Kefir: Ancient and Modern Probiotic Jewel

[Mummycaptain of 1,000]

Got my 6 lbs of chia seeds last night from Amazon for $28 and free shipping.....had a spoonful or two last night and my blood sugar was down about 10 points from my normal morning average....be interesting to watch it over the next couple of days!

[highfivecaptain of 100]

Thanks, Dennis. I checked out the link you gave us way at the top, and found out quite a bit about the water after I poked around a bit.

I tried to get some crystals at a local health food store, and they pronounced it "keefir", as in Keifer Sutherland. I saw other places on the net that it is pronounced "kefear," with the emphasis on the last syllable. any thoughts on that?

[denniscaptain of 1,000]

funny

[denniscaptain of 1,000]

That is great Jason. Glad you got the wonder seed. Be careful !! Chia does more than stabalize blood sugar. AS in much more brain activity. = more posts. ha!

Now if you get kefir, you will have live rocket FUEL. READY TO BLAST OFF 3 2 1.. cured !

[shadowcaptain of 1,000]

Got my 6 lbs of chia seeds last night from Amazon for $28 and free shipping.....had a spoonful or two last night and my blood sugar was down about 10 points from my normal morning average....be interesting to watch it over the next couple of days!

Just ordered 6 lbs from Amazon...

[SmallFarmcaptain of 1,000]

Thanks Dennis. Have already been planning to learn to make cheese this year out of my goat milk, now I have another thing to add to my list. I wonder would kefir would do to a cheese culture.

[denniscaptain of 1,000]

absolutely , kefir is soft curd. You can not believe how easy it is to make. and you get whey as a bonus. you use the whey to make sour kraut, salsa, any vegetable can be preserved and enhanced with more nutrients.

[Mummycaptain of 1,000]

That is great Jason. Glad you got the wonder seed. Be careful !! Chia does more than stabalize blood sugar. AS in much more brain activity. = more posts. ha!

Now if you get kefir, you will have live rocket FUEL. READY TO BLAST OFF 3 2 1.. cured !

ay yay yay....well its 4:49 am and I've been up since 4:20 am wired!

my 6 lb order of chia seeds arrived from Amazon Tues night (6 lbs 1 oz to be specific - glad to see they are generous). Also came with a 1/2 oz sample of white chia seed which my oldest daughter and I devoured that night just eating them straight. Yesterday morning my blood sugar was 96 and I'm normally 105 to 115 prior to breakfast. I cut my morning dose of insulin back by 25%.....hungry like crazy by dinner and snacked before dinner (and while preparing dinner - also snacking on chia seeds) so I didn't test my blood sugar as it would be off anyways but I cut my dinner insulin dosage back by 25% just to be safe. Also snacked on chia seeds after dinner (fighting my daughter over them again).

Ended up skipping my evening treadmill work and watching a movie with the wife and kids that they had been begging me to watch with them for awhile (Despicable Me). Took my normal dosage of insulin that I've been taking every night since late November/early December. Well couple hours later in bed while talking to my wife started to feel a low coming. Stumbled downstairs and checked the sugar - 36. Lowest I've ever been previous to this was low 60's. With panic stricken wife who had just been cussing me for not letting her help me downstairs....I proceeded to medicate with glasses of juice, handfuls of marshmallows, chocolate chips, candy bars, and whatever other high sugar item that was within reach. 1/2 gallon of sweat and 15 minutes later I had my blood sugar up to 72. Then the chills hit so I went back to bed.

This morning I was 190 with nasty upset stomach (hypercharged all the bad bacteria in my stomach with the overdose of sugar). So here I sit typing this out....eating a bowl of yogurt sprinkled with chia seeds preparing for 90 minutes on the treadmill this morning to work off the sugar.

Needless to say but I'll be monitoring my blood sugar much more closely over the next couple of days.....

....and Dennis....one thing at a time! I'm very interested in Kefir....but I gotta get the chia seed deal worked out first! Thank you for bringing it up!

In the book I bought off Amazon "Magic of Chia" to study up on this before jumping into it.....they said you would feel less hungry and one reason why people lost weight while taking it. I had the opposite reaction....but in thinking about and analyzing my results (especially in light of last night's experience) I think it has made the insulin more effective thus making me feel hungry earlier (burning up the previous meal faster).

Fascinating seeds! 600% more calcium than equivalent amount of milk. Lots of boron. Perfect Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio (best oil in the world). And multiple other benefits....

[highfivecaptain of 100]

hey Dennis -

I got my kefir crystals! the recipe that came with them said to use to use organic brown sugar, but it's ok to use raw honey, right? but that's instead of the brown sugar, I am assuming. Will bottled water be ok? their directions were 1/3 cup sweetner to 1 quart of water, boil the water, add the sugar, let cool before you add the grains. Do you agree with that? I want to just do the basic before I start experimenting.

