Healthy probiotics

Author \ Lin Yazhen, a nutritionist in a food doctor's office.

Have you ever heard of kefir?

The biggest difference between yogurt and ordinary yogurt is that it contains more probiotics and lower carbohydrates, so it is a good choice for ketogenic diet and lactose intolerance. People who want to supplement natural probiotics may wish to make their own natural milk grams and water grams. Nutritionists also listed three drinks that changed Kefir. Come and study!

A few years ago, someone took a black tea fermentation broth and said it was a mushroom. He asked me if I could drink it. In recent years, I also saw a group of friends sharing their baby cows on Facebook. They look small and round, like gelatinous white cotton balls. What is that?

Later, I heard that it was probiotics. As another culture of fermented dairy products, fermented drinks are thicker than dairy products, and the acidity varies from mild to strong. If fermented properly, it will foam. Its unique name comes from "kefir" in Turkey, which means "good feeling". It is called Klebsiella. Chinese name is Saussurea involucrata (milk gram or water gram).

What is kefir?

■ Kefir granules are a matrix composed of protein, lipids and sugars, and are a complex of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY;; Symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast). SCOBY is an elastic substance, which is developed from bacterial and fungal cells, sharing nutrition and coordinating self-reproduction.

If Klebsiella is produced properly, it will also produce alcohol ranging from 0. 1 ~ 3%, depending on factors such as fermentation time.

■ Kefir is not like the programmed death of other animals and plants. If given adequate nutrition and a tolerable environment, Kefir granules can live forever.

■ Kefir contains more than 30 kinds of microorganisms such as Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Lactobacillus casei, Bifidobacterium lactis, Acetobacter, Yeast, etc.

What's the difference between yogurt and kefir?

■ Generally yogurt contains 2 to 7 kinds of probiotics; Kefir contains 10 ~ 34 kinds of probiotics, and also contains beneficial yeast strains.

■ Yogurt contains transient bacteria, which provides a food source for beneficial bacteria, but soon lives in the intestine; Kefir can be attached to the intestinal wall for colonization. They can resist pathogens and bad bacteria in the intestine.

■ Lactic yogurt is usually made by heating milk and adding powdered lactic acid bacteria. After fermentation, you can directly take out some yogurt and continue to use it to make more lactic acid yogurt. Kefir is to add Kefir bacteria (including bacteria and yeast) to milk at room temperature, then filter it and continue to make another batch within 24 hours.

■ Yogurt is rich in lactic acid, but mild; Kefir is light but sour, and can be used as a drink, with a slight cheese and yeast flavor.

■ Kefir's bacteria grow slowly, and there are many and complex strains, some of which will be converted into alcohol, which will easily lead to inconsistent flavor and taste, and there will be some restrictions on transportation, so it is rarely made into products for sale.

Recommended reading: drinking milk will cause diarrhea, and lactose intolerance can be like this!

Five advantages of Kefir

1. It has strong antibacterial properties.

Some probiotics in Kefir are thought to prevent infection, including Lactobacillus Kefir. It is found that probiotics can inhibit various harmful bacteria, including Salmonella, Helicobacter pylori and Escherichia coli. This bacterium is a soluble viscous gel polysaccharide with antibacterial properties.

2. It can improve bone health.

Getting enough calcium is one of the ways to improve bone health and slow down osteoporosis. Yogurt is not only an important source of calcium, but also contains vitamin K2, which plays an important role in calcium metabolism. Animal experiments show that Kefir can increase the calcium absorption rate of bone cells.

Improve allergies

Kefir contains many compounds and nutrients, such as biotin and folic acid, which can strengthen the immune system. In some mouse studies, kefir has been shown to reduce inflammatory cells and mucus accumulation in the lungs and airways. In addition, the microorganisms in Kefir also help to promote the immune system to naturally slow down allergic reactions and help to improve systemic allergies and asthma.

