Drink Kefir for Allergies

Drink Kefir for Allergies
Drinking the probiotic, fermented milk, kefir, decreased the allergic response to ovalbumin (egg white) in mice, and may offer hope to preventing food allergies, suggests a new study from Taiwan.

"Consumption of milk kefir and soymilk kefir suppressed [immune] response and altered the intestinal microflora in our supplemented group," wrote lead author Je-Ruei Liu from the National Taiwan University.

"Milk kefir and soymilk kefir may be considered among the more promising food components in terms of preventing food allergy and enhancement of mucosal resistance to gastrointestinal pathogen infection."

Kefir, which orginates from the Caucasus region, is popular in Eastern and Central Europe but is also gaining awareness among West European consumers for its probiotic and nutraceutical properties.

The fermented milk contains a mixture of several live microorganisms and has many of the nutrients required by the body: proteins, minerals and vitamins. Its acidity and enzymes stimulate protein digestion and appetite and decreases the cholesterol content in blood, according to research. It is also thought to stimulate microphage production, improving immunity.

The study, published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture (doi: 10.1002/jsfa.2649), looked at the effects of milk kefir and soymilk kefir supplementation on mice injected with ovalbumin to produce an allergic response. Levels of the allergic-specific response Immunoglobin E, IgE, and G1 (IgG1) were measured, as well as intestinal microflora concentrations.

Fifty mice were randomly assigned to one of five groups. The control group were given distilled water, while the other groups were given equal amounts of reconstituted milk, milk kefir, soymilk, or soymilk kefir (10 per cent).

After three weeks of supplementation the researchers reported that blood levels of the IgE and IgG1, both associated with an allergic response, were decreased in the kefir supplemented groups, compared to control and normal (soy)milk groups.

Both milk kefir and soymilk kefir supplements were associated with about a 66 and 50 per cent reduction in IgE and IgG1 levels, respectively.

Populations of intestinal bacteria were also found to be affected by the kefir supplements, with populations of the so-called beneficial bacteria Bifidobacterium spp. and Lactobacillus spp. both significantly increased, while levels of the potentially harmful bacteria, Clostridium spp., decreased.

Many studies, both epidemiological and animal, have reported that disorder of the intestinal microflora is closely related to food allergy development, said the researchers, suggesting that probiotics in the kefir could offer an interesting avenue of future study.

"These results suggest that milk kefir and soymilk kefir may be considered among the more promising food components in terms of allergy prevention and enhancement of mucosal resistance to gastrointestinal infection," concluded the researchers.

Sharon Matthews, an allergy specialist from the Isle of Wight NHS Primary Care Trust told the Society of Chemical Industry's magazine Chemistry & Industry (16 October) that while the scientists have reported that the kefir is able to reduce the levels of IgE in mice, this is still some steps away from food allergy.

"Many children have specific IgE to a food but are not allergic to it," she said.

"We need much more supportive evidence before a human trial could be contemplated."

By Stephen Daniells

How to Make Kefir

How to Make Kefir
Kefir is similar to yogurt made from milk in making however having different aspects for health.

Production of traditional kefir requires kefir grains which are a gelatinous community of bacteria and yeasts. Kefir grains contain a water soluble polysaccharide known as kefiran that imparts a rope-like texture and feeling in one's mouth. Kefir grains cannot be produced from scratch, but the grains grow during fermentation, and additional grains are produced. Kefir grains can be purchased or acquired from other hobbyists, see below. Kefir grains appear white to yellow and are usually the size of a walnut, but may be as small as a grain of rice.

Making Kefir
* A 500ml glass jar like a kilner jar
* About 1 tablespoon of kefir culture
* Fresh milk

Put the kefir culture in the glass jar, then fill it with fresh milk about 2/3 or so full. Cover the jar with a cloth or put the lid on the jar. (If you use a lid don't fill the jar above two thirds or use a jar with a rubber gasket that will let any pressure escape.)

Let the contents stand at room temperature for approx. 24 hours depending on your taste. 48 hours will make a thicker, sourer kefir, 12 hours a thinner, sweeter kefir. The temperature will effect how quickly the culture works. So during the warm summer months the kefir will ferment faster.

