I need your help re: stevia and probiotics

I was just about to ask some questions about stevia, so I'll piggyback, phishmama, if you don't mind!

Selu Gigage (or anyone), what kind do you use? I've used it before but didn't care for the taste in certain things (coffee comes to mind), and have heard differing reports about which kind tastes better/isn't bitter/etc. Liquid, powder? Any particular brands you can recommend?

TIA!
~Nick

Very interesting reading! So I just rolled thru a bunch of info, started on BED, then hit stevia-plant.com, and some others with basic urls like that, and some UofOregon studies and info. Overall, it looked too good to be true. And with so many cross indications! I even turned my search around, trying to find risks and warnings and all I found was one statement regarding possible kidney problems (but I don't recall if it actually referenced a study, b/c I didn't see that study), and two rat studies that showed reproductive problems. Has anyone seen anything worse? I am not a good web searchy type person. Well, so far, I'm in favor of trying out this "food additive" (priceless that the FDA has that much control, eh?). Your thoughts?

Hey Nick-it looks like the diff btwn powdered ground leaves vs. liquid is the strength of it. Check out the stevia-plant.com web site b/c they had a conversion table for how much powder or liquid needed vs. regular white sugar. I obviously have no clue about the taste.

I use stevia almost everyday in kefir, not even a 1/8 teaspoon. I personally am satisfied with the large amount of reading I have done on it... plus it has been used traditionally for a great number of years. I have seen the study re: reproductive problems, but I think they were eating their weight in stevia. I think any substance would do damage at that rate.

Now, FOS however, that is in Stevia Plus, I'm not so sure about. I've seen several warnings on it lately (more in link below)

Re: Probiotics
Let me tell you, I have spent hundreds of dollars on powdered probiotics in the past couple years... and they helped for sure. But homemade kefir kicks their butt. You get trillions of live probiotics in just a small amount of kefir, compared to just billions in dried form in the capsules which may or not be totally active. Plus the probiotics in your own kefir are freshly born and in their natural growth medium, so they are thought to colonize the gut more effectively.

Yogurt and kefir more effective than probiotic pills (also see FOS warning):
http://www.healingcrow.com/ferfun/co...onspiracy.html

I love the Body Ecology powder kefir starter:
https://www9.mailordercentral.com/bo...item=1&mitem=2

It's very easy to culture, you add warm milk and let sit on counter for 18 to 24 hrs. It reproduces exactly the same taste every time. You can make a lot from just one packet if you divide it the right way. (There are 6 packets in a box.)

One packet makes 1 qt. of kefir, which then you can use a little finished kefir as a starter make up to a gallon at a time. You can divide it up to 7 times. However, I figured out if you take the first quart and make multiple batches, then those batches can go 7 times, etc. etc. I have been putting some in the frig. to culture very slowly (cold slows growth) and some on the counter to culture first.

I have some awesome live grains now though. They took a couple of days to recover from their journey and now they are reproducing like mad. The grains can last forever with proper care. They also culture in about 24 hrs at room temperature but they do take a little more work. Just a little though... I usually buzz my finished kefir with a stick blender to make it creamy and then let it mature for another few hours to a day to get nice and tart. Some people think the grains are yucky... they are like little beads of tapioca stuck together, I used to think that too but now they are my friends :LOL

I'm eating the grains too, which is another huge benefit...a neverending supply of probiotic pills! So I'll save the powder starter for vacation or in an emergency.

Let me know if you have any questions but I'm seriously worshipping kefir right now, it's amazing. I've spent a long time trying to heal our guts for good and I think this is indeed the answer.

Has anyone had any problems with yeast since they started drinking kefir? I started drinking it in December and immediately began having problems with Candida. It was a serious problem for me for months. Then, I gave up dairy and stopped drinking the kefir. Since I stopped I have not had one yeast reacurrance. Another friend of mine, who is very intuned with her body, noticed the same thing. Actually she brought it to my attention when we were discussing my yeast problems and the fact that I have not had any issues with it in a few months. She linked the two and said she did research on it and found that one of the yeasts in kefir is Candida causing. Which we both find odd since it's supposed to be a cure for Candida. I'm afraid to start drinking it again. Seriously, I have never had such a yeast issue than when I was drinking kefir. These were the live kefir grains.

I bought some stevia plants. The market had them so I figured I may as well get it straight from the source. Just wondering if I need to dry them first or can I steep the leaves with my tea or coffee? The leaf is very sweet to chew on, but it doesn't have that after taste that the powdered stuff has.

