Milk Kefir is a simple fermented food, using cows milk and a special good bacteria (referred to as 'grains.') These when sitting in milk, feed off the sugars and the lactose in the milk and provide a rich probiotic drink to help balance and heal your gut health.
If you need some specialized help with your gut health, energy, sleep or another 'lifestyle' type of health condition, check out The Gut Program.
So, Why Should You Have Milk Kefir For Your Gut?
* Kefir means 'feel good' in Turkish - And I totally agree that it makes for feeling good!
If you can't tolerate dairy or milk - there's a good chance milk kefir will still work for you, because during the fermenting process (sitting out on the bench for 24 hours) the lactose is no longer present in the milk.
You can also make kefir on using just filtered water or coconut milk.
"Dairy intolerance is essentially due to poor gut health, so kefir is precisely what you should be having - in order to strengthen and balance your gut flora, which when imbalanced, are the major cause of food intolerances."
How To Make Milk Kefir
Milk kefir is very easy to make once you know how. I admit, I was very unsure at first because I was overly cautious and didn't understand it. But now, it takes me about 2 minutes every morning to prepare my daily batch of this probiotic drink AND also make another fresh batch for the next morning.
"Making daily milk kefir is your new health insurance!"
Below in video is one recipe that I use inside The Gut Program where I take you through the 5 steps to fix your gut health!
TIP: A good rule of thumb is use 2 heaped teaspoons of kefir grains per 1 cup of milk. You can then seperate off some grains, put them in small glass bottle and freeze them for if you ever need new grains later. Many people forget about them when they go travelling and the grains die from malnutrition! So it's great to have backup grains in the freezer.
"The kefir grains will grow and double in amount over about a week of fermenting, so you'll always have kefir 'grain gifts' to give your friends and family!"
You can get milk kefir grains (which are different to water kefir grains) online. Fresh kefir grains are not sold at shops. The powdered kefir sachets are, however these are not as good as the grains.
How To Drink Milk Kefir
There are a number of ways to have your kefir. The main thing is to have it daily! This way, you're topping up good bacteria in your gut every day.
However start with 1 teaspoon and over a few weeks work your way up to having 1 cup per day. I recommend drinking a glass of kefir every morning before or for breakfast.
"A favourite way to have a daily dose of kefir is make a breakfast smoothie using milk kefir as the base for your smoothie. Then add in all your potions and powders for good gut health!"
In reality, we lose our good gut bacteria to the 'daily grind!' Things like daily stress, sugar, alcohol, gluten, food preservatives, NON-Organic foods, medications, even a bad night's sleep will deplete your good gut bacteria over the course of just a day - therefore every day you need to replace this.
"Those who don't ingest probiotic foods daily, usually end up with Gut Dysbiosis, which means an imbalance in gut bacteria. This can be the start of many health struggles!"
Need A Quick Guide To Fix Your Gut Health?
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Sometimes we just need a few simple steps so we don't feel overwhelmed right? This is your jam!
Please Note: Kefir is potent and some people will not tolerate it well until they've done some work on their gut first. That's why I suggest starting off having a small amount (1-2 tsp first!) If you have severe leaky gut or histamine intolerance, you should not have kefir until these things are remedied and healed by doing The Gut Program.