Kefir fermenting in a kilner jar
When it's ready strain the kefir into a clean jar. While it's fermenting the kefir grains will float to the top of the milk along with any cream. It's a good idea to stir it gently with a wooden spoon to mix up the solids and liquids to make it easier to strain. Or use a wooden spoon or clean hands to scoop out the culture from the kefir (the culture is easy to feel and separate from the liquids). The kefir culture produces a jelly like polysaccharide substance that develops around the grains as they grow, making it look 'gloopy'. It has unique properties and it's own name 'kefiran'. As you scoop out the grains you may find them coated with a gel like substance. This is the kefiran. Giving the kefir a good stir will distribute the kefiran in the kefir and it contributes to the thickness of the finished kefir. (This seems to be pretty variable, some strains producing a lot and others not much.)

After straining, the grains are placed straight back into a clean jar without washing them first. Fresh milk is added to the grains to make the next batch.

A Note on Cleanliness in Making Kefir
Make sure everything is very clean when handling kefir. It's a living culture, a complex system of bacteria and yeasts and you don't want risk contaminating it. Use freshly cleaned hands, clean jars and clean non metallic implements.

Notes and variations of Kefir
Making kefir is a pretty simple process, put the culture in the milk, leave it to ferment and there's your kefir. But there are a wide variety of styles and tastes when it comes to kefir making. For one thing, kefir is a living food and subject to a fair degree of natural variation and people have a range of tastes, so you'll find as many different ways of making kefir as there are people making it. Here are just a few.

Timing and Temperature for the best Kefir
There is a wide variety in the length of time the kefir is left to ferment. In the end, how long to leave it depends on how sour you like it. The longer you leave it the sourer it gets. Some people like a lightly fermented kefir, they let it ferment for only 12 hours, others like it much stronger and more active and leave it for 2 or 3 days, past the point at which is separates into curds and whey.

Fridge Kefir
A cooler temperature slows the fermentation down and makes a thicker kefir too. Some people like to ferment their kefir in the fridge, leaving it for 5 days or more to compensate for the much slower fermentation process.

Double Fermentation of Kefir
Or there's the double fermentation technique. First ferment in the usual way by adding the culture to the milk and leaving for a period of time, 12-24 hours is the norm. Then strain out the culture and leave the kefir out to ferment more slowly for another 12-24 hours before putting it in the fridge.

Continuous Fermentation of Kefir
Then there's the traditional 'continuous fermentation' approach. You store your kefir in a large jar but don't put it in the fridge. As each new batch is ready it's added to the existing kefir in the main storage jar and then the lid goes on. The kefir will continue to ferment (it's a live food remember) and will get very sour and fizzy. If you feel inclined to try this you must always use a jar with a rubber seal that will allow excess pressure to escape, otherwise you run the risk of explosions!

Storing the Kefir Culture
The kefir culture or grainReal kefir from live culture is an endlessly self propagating process. After each batch you'll have a few more grains as the culture grows. Eventually you'll have quite a large batch of grains and they'll speed up your fermentation time. Spare culture can be stored for a time in a jar in the fridge with some milk. The fermentation will slow right down and you can store them for a few weeks this way. It's a good idea to rotate them with the grains you're using for your regular kefir making so that they get a chance to warm up and restore vitality to their microflora. You could also pass spare culture on to a friend.

Storing the Kefir
Store the kefir in a glass jar in the fridge. The kefir will keep a long time in the fridge. Add new batches of kefir to the storage jar as they are made and give it a shake to mix them.

You can store it on the kitchen counter instead of the fridge but be aware that it will continue to ferment, although not as fast as it would with the kefir grains in it. If you want to do that you should always use jars with a rubber seal that will allow excess pressure to escape and prevent possible explosions! It can be a very vigorous culture and has caused jars to explode when stored out of a fridge over a period of time. A kilner jar is good. The beneficial bacteria and yeasts help to prevent the kefir from spoiling but it gets very sour and fizzy.
Not for the fainthearted!

