Health & Family Gut health

this is where I got my kefir grains ...

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Anyone tried “normacol plus “; it has been reccomended to me from a Gastroenterologist i went to see last week

 

In my experience, soluble fibre is terrible if it extracted from real food. If I eat an apple, that is good. Take the fibre from the apple and that is terrible for me.

I have found resistant starch is better for me and my guts. Sweet potato cooked then cooled is the best I have found.

You are spot on the healthy gut bacteria is from eating good food, not additives and supplements. Refined foods are generally not good for gut bacteria.

 

This is interesting, thanks @Perthguy , I will look closer at sweet potato. Agree with your comments about eating quality food vs supplements/additives.

 

I like sweet potato, raw oats soaked and loads of lugumes, cooked then cooled.

Resistant starch: What is it? And why is it so good for you? | Precision Nutrition

 

Rolled oats with desicated coconut, LSA meal and a sprinkle of cocoa soaked with a little milk or water is a great bircher style breakfast. Sprinkle with some nuts, goji berries and a little more milk and breakfast on the go.

 

Fiber helps keep us "regular" by tearing cells in the gastrointestinal tract which release mucus

 

That's exactly what I found taking psyllium husk. It felt like an allergic reaction. I don't find the same thing with sweet potato, oats and legumes.

 

Coconut water Kefir very easy. Just add a pinch of salt and the Kefir grains. CW already has all the natural sugar / minerals needed.

For the standard water Kefir I use a 2 litre glass jar with a wide plastic screw on lid for first fermentation so it can fill two full 740 ml plastic home brew bottles. I produce two bottles nearly every day. If I get too many I slow down the process by putting the brew in the fridge. Picture here:



Recipe for 1.5 litres (2 bottles) is:
1/3 cup organic rapidura sugar
3 dried organic figs
Pinch of Celtic sea salt
3 tablespoons of water kefir grains
1.5 litres of water

Of course various natural flavourings can be added. My wife likes Rose Water added to the second ferment.

Less than 24 hrs for First ferment then less than 12 hours for second ferment (when the plastic bottles feel hard). Into the fridge. The drinks are very well carbonated, sometimes excessively.

I’ve got the process streamlined now so it only takes me around 10 or so minutes a day to produce two bottles of Kefir water. Costs next to nothing to make once you get the grains (a once only purchase). To buy through retail outlets it’s usually over $7 for a single 740 ml bottle.

Regardless of what others say in relation it’s benefits it’s so easy to make, tastes great and is dramatically healthier than the vast majority of carbonated beverages. We’re addicted to the stuff now. We really notice our digestion is not as good when we don’t have it for a few days.

My wife makes the milk kefir which is very easy. We both noticed a big change in our digestion after introducing milk kefir into the diet. You only need a small amount but can drink more if you like it.

It should be noted we wouldn’t consume these for health purposes only, they need to taste good as well. That is a pleasant addition to the diet.

We made kombucha over 25 years ago but we find Kefir is less acidic and more pleasant tasting.

 

Yumbo thanks @Nodrog . Just made my first batch and the first ferment is much nicer than the plain water kefir I'm currently making. Will look into flavours for the second ferment, the RW sounds interesting.

Thanks!

 

Sorry I realised that I forgot to add organic molasses to the water kefir recipe. Not necessary though if using rapidura sugar.

 

BW, water kefir grains multiply ... am happy to share, I work in Macquarie park area. I do not know how to dehydrate them so I can mail them.

 

Just discovered this thread , hows every one going ?

I've had Michael Mosley's " Clever Guts Diet " book sitting on my desk for over a year but finally got to read it over Christmas along with his new one " the Fast 800 " which is an updated combination of his 5/2 book , the 8 week blood sugar diet .

I brewed beer for many years ( not for a while ) and have just set up my first batch of Saurekrat ( now happily bubbling away ) . Working towards fermenting our own Kombucha and Kefir , though have started buying them in the stores . Interestingly our local woolies has several brands of Kefir and Kombucha . First thing to avoid is the flavoured ones which have significantly more sugar which we all now know is a no no . The different brands of Kefir have different numbers of bacterial strains and counts . I'm going for the ones with the most of both which to me makes sense .

One interesting area of research that Michael reports on comes from Israel which is being commercialised by a company called Daytwo . Here are a couple of links to one of their papers and an article about them . Supposedly they can analyse your Biome and then predict which foods are best for you based on that .

https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/fulltext/S1550-4131(17)30288-7

When a Double-Chocolate Brownie is Better for You Than Quinoa

I'm certainly feeling better since starting on regular Kefir and changing our diet to include many recipes for the Clever Guts Recipe book ( written for australia ) , though with Kefir , start slowly , maybe a table spoon a day , other wise you may have a few rumblings , and still may , while your gut adjusts .

Cliff

 

Interesting thread indeed and been including Yoghurt,Miso and Yakult in my diet lately and been looking into making own yoghurt and Kefir.

Another surprising find when i was researching this was the the Gut-Brain Axis and the effect of the gut microbiome on mental health issues (anxiety, depression...)

Some good readings below:
Depression Starts In Your Gut
The Gut-Brain Axis: The Missing Link in Depression

 

Hi Paul

Check out this study by Michael Mosley which compares Kefir with an "off the shelf probiotic drink found in most supermarkets "and a specific diet , to see which most good gut bacteria .

They don't name the Probiotic drink found in most super markets , but for me , only one name springs to mind , and it made no change to the gut bacteria after testing while kefir and the diet both resulted in positive changes .

Cliff

 

Strain milk kefir to make a wonderful yoghurt. Initially wonderfully creamy like Greek yoghurt but tastes nicer in my opinion. However due to the natural fermentation of Kefir the yoghurt gets progressively fluffier (rather than tasting carbonated) over time. Love it for breakfast over diced fresh fruit (eg mango, pawpaw, blueberries etc), broken pecan nuts and fresh chai like spices. For more acidic fruits a small amount of agave works beautifully to balance it out.