4. Improve digestion problems

Probiotics in Kefir can help digestion, improve nutrient absorption and restore the balance of beneficial bacteria in the intestine. Drinking Kefir beverage containing probiotics can replenish the good flora lost after fighting pathogens, improve gastrointestinal side effects such as diarrhea caused by drugs and antibiotics, and help to improve the infection of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and Helicobacter pylori in gastric ulcer.

5. Improve lactose intolerance

Kefir has many strains and nutrients, some of which are unique to Kefir, which can decompose lactose into lactic acid, make it easier to digest, improve lactose malabsorption and increase lactose tolerance.

3 Dao ke Fei er bian bian drink

In the past, we thought that lactic acid bacteria could be fermented into lactic acid drinks or yogurt when put into milk, but Kefir could be put into milk, juice and water.

Little is known about kefir fermentation:

■ Milk produced by Kefir grains in mammals, including milk, goat milk and sheep milk, can be successfully fermented and can continue to grow in it.

■ Kefir grains can ferment other liquids, including soybean milk, rice milk and coconut milk, and other sugary liquids include fruit juice, coconut juice, wort and ginger wine.

■ Kefir will stop growing after fermentation in these liquids (except soybean milk), unlike milk, which will continue to produce more Kefir grains after fermentation.

■ Soymilk is an exception. Kefir grains will continue to grow in soy milk and become grayish yellow.

Recommended reading: How to eat ketogenic diet correctly? are there any side - effects?

Drink 1: nekefei

? Put 1 ~ 2 tablespoons (14 ~ 28g) of Kefir granules into a clean and sterilized jar, and pour in about 2 cups (500ml) of milk. The best milk is pure natural, grass-fed, non-captive, and contains no drugs and antibiotics. Leave a space of 1 inch (2.5 cm) at the top of the jar, let it ferment at room temperature for 6 to 24 hours (after 8 to 10 hour, check it every 2 to 3 hours, and gently shake it left and right to see if the surface is solidified. As long as there is no liquid in solidification, it should be fermented). Then adjust the time according to your favorite acidity. The longer the time, the stronger the acidity.

? If you want to continue the fermentation, you can take a clean and disinfected empty glass bottle, cover it with a nylon fine filter, and pour out the yogurt fermented by Kefir. Yogurt liquid will pass through the filter, leaving larger Kefir SCOBY particles on the filter. Next, add these to the milk to continue the fermentation.

? The filtered yogurt can be directly drunk or used to make bread, cake, soup or stew soup base, or further filtered to make cheese.

Beverage 2: Tibicos (water kefir)

? The water can be added with sugar water at room temperature (it is recommended to use organic coconut sugar, sugarcane raw honey and brown sugar; The purpose of adding sugar is to ferment coconut juice with Klebsiella, which has been transformed by bacteria after fermentation, so the sugar content is low), dried fruits such as mint, cucumber water, figs, freshly squeezed lemons or orange juice, and grow for one day or more. Water princess, also known as China mushroom, sun mushroom, "Tianshan Snow Lotus" and so on.

? Shuikefei and soda water can be mixed into sugar-free carbonated drinks to make healthy soda water substitutes.

Beverage 3: Coconut Kefir

? Coconut water contains potassium, carbohydrates, protein, minerals and vitamins, and is low in cholesterol and fat. Coconut water is different from water, it contains electrolytes and minerals, which are very important nutrients for the function of body cells.

? You can use 1 teaspoon of sugar (organic coconut sugar, sugarcane raw honey and brown sugar are recommended), add 500c.c coconut juice and 1 teaspoon of Klebsiella granules, and soak for 24-48 hours for fermentation.

? Coconut juice kefir can be mixed with fruit juice (or fruit) and put into a blender to stir.

After reading Kefir's introduction, I don't know if my hand has begun to itch a little. Do you want to raise milk grams yourself and supplement natural probiotics? Try it and make more changes in your healthy diet!