• Wikipedia / Kefir
• www.seedsofhealth.co.uk

Kefir

Kefir

Kefir (alternately keefir, kephir, kewra, talai, mudu kekiya, milkkefir, búlgaros) is a fermented milk drink that originated in the Caucasus region (Caucasus Turks- Kafkasya Türkleri). It is prepared by inoculating cow, goat, or sheep's milk with kefir grains. Traditional kefir was made in skin bags that were hung near a doorway; the bag would be knocked by anyone passing through the doorway to help keep the milk and kefir grains well mixed.

What is Kefir?
Kefir grains are a combination of bacteria and yeasts in a matrix of proteins, lipids, and sugars. This symbiotic matrix forms grains that resemble cauliflower. Today, kefir is becoming increasingly popular due to new research into its health benefits. Many different bacteria and yeasts are found in the kefir grains, which are a complex and highly variable community of micro-organisms.

Traditional kefir is fermented at ambient temperatures, generally overnight. Fermentation of the lactose yields a sour, carbonated, slightly alcoholic beverage, with a consistency similar to thin yogurt. Kefir fermented by small-scale dairies early in the 20th century achieved alcohol levels between 1% and 2%, but kefir made commercially with modern methods of production has less than 1% alcohol, possibly due to reduced fermentation time.

Variations that thrive in various other liquids exist. They may vary markedly from kefir in both appearance and microbial composition. Water kefir (or kefir d'acqua) is grown in water with sugar (sometimes with added dry fruit such as figs, and lemon juice) for a day or more at room temperature.

Yogurt vs Kefir

Yogurt vs Kefir
Yogurt and Kefir both contain useful bacteria for human body but they contain different types of beneficial bacteria. Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that reside there. But kefir can actually colonize the intestinal tract, a feat that yogurt cannot match.

Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt, Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species.

It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body. They do so by penetrating the mucosal lining where unhealthy yeast and bacteria reside, forming a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and strengthens the intestines. Hence, the body becomes more efficient in resisting such pathogens as E. coli and intestinal parasites.

Kefir's active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy.

Because the curd size of kefir is smaller than yogurt, it is also easier to digest, which makes it a particularly excellent, nutritious food for babies, invalids and the elderly, as well as a remedy for digestive disorders.

How to Make Yogurt

How to Make Yogurt
Making Yogurt is very easy. You can make home-made yoghurt in following steps. You can start with little amounts for trial and increase the amount later after you become a yogurt expert.

Ingredients for Making Yogurt.

* Pure milk without water (some milkman may do that).
* Pure live yogurt as much as 1-3% of milk amount (without sugar and other additives)

1. Find live milk. Since yogurt is a natural process with the yogurt culture during fermentation process, you need to have non-processed milk suitable for growing useful bacteria inside milk which will make finally yogurt. Pasteurized milk is not suitable for making yogurt. Buy fresh milk directly from a milkman. Be sure that the milkman is applying the hygenic practices.
2. Boil the milk slowly in middle temperature. You have to see rise of milk only once (Secret number 1 in making yogurt). Since it will be like pasteurized milk after boiling to much and fermentation will be very difficult, yogurt will not come out.
3. Leave the milk for cooling by itself. Measure the temperature until the milk cools down to 42-44 degrees celcius. Almost all Turkish people use finger rule there without using thermometer. Use your little finger. If your finger does not burn it is the right temperature. Do not forget to clean your finger beforehand and be careful not to burn your hand. (Do not put it into fridge to cool. Milk must be cooled slowly. Secret 2 for making yogurt)
4. Mix yogurt with milk. Mix one tablespoon of live yogurt that you reserved from the previous result with the milk. Stir it few times.
5. Close the mixture and cover it with blanket and other material. Preserve it within that for 4-5 hours. If you want more soury you can extend the time a little more.
6. Put it into fridge and do not use for at least 3 hours until it settles down.

Some more tips for making yogurt

• Do not use aluminum cups or similar. The best yogurt is achieved by using glassware. You can also plastic ones.
• Do not use milk in cartoons
• Do not use pasteurized milk for making yogurt.