{"id":21673,"date":"2016-04-08T10:40:20","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T10:40:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.faithful-to-nature.co.za\/natural-organic-blog\/?p=21673"},"modified":"2019-03-05T14:42:01","modified_gmt":"2019-03-05T12:42:01","slug":"make-your-own-kefir-the-probiotic-drink-your-gut-will-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.faithful-to-nature.co.za\/blog\/make-your-own-kefir-the-probiotic-drink-your-gut-will-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Your Own Kefir – The Probiotic Drink Your Gut Will Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is Kefir?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

They say the word kefir<\/em> originated from the Turkish word “Keif” which means “good feeling”. That\u2019s your first clue that you may just end up loving it. It\u2019s said to have originated in the Caucus mountains, where shepherds would keep their milk in leather pouches and it would ferment into fizzy, cultured milk. What causes this fizzy fermentation (and delicious tart, sour taste) is the secret.<\/p>\n

Kefir grains<\/a> are a symbiosis of over 30 different microflora clumped together into little colonies called a SCOBY,\u00a0that looks like cauliflower florets, making it more of a plant than \u201cgrains\u201d.<\/p>\n

Now about that feel-good feeling \u2013 it is becoming increasingly accepted that your gut plays as big a role in your mental health and moods as your brain does. All the little organisms forming a community in your gut \u2013 the good ones that you want there that is \u2013 they help your body process hormones, and it\u2019s even been discovered that 90% of your body\u2019s serotonin is made in the gut<\/a> and depends on the help of these little creatures!<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where kefir comes in \u2013 it\u2019s a probiotic par excellence that\u2019s even a notch above yoghurt when it comes to creating healthy gut culture. Whereas yoghurt cultures act as food for the microflora in your gut as they pass through, kefir cultures actually colonise your gut with the healthy microflora you need. This includes yeast that combats unfriendly salmonella and E. Coli, as well as that famous nasty, candida.<\/p>\n

TWO KINDS OF KEFIR<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

This sometimes causes some confusion \u2013 there are two kinds of kefir \u2013 water kefir<\/a> and milk kefir<\/a>. Some people think that they are interchangeable, but in fact they are not, they are two distinct and separately developed cultures.<\/p>\n

MILK KEFIR:<\/a><\/em><\/strong> If you want to make milk kefir, which feeds on the milk sugar lactose, you need to get milk kefir grains, a cauliflower-like opaque culture. Although fermenting milk with kefir makes it much more digestible for those who are lactose intolerant, if you are vegan, or are really sensitive to milk, you can try water kefir instead. You can culture non-dairy milks with milk kefir SCOBY, but the results may be iffy. If you do do it, you will need to immerse your SCOBY in dairy milk every few batches to refresh it with some lactose. It has a delicious, tart yoghurt-like taste.<\/p>\n

WATER KEFIR:<\/em><\/strong><\/a> has a string of interesting names – bees, Japanese Water Crystals, Graines Vivantes, Balm of Gilead \u2013 and has a transparent appearance. It feeds on cane sugar, fruit juice and coconut water. it needs sugars to survive. Its origins are hazy but it is thought to have originated in Mexico. It has a pleasant tart, fermented taste with a subtle fizz.<\/p>\n

KEFIR’S HEALTH & HEALING EFFECTS:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n