Kefir
It means “feel good” in Turkish.
Kefir is a refreshing cultured milk beverage. It tastes similar to drinkable yogurt, yet a bit more sour. Kefir also has a slightest hint of a natural effervescent zesty tang.
Kefir contains more and stronger beneficial bacteria than yogurt. It is far superior to yogurt, as the bacteria in yogurt will only survive a few days in your digestive tract. Kefir contains live active cultures of normal flora that repopulate in the digestive tract. It's a super probiotic punch!
The cultures in kefir are active and growing when they enter the body. They thrive in dairy and use up the lactose and partially digest the proteins, making it a product most people can benefit from. Even those with milk or dairy sensitivities can usually tolerate kefir.
Kefir is full of vitamins and minerals, normal flora, and enzymes that aid digestion. It boosts your immune system.
Kefir grains, or kefir granules if you wish, are in fact a natural-starter. The biological structure or each grain is created through a dynamic or symbiotic association between a vast mixture of friendly Lactic acid bacteria [LAB], vinegar-producing bacteria and yeasts strains.
A batch of kefir grains consist of many individual white to bone-coloured mostly self-enclosed bodies made up of a soft, gelatinous biological mass somewhat resembling cooked cauliflower rosettes. The complexity of the kefir grain is a mixture of protein, amino acids, lipids [fats] and soluble-polysaccharides.
If you can pour, you can make kefir! Make your own at home for the price of milk. You can buy fruity, sweetened kefir at health food stores ( or Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Sunflower, etc.) but it is rather pricey. It is much better to make your own. My kids love strawberry kefir smoothies..
If you are in Indiana, I have grains (starter) and would be happy to share..
Happy 2009!