[highfivecaptain of 100]

I got my water kefir crystals today! The directions with it say 1/3 cup organic brown sugar with a quart of water. But I could add raw honey instead, right? boil water (bottled water ok?) add sweetner, let cool, add kefir. Does this sound right to you, dennis? this is very simple, but I thought I would start with that at first. how much benefit do you see from adding such a small amount of the fruit or other ingredients? is it really worth the effort? I am excited to start!

[denniscaptain of 1,000]

Hi guys, been out of town. Went to Idaho, and found a treasure on the road. A sugar beet. More free road kill going to use it in the kefir. Havent had time to write much about the home made ginger ale. but grind up ginger root, put in orange or lemon rind. I use honey instead of sugar. Should be the best drink ever.

Mummy, Sounds like you eat, like you post. Chia , should be soaked. that gives you the hydration. Drink lots of water. Chia will level out and stabalize sugar levels. In Idaho I was showing my nephew how to use chia and kefir.
Put 1/2 spoon chia in 1/2 glass of water. Soak 15 min. Add milk kefir or yougurt. Add blue berries or other fruit. a little honey. Good stuff.

[highfivecaptain of 100]

I have been drinking the water kefir for a week now, and am feeling the benefits. I also have more energy and I sleep better. I have been able to get off several supplements that I have taken for years to help me sleep. that in its self if reason enough to contiue. I hope to see more benefits as time goes on.

So here's my question: how long does it take for the grains to multiply? I only have about a tablespoon, and they don't seem to be growing. Is there some trick to it? or does it just take a long time? I really want to share them with family members and friends.

[denniscaptain of 1,000]

You might want to use sugar instead of honey, to get more growth. Also, get a ginger root, blend or chop up a small piece. and add to kefir, and let it culture for several days. wah lah, ginger ale

[Hivetyrantcaptain of 10]

Can you reuse those same fruits in later batches, or would you recommend getting a fresh mix of everything every time you start a new batch?

[singyourwayhomecaptain of 1,000]

If anyone around the Salt Lake or Utah valleys is looking for kefir grains, I just spotted this on the KSL.com classifieds:

Water and Milk Kefir Grains
Lehi, UT 84043 - Jun 9, 2011
I have more water grains than I know what to do with...they make a ginger beer-like drink that calms a bloated stomach in no time!!! I also have a few milk grains for milk kefir a yogurt like drink. I would love to spread healthy living so they are free! Google Doms Kefir for recipes and to learn more about kefir! I live at Thanksgiving point so I am close to both valleys!

Contact Name:
Jennifer Home Phone:
801-225-7931
Cell Phone:
801-367-9182

And someone else on there has a kombucha start (mother)...

[singyourwayhomecaptain of 1,000]

If anyone along the Wasatch Front is looking for kefir grains, mine is ready to split. I live in the SW corner of the Salt Lake Valley. PM me if you want some.

[karend77captain of 100]

If anyone along the Wasatch Front is looking for kefir grains, mine is ready to split. I live in the SW corner of the Salt Lake Valley. PM me if you want some.

I might take you up on this. We have been buying VSL3 for my son as a probiotic and have found that kefir has all the same ones as vsl, only it's better as kefir fights the bad bacteria too. We are giving it a test run right now and will know in a week if his system can stand it.

I was going to start trying to make my own cheese, but Kefir might displace it in my priority list

[4boys4mecaptain of 10]

I am wondering what is better the water kefir or milk kefir? Also what do I want to look for when I purchase the kefir to make sure they will work?

[singyourwayhomecaptain of 1,000]

What is better depends on what you want and like. I've not made water kefir, but some of my friends have, and I've read a little about it. (i.e., any of you who actually have experience, please chime in)

Water kefir can use the same grains, but you have to add sugar in some form (cane sugar, mashed fruit, juice, honey, etc). The grains digest the sugars as it ferments. I haven't heard what vitamins or minerals this may create. It apparently results in a small alcohol content, about 1 1/2-2%. It also sounds like milk kefir ends up with about the same alcohol content. Making milk kefir breaks down the milk, essentially pre-digesting it for your body's convenience, and increases the B vitamins, including folic acid. Milk kefir is a lot like drinkable yogurt and can be used in smoothies or recipes where plain yogurt or buttermilk are used.

Here's the kefir-information site I've had referred to me the most:

main page: http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html
water kefir (you'll have to scroll down) http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/Makekefir.html#Kefir-d-acqua

[JbroloHi, I'm new.]

does anyone know where i can find kefir grains in the salt lake city area?