How many times a day we have heard about the good old benefits of eating yogurt and also about the many remedies that can be done with it? It is great for helping our digestive system and improving its flora. Nowadays, there is another food that has come to help us even more, called kefir.
Its name comes from the Turkish word “keif” which means “good feeling”, and it is pronounced “kuh-fear” (similar to Cap Fear).
Great Benefits of consuming Kefir
Kefir can be made using almost any source of milk. You may use the regular cow milk, or even goat or sheep milk, as well as any of the vegetal sources of milk, like soy or coconut milk. Besides the milk, kefir is made using the “grains” (so called due to the shape of its presentation) or with a powdered starter. You could also buy it since it is usually sold as a drink.
Gives a perfect immunity
Kefir has many nutrients, such as biotin, that boost your immune system to protect you from foreign agents. It contains high quantities of probiotics, the good bacteria in charge of fighting the bad bacteria that enters our organism. Kefir is great for attacking salmonella and Escherichia coli, since one of those probiotics is Lactobacillus Kefiri, a powerful fighter against these and other harmful bacteria.
Aiding our tummy
The milk and also the yogurt prepared from kefir are great for maintaining the balance in the digestive system. As we mentioned above, kefir is a potent source of probiotics, which in turn helps fighting most of the digestive diseases, such as IBS, ulcers. It is also great aid in regulating our digestion since these probiotics will induce the production of our intestinal floral and our stomach will not shut down when facing any food we put in.
Strong to the bone
Kefir is great fighter against osteoporosis, since it is great provider of calcium. When prepared with whole milk, kefir can supply our bodies with high amounts of calcium, needed for our bones to be strong. Furthermore, kefir contains a compound that is vital for the absorption of calcium and, thus, stopping the degeneration of bones. It is also a great source of vitamin K, and also fighting this deficiency that has proven to affect bone health, nutrient absorption and density.
A great agent against Cancer
Recently, natural remedies and foods have been sought out as means of fighting this dreaded disease, or at least, reducing the risk and delaying the time of its arrival. Kefir has also joined the list of foods that delay the development of cancerous cells, more specifically fighting stomach cancer cells.
The presence of probiotics helps maintaining a balance between the healthy cells and the mechanisms of our body to halt the rising of the carcinogenic tissue, this keeping the appearance of tumors at bay.
Chasing lactose intolerance away
Those who cannot successfully break down the lactose in dairy products, due to lack lactase, may give kefir a shot. Kefir helps by breaking down lactose, making it possible for these patients to consider drinking full fat milk in some point. Kefir milk also provides the nutrients and good bacteria the body needs and that are not usually ingested when avoiding lactose-packed dairy.
