have you seen health benefits from water kefirs?

[caedmyn]

I'm trying to get rid of a yeast overgrowth and thinking about adding water kefirs to see if that helps with rebalancing my gut flora. I know milk kefirs have a lot of health benefits but I can't do them as DD has a dairy intolerance. Has anyone noticed health benefits after adding water kefirs to their diet?

[celestialdreamer]

I wrote a big long post about the healing benefits I have seen in my 2yo daughter. Here is a link:http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=510891 HTH!

[caedmyn]

bump...anyone else?

[xenabyte]

I drink dairy kefir, water kefir and the occasional 'shot' of kombucha. I know I feel better, my skin is young looking and less prone to breaking out, and all that, but it's hard for me personally to 'isolate' which of the three is helping the most!

I'm pregnant atm, so my levels of water kefir and kombucha are reduced, but I might have 'latent' effects from having taken it in the past. My blood work is great, I have less aches and pains this time around and my digestive system is working awesome, compared to the typical issues you have with pregnancy...

I also used to have super sensitive digestive system [from an overdose of penicillin shots when I was a baby, I think], but once I started on the kefir's, kombuchas and other cultured products (years ago) I noticed that my digestive tract works MUCH better now....and does not give me problems like it used to do when I was younger.

I know a mom that says that her son is drinking water kefir and it's a 'life saver' for him, but I am not sure of all the details, as it was 'feedback' from a mom that I gave grains to, that passed them on to the mom, who lives on a farm and has a very healthy lifestyle, but whatever was 'missing' from the equation, it seems the water kefir has 'filled'. I need to ask for more details I guess! I was just happy to hear she loved it, and then passed it on to someone who REALLY loves it.

[xenabyte]

Also, here is a quickie reference sheet I'd typed up, that might help in deciding:

Milk Kefir grains are for culturing milk and will enrich and alter it to be more like a wide spectrum yogurt, with the addition of healthy yeasts also.

Info on the content of milk kefir is more easily found and so I'll not type that.

Water Kefir grains are for the use in a water/sugar mixture and will give you a probiotic drink that is dairy free. Here are some of the healthy bacteria and yeasts found in water kefir:

Lactobacilli
Lb. alactosus
Lb. brevis
Lb. casei subsp. casei
Lb. casei subsp. pseudoplantarum
Lb. casei subsp. rhamnosus
Lb. casei subsp. tolerans
Lb. coryneformis subsp. torquens
Lb. fructosus
Lb. hilgardii
Lb. homohiochi
Lb. plantarum
Lb. pseudoplantarum
Lb. yamanashiensis

Yeasts
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
S. florentinus
S. pretoriensis
Candida valida
C. lambica
Kloeckera apiculata
Hansenula yalbensis

Streptococci/lactococci
Streptococcus cremeris
Str. faecalis
Str. lactis
Leuconostoc mesenteroides
Pediococcus damnosus

Water kefir is usually very mildly alcholic, but this can be increased by longer fermentations or with the addition of more sugar or solid fruit juices.

Kombucha (SCOBYs) are used to ferment/culture black or green tea. A Kombucha SCOBY is not a mushroom or a fungus as many call it, but another symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeasts (the good kinds).

The key ingredient formed in Kombucha ferments is glucuronic acid, which binds up poisons and toxins in the body, both environmental and metabolic (naturally occurring) and flushes it out of the body via the kidneys. This is a natural process that your liver and kidneys would do every day by producing its own glucuronic acid, however the Kombucha tea boosts this process.

Glucuronic acid is also a building block for a group of polysaccharides, including hyaluronic acid (a component of connective tissues), chondroitin sulfate (a component of cartilage), mucoitinsulfuric acid (a building block of the stomach lining and vitreous humor of the eye) and heparin.

A small amount of alcohol is produced (about .5%) and it is lightly carbonated.

The Kombucha brew also contains Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B12 (vegan source), as well as folic acid and L-lactic acid, which is a substance that is usually low or missing in cancer patients, and is believed that low levels of this needed substance helps prevent failure in cell respiration and the build up of undesirable DL-lactic acid in tissues.

Kombucha also has usnic acid which has a mild antibacterial effect.

Kombucha also has the beneficial yeast strain, Saccharomyces boulardii, a popular treatment in Europe against candida infections ("yeast against yeast") and also c. difficile. It also increases the immunoglobulin IgA.

[PapayaVagina]

How do I go about doing water kefir? I have to order grains online? I don't know much about kefir in general since I am lactose intolerant but would love to start some water kefir since dd is having some digestive issues.

[newcastlemama]

Go to the top of the tradtional foods forum and there is a kefir grains and scobys thread/sticky.

I was wondering if anyone knew how many million/trillion probiotics were in a cup of water kefir? Healing crow has figures on 24 hour yogurt and milk kefir but no water.