir grains. It’s important to remember that using plastic strainer rather than a metal strainer. Kefir is acidic in nature, which makes it reactive when it come in contact with metal.
- You can use the kefir grains to make another batch or you can add milk to it and store it in the fridge till you
are ready to make a new batch. Kefir grains can sit in the fridge for 3-5 weeks. If you decide not make kefir for a while, you can freeze the kefir grains for up to 6 months
Keep the kefir and its grains refrigerated at all times.
REAL KEFIR GRAINS
Get the real kefir grains and start enjoying kefir beverage within 24 hours
2-How to make kefir from kefir starter
kefir starters involve more steps than kefir grains but the process still easy to do and follow
- Heat 1 liter of milk till it reaches the boiling point
- Cool milk to around 75 Fahrenheit
- Dissolve one packet of kefir in a small amount of cooled milk in a cup till it dissolves completely
- Pour back the dissolved kefir into the liter of cooled milk and mix well
- Pour the milk into a clean jar and cover it with a clean piece of cloth and let it sit for 24 hours
- When it’s ready, stir the kefir and store it in the fridge or you can consume it straight away
Some kefir starters you can use the same batch that you just made to make more kefir. You can repeat that few times depends on the kefir starter.
There so many kefir starters on the market, it’s difficult to know which one is the best one. My recommendation would be to get a kefir starter that you can re-use the batch few times like Body Ecology kefir starter.
Kefir Starter
Body Ecology Kefir starter contains 6 packets, each packet can be used 7 times. It contains 8 benefic
ial bacteria:
- Lactococcus Lactis
- Lactococcus cremoris
- Lactococcus diacetylactis
- Leuconostoc cremoris
- Lactobacillus plantarum
- Lactobacillus casei
- Saccharomyces boulardi
- Inulin
Veggie Culture Starter
- Good for weight control and appetite control
- Boost your immune system, NO MORE INFECTION
- Expecting and pregnant women, THIS IS A MUST HAVE
- STOP sweets and dairy consumption
GET your VEGAN starter
I would love to hear your personal experiences and if you benefited from taking Kefir, and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to leave me a comment.
