A diverse microbiome is a key measure of good health. It is important for overall gut and digestive health, a strong immune system, cardiometabolic health, asthma, allergies and skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis, as well as conditions associated with auto-immunity to name a few.
An easy way to increase diversity in your microbiome is to include Kefir into your diet.
Making Kefir from dairy, allows most of the lactose to disappear in the culturing process. The proteins are also greatly modified. This means that dairy Kefir can generally be tolerated quite well by people that can’t tolerate regular cow’s milk. It is worth giving it a go, however if you find that you can’t tolerate dairy Kefir, or you have an allergy to cows milk protein, there is always the option of water or coconut Kefir.
What I love about Kefir, is that you will never know exactly which probiotics each batch will contain. It will be a health enhancing surprise! A batch of Kefir you make in the summer will be hugely different to a winter batch due to the different environment. This is great because the body loves variety and diversity when it comes to gut bugs. You will get as many probiotics in the Kefir as you would in an expensive probiotic supplement. Win!
To make milk Kefir:
In a jar, add approx. 2T of milk Kefir grains to 1L milk.
Secure a muslin cloth or a tea towel over the jar using a rubber band, or use a preserving jar without the rubber ring and secure the lid.
Leave jar for 24-48 hours
Strain Kefir through colander and re-use grains.
The uses for Kefir are endless, here are a few ideas:
Make a gut loving Kefir smoothie
Pour over your porridge instead of milk
Use in place of the liquid portion of overnight oats or bircher museli
Make probiotic ice blocks