USING KEFIR FOR EXCELLENT DIGESTIVE HEALTH
AND IMMUNE FUNCTION
Did you know most of your immune system is in your gut? One of the most important health habits, practiced by traditional cultures all over the globe for centuries, is eating fermented or “cultured,” probiotic-rich, living foods.
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You can use WATER GRAINS to ferment sugar water or coconut liquid, for “water kefirs.” |
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Different beneficial microorganisms are found in live MILK GRAINS that are used to culture dairy or goat milk, or nut and seed milks. |
My entire family stopped getting sick, and never again got a flu or bacterial infection, when we made it a daily habit to eat homemade cultured foods. Many modern health problems are related to a lack of healthy organisms in the digestive tract. And these billions of teeming flora are our main protection against viruses and bacteria. People who have taken antibiotics have severely depleted healthy flora, which leads to getting sick over and over, inflammation in the gut causing many modern diseases, and an inability to digest foods and utilize nutrition.
Step 8 of my 12 Steps to Whole Foods is about how to culture foods.
The easiest, least-expensive way to get live, fermented (or “cultured”) foods into your diet is to make homemade kefir. It tastes much like yogurt, but has even higher numbers and a broader range of beneficial microorganisms than yogurt does. And it doesn’t require any cooking—it’s simpler to make.
You can drink kefir plain. I make a smoothie for my children with milk kefir every morning, blended with bananas and berries. I use coconut-water kefir every morning as the base of my Hot Pink Breakfast Smoothie (see Ch. 11 of 12 Steps to Whole Foods). You can use it to ferment grains for sourdough bread or any baking recipe, breaking down wheat or other grains and making them far easier to digest. Use it as part of the liquid called for in your recipe. An extra step that is beneficial for your health is to soak the water/kefir (about 5:1 ratio) in flour or grains, 8 to 24 hours in advance of making the recipe.
Sometimes, especially in hot weather, a clear yellow liquid separates from the milk solids in your kefir, which is called whey. Do not throw this mineral-rich, nutritious liquid away. You can drink it plain or in a smoothie. It can be used – 2 Tbsp. in a cup of water – to ferment a quart of raw cabbage to make sauerkraut that will last 2+ years, covered, with no boiling-water-bath or pressurized canning. It can also be diluted with 5 parts water as a tree or plant/shrub fertilizer!
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Q&A:
Q: What if my kefir is very thick and separates into curds and whey?
A: Remove some of the grains, and add more milk to your batches. You can eat kefir grains for the probiotics when you have too many, or give them away as they proliferate.
Q: What if I have to leave town for a week? Can I put them in the fridge?
A: If I leave town for 2-4 days, I put twice as much milk as normal in a half-gallon jar and just leave it on the counter. If you refrigerate your kefir grains, they become dormant. They will still make kefir when you return, although your first couple of batches may take an extra day. But they may never grow, thrive, and multiply/ reproduce again. Therefore, when I leave town for more than 4 days, I have a friend babysit my kefir grains and give them fresh milk every 2 days.
Q: What do I do with so many kefir grains, after they have grown for a while?
A: Give them away, or eat them for the wonderful probiotic benefits (you can blend them into a smoothie). You can use any extra kefir you have in your bath water, in the water you wash your face with, or on your garden or house plants diluted in 5 parts water. All living things can benefit from probiotics and minerals.
Q: My friend wants some of my kefir grains. But my kefir grains aren’t multiplying. How can I make them increase?
A: Keeping kefir grains in the fridge or a cold place makes them stop multiplying. Leaving your grains at room temperature for a length of time, and adding only room temperature milk, may help them become more active. Also, don’t squeeze or wash your grains, which traumatizes them. Avoid using too many grains in too-small an amount of milk. Two tablespoons of grains in 2-3 cups of milk each 1-2 days is a good average amount. Also, use raw, whole milk.
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