[kylatay]

I need help. I don't have any Kefir grains and honestly I don't know how to get any. Do you all order them from somewhere in particular?

I have a son on Septra for Kidney reflux and I would love to get him on more probiotics. Right now all he'll do is yogurt. (No Komb., no sourkraut etc)

I've tried to research, but I'm not sure if it would really benefit him to buy store bought kind. The only kind available in my small town is Helios with FOS (with added palimate & vitamin D2). I can buy that or make homemade kefir with Yogourmet cultures. Do you have to heat Raw milk to make the Yogourmet kind? Are either of these even worth it?

Thanks for the help.
K

 

[FernG]

Kefir grains are a specific line of bacterial colonies, so you can only make kefir milk if you have kefir grains (starter, culture). If you use other cultures, you are making yogurt. It won't have the same bacteria as kefir.

Here is a free list of people giving away their extra grains. Kefir grains grow quickly, so someone near you may have some to give away. I would also ask your raw milk farmer if they know of a source.

Dom's kefir - lots of good info.

Real Kefir Grains - a reputable seller.

Good luck! I think that you are making a wise choice to introduce more natural, probiotic foods.

ETA: When I make kefir, I just put the grains in my clean jar, cover with milk (leave about 1/3 of the jar empty), cap the jar, and leave it in the pantry. I let it sit for 2 days (it thickens more quickly after the grains reproduce). I pour the kefir off, replace the grains in a clean jar, and start all over. I like to make fruit smoothies with my kefir.

 

[kylatay]

Thanks for the reply and the links. I do know a little about making Kefir with grains. What I wasn't sure about was getting the grains.

Is storebought Kefir worth it in the meantime? Or homemade with Yogourmet Kefir Freezed Dried Cultures?

 

[dogmom327]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylatay Thanks for the reply and the links. I do know a little about making Kefir with grains. What I wasn't sure about was getting the grains. Is storebought Kefir worth it in the meantime? Or homemade with Yogourmet Kefir Freezed Dried Cultures?

There are two main differences between store bought kefir or the Yogourmet dried cultures and real kefir grains. The first is that kefir from the store and the Yogourmet dried culture are going to have significantly less strains of bacteria present. The second difference is that real grains can be used repeatedly and with care should last indefinitely where the Yogourmet culture will need to be purchased every few batches I believe.

Until you can get your hands on real grains though, both are acceptable alternatives--something is better than nothing!

 

[kylatay]

I think I may have found a source for water kefir grains locally. Yeah! Is there a reason I should get dairy also or will water kefir be enough to help my son? Thanks K

 

[Razmatazz]

i got my kefir grains on ebay. The really cool thing is seeing how they grow over time, so if you can get your hands on some grains, not only is it better bacteria wise, but very cost effective too!

 

[dogmom327]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kylatay I think I may have found a source for water kefir grains locally. Yeah! Is there a reason I should get dairy also or will water kefir be enough to help my son? Thanks K

Variety would be the only reason but that's probably not enough to be worth the effort. Water kefir is a bit less concentrated than dairy kefir but since it's water based and can be flavored so easily, it's easy to drink more of it than you would dairy kefir. The vast majority of people seem to get the same benefits from water kefir as dairy kefir. Very few people *need* to do dairy kefir.

 

[FernG]

My DH and I both feel like Healthy Trinity by Natren relieved our leaky gut symptoms. We tried other "high-quality" refrigerated brands, but they did not seem to help. Healthy Trinity is expensive, but I do think it works.

Now that we seem to be at baseline, my DH thinks that eating probiotic foods everyday is more effective than taking Healthy Trinity. (However, we ate a lot of kimchi before and it didn't seem to help anything until after we had taken Healthy Trinity for several months). I think that acidity in the fermented foods helps maintain healthy bacterial balance.

I hope that your son heals quickly and that you find all the resources you need.

FYI: If you get milk kefir grains, they can taste a little yeasty or cheesy until they adjust to new milk or while they are recovering from being in the refrigerator. I haven't made water kefir, but I'm assuming that the first batch or 2 might be a little off.

 

[Mothera(TM)?Swan]

I saw some in the chilled section of my LHFS. I'm going to get some next trip. DH and I were just talking while I was reading this thread and perusing dogmom's store, about using water kefir for root beer. We've been planning on making our own honey root beer for ages, but were not sure about how to handle carbonation. The thought of probiotic honey root beer is very intriguing.