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Alternative Remedy - Try Kefir

Messages
43
Kefir is very good for detoxing the system. I'm going to give it a go and I found a really good company who is currently offering a 15% discount if you quote "kefircompany6839" to their email address info@buy-kefir.co.uk their website is www.buy-kefir.co.uk

If anyone has tried it before or plans on using it I'd love to hear how you get on. I'm going to make a batch up over the weekend
 

Seven7

Seven
Messages
3,444
Location
USA
I get loose bowel about every day. It stopped since I started Kefir. When I skip I get loose bowel again so I keep on it but that is the only effect I have noticed. I think is making me gain weight (is the only thing I eat for dinner 8oz). It is done w low fat milk but I am trying to get into another prio that I can take. Will start researching VSL-3

7
 

Jenny

Senior Member
Messages
1,388
Location
Dorset
Kefir is very good for detoxing the system. I'm going to give it a go and I found a really good company who is currently offering a 15% discount if you quote "kefircompany6839" to their email address info@buy-kefir.co.uk their website is www.buy-kefir.co.uk

If anyone has tried it before or plans on using it I'd love to hear how you get on. I'm going to make a batch up over the weekend

I've been making kefir for about 18 months. I have some nearly every day. Hasn't done anything for my ME.

Jenny
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
I've made coconut kefir using probiotic capsules over the last 5 years but never noticed any improvement
in my ME either. I even drank a whole quart of helios organic kefir everyday for 3 weeks when I had h pylori
and it did nothing for that either. Antibiotics nailed it tho. Kow ..

I'm allergic to casein so I'm not sure what was happening in my body. I just get dark marks around my eyes from
casein tho. No upset tummy or anything else. I was too sick to make my own coconut kefir at that time.

A few years of making my own and / or drinking synergy kombucha tea did nothing good or bad either.
Making it was very entertaining. Especially grossing everyone out with the scoby .. Bwaa haa haa

The maf ? Yogurt idea is interesting tho. Tc .. X

Ps. Avoiding food intolerances and chemicals has done the most for me.
 

caledonia

Senior Member
I got some grains from Cultures for Health and have got them started in regular milk. I've tried a bit over the past few days and so far it makes me spacey. That's similar to the reaction I got when I first tried probiotics. I'm going to be switching the grains over to coconut milk soon.
 

xrunner

Senior Member
Messages
843
Location
Surrey
If you want to get the wide range of yeasts and bacteria that kefir is supposed to you need to get kefir grains rather than starters. That's how it's been made over the centuries.
This site has a lot of information on kefir
http://users.sa.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html

I used to do it a few years ago. It helped with digestion but not with other ME symptoms.
 

CJB

Senior Member
Messages
877
Kefir is a great food, but can be "too much" for a sensitive GI tract. I've been experimenting with homemade fermented foods (sauerkraut) since last fall. I'm pretty squeamish about the idea of eating something that has been sitting out at room temperature for days, so I started pretty slowly. But I tolerate it much better than the kefir. The last batch I made with cabbage, carrots and some ginger and I actually really, really like it. Not squeamish any more.
 

xks201

Senior Member
Messages
740
Does kefir contain lactic acid producing probiotics? What specific bacteria are used to ferment it?
 

BadBadBear

Senior Member
Messages
571
Location
Rocky Mountains
I have been making goat milk kefir for a year now, and my mega flare-up occurred while I was consuming it. I almost am wondering if kefir is far too strong for my system... I really had a dis-taste for it for a while during my flare up - my body preferred yogurt so I made that instead - though kefir tastes good again now. However, I have not been eating it for a while (switched to goat milk for my smoothies) and my GI seems happier. I have read that both kefir and yogurt can contain too much histamine for some people, so it could be that or it could be something germain to the culture itself...

Kefir can contain up to 30 different cultures, it is fermented with bacterial & beneficial yeast colonies that look like little florets of cauliflower. They are symbiotic little 'creatures' that you transfer from one batch of milk to the next. They are pretty funky little beasties. ;) The longer it is cultured or the more kefir grains that are used to make it, the more acidic it becomes and the whey will separate out.

I have read that it can tend to be constipating if fermentation goes longer than 24 hours, and it can tend to cause diarrhea if it's fermented for only 12 hours or so. Since I tend toward IBS-C, I tried to use 12 hour ferments to help, but didn't find it very useful.

So while I'm still making kefir for the rest of my family (even my 88 y.o. grandma eats it daily), it gets a mixed review from me.