Thanks I'm pretty excited about it. I bought a bunch of herbs to grow, but never got around to planting them. So, I'm buying them. I figure if I start my seeds now or even in a month from now, when these plants die then I will have new ones ready to go.

I love teas but I need just a little sweetener in them. Not even very much, but some so I was thrilled to find the stevia plant. I can't stand the powdered stuff.

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That is really weird.. as far as "issues" you noticed, could it be from canidida die off? Donna Gates of The Body Ecology Diet is one of the few authorities on candida and healing the gut and kefir is central to her program.

I'd like to see this research as it counters everything I have read so far and I certainly don't want to be making our situation come back if this is true. Can you ask your friend?

This is what happened with me. In December I recieved my kefir grains and a week later (after consuming for a week) I began mestrating. As soon as I began mestrating I had a terrible case of candida. I alway got candida during my pg's, but not usually any other time. I kept drinking the kefir until the end of March and into April. Every cycle I would get the same thing, bad candida. Then I started implimented Eat to Live which meant cutting out all dairy. Once I stopped the kefir no more yeast. As a matter of fact all my menstral problems stopped. During those months on kefir I had terrible menstral cramps, pms, headache, the works. My cycle has just ended and it was the best cycle ever. No candida, no crampy, no headache and no pms. I mentioned this to my friend and she made a comment about the kefir causing the candida. She said she started having problems with candida when after she started consuming kefir. She stopped and so did the problems. She looked up the bacteria and yeast in kefir and said one of the yeasts was a yeast found it candida. This is what I got from our converstation. She will need to elaberate more if she feels like going into it.

All I know is that I'm afraid to start up with the kefir again. It was nasty.

I am the friend

I went on Dom's site and found the bacteria content of typical live kefir grains. One of the bacterias was candida. So candida also exsists on kefir grains. I found that when I started kefir, for the first time in my life, I battled candida based issues. I counsel clients on candida and have a whole healing program for candida in my practice so I know alot about candida, die off etc. I have never had a yeast infection in my life. But when I started kefir, I noticed the ph of my yoni changed. Sorry for TMI. I also noticed fuzzy headed syndrome and itchy ears and skin. I stopped the kefir and within two weeks was back to normal.

I went on a candida cleanse for 6 weeks anyway to be sure.



Not a scientific approach but a life experience. Not everyone is the same mind you. Perhaps my GI tract was not able to process the kefir effectively. I have my own homemade youghurt often and all kinds of ferments with no candida symptoms or issues.

Go figure.

I bought Carter some goat milk so maybe I will try fermenting it with the kefir grains and see what happens.

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Well... That is really strange. I'm definately NOT discounting your experience at all, just trying to make sense of it.

Candida albicans is not part of live grain kefir...

Yeasts (from Dom's site)
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
S. florentinus
S. pretoriensis
Candida valida
C. lambica
Kloeckera apiculata
Hansenula yalbensis

This is a mystery!

Body Ecology Kefir starter

Ingredients (from Mercola.com):
Kefir Culture Starter
Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis
Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris
Lactococcus lactis subsp. diacetylactis
Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris
Lactobacillus kefyr
Klyveromyces marxianus var. marxianus
Saccaromyces unisporus
Carrier: dextrose, waterfree

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Or maybe age has something to do with it :LOL
Kefir Milk Enhances Intestinal Immunity in Young but Not Old Rats
http://www.nutrition.org/cgi/content/full/131/3/807

I also want to say that the interesting thing I noted is that when I first got my grains in the mail, they were very yeasty smelling and tasting. Totally turned me off. And the kefir was yeasty for several days afterwards. My understanding it that the composition of the bacteria/yeasts strive for balance if they are fed correctly, at correct temperature for culture, etc. But if they dont' have enough food or are kept at a higher temperature, the yeasts will grow more quickly as a self preservation method. Actually, this turned me off of kefir grains when I first tried them 6 months ago. Then I got the Body Ecology powder and loved it, b/c it was consistent from day 1. But then I started reading more about the grains.

All I can say is that I am very, very sensitive to yeasts and carbs. My IBS symptoms returned whenever I strayed. OR shall I say, was very sensitive. Until I started drinking kefir. I noticed a huge improvement right away from the Body Ecology version, so I know that one is effective, even if it isn't "real" according to kefir die hards