Kefir Information 4 all

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

After some time doing research on the subject I decided to try Kefir

as oppossed to the Kombucha and am awaiting a quality strain from my

friend in California. I thought I would share some of my info with

you, as I think it would do well with our raw diet. As I mentioned

before, there are two different types of Kefir, there is a milk-

based type which could be made from raw nut milks or soy milk as

well as cows milk or goats milk (no thanks). These Kefirs can be

made into cheeses also, which sound pretty good. But there is also

a " Kefir de Aqua " which can be made from live spring water or

coconut water from fresh young coconuts (yummy). If you are already

using probiotics in your diet, then perhaps you would consider using

live cultures as opposed to dormant cultures as found in health food

stores in the refrigerated section. I found two nice articles about

this subject that I would like to share with you.

 

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" I would like to share with you all some information of the micro-

flora of Kefir grain which date back some 5,000 years and originated

in Caucasus (Eastern Russia in the Himalaya Mt's)

These grains are a living growing organism which make the cultured

milk known as " Kefir " . There have been vast amounts of different

microbes isolated from Kefir grains which are constantly changing

while adapting to any changes to their environment. They have a

symbiotic relationship, which in short means " they can't live

without each other " !

They're held together with in a white polysaccharide matrix

structure that the microbes produce.

Till date, it is not yet fully understood how this structure comes

about, nor can this be reproduced in laboratory conditions. The

secret to this facinating white, spongy, sour but clean smelling

slightly aromatic little critter which is often described as

resembling Cauliflower floraletts still lies within the grain itself.

When I read in a " Food Science and Tech. " abstract that when

microbiologists tried unsuccessfully to make these grains from pure

mixed cultures isolated from the grains, they asked the Caucasians

where they got the grains from. They said " they were a present from

Allah " which I think was quite an appropriate answer.. don't you?

lol

I believe when this secret is understood it can also help us to

understand more how tumors and carcinomas work.

While on the subject, anti-tumor activity in mice have been found

for the water soluble polysaccaride of the Kefir grain and as the

grains also contain Lb. acidophilus then, if they're the apropriate

strain, there may be " bacteriocin " present.

 

Here is a run down of the typical micro flora of Kefir grains

isolated from a batch in the UK. They are divided in four Genus

groups:

 

LACTOBACILLI:

Lb. brevis, Lb.cellobiosus, Lb. kefir, Lb.kefiranofaciens, Lb.casei

ssp. rhamnosus and ssp.alactosus, Lb.casei Lb helveticus

ssp. lactis, Lb deldruevkii ssp. lactis and ssp. bulgaricus

Lb.lactis, Lb acidophilus

STREPTOCOCCI/LACTOCOCCI:

Lc.lactis ssp.lactis and ssp. cremoris and Var. diacetylactis, Lc

salivarius ssp. thermophilus, Enterococcus durans, Leuconostoc

cremoris, L.mesenteroides

YEASTS:

Kluyveromyces lactis

K.bulgaricus

K. fragilis / marxianus

Candida kefir

C pseudotropicalis

Saccharomyces ssp. Torulopsis holmii (torulla ssp.)

ACETOBACTER:

Acetobacters aceti

A. rasens

 

Note the last group of bacteria the " Acetobacters " which A. aceti

is responsible for making that other wonderfull " organism " known

as " The mother of vinegar " and is also known as " Kombucha " by the

Japanese!

 

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taken from

http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/mall/kefir_culture.ASP

 

Kefir is a natural probiotic. It contains live active cultures of

normal flora that will actually repopulate your digestive tract and

aid in digestion. Kefir is superior to yogurt because yogurt is

made with trancient, less potent bacteria. The bacteria in yogurt

will last a few days in the digestive tract, and you need to keep

reintroducing them. Kefir contains more organisms than yogurt, and

the " normal flora " in kefir is made of vary strong strains of micro

organisms (unlike yogurt) which will help to over take pathogenic

organisms that have taken over. Kefir will repopulate the digestive

tract with good organisms. We consider this the more natural way to

add good bacteria to the digestive tract and feel these strains are

superior to any capsules which might contain organisms that have

been dried. The cultures on Kefir are active and growing when they

enter your body. They thrive in dairy and use up the lactose and

partially digest the proteins, making it a product that most people

can ingest and will benefit from. Even people with milk

sensitivities can usually drink kefir. These strong strains of

digestive bacteria will also culture coconut water from young

coconuts or any milk product.

 

In addition to repopulating the digestive tract, enzyme stores are

added to in the body. Many people in the US currently take digestive

enzymes. They have been told they are not digesting their food

properly, that their enzyme stores have run out, and they will have

to take enzymes the rest of their life. Unfortunately, their health

care providers have missed something that Sally Fallon and the

Weston A. Price people along with people like Donna Gates of Body

Ecology have come to realize: that cultured foods will actually

add back enzyme stores into the enzyme banks of the body and aid the

body in digesting other foods. Kefir, cultured cream, buttermilk,

cultured vegetables, etc all add predigested food full of vitamins

and minerals, normal flora, and enzymes to the body. I believe

these are valuable foods, part of all good traditional diets, that

have become lost in the society of today. And I believe bringing

them back is essential for optimal health.

Probiotics are capsules or tablets that contain some of the same

healthy bacteria found in kefir. The differences between kefir and

probiotics are significant, however. While probiotics contain good

organisms that can repopulate the digestive tract, they need to be

kept dormant (refrigerated) and are not actively replicating and

growing when they arrive in your intestines. In addition, they are

not in any medium that will coat the digestive tract and help them

to become established, but rather they are in the process of being

dormant and are actually slowly decreasing in population as they die

off over time.

 

Kefir, on the other hand has massive quantities of healthy normal

flora that are in the process of growing, increasing in number, and

thriving. They are eaten in the medium they are thriving in, such

the cultured milk or coconut water, which will coat the digestive

tract and help them to establish residence there. This is a

tremendous boost to your system and will repopulate your digestive

tract more quickly, more efficiently, and more thoroughly than

probiotics.

 

 

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So there you have it, my case for Kefir on the raw food diet. I did

a 12 day fast about 2 years ago, just before I got pregnant with my

first son. I have been nursing him since and am pregnant with

another thus I am not able to fast for about another 2 years,

however, I beleive fasting and replenishing with healthy bacteria

are an integral part of a healthy, raw life. Happy eats all....

Kris