What are the benefits of simple kefir?

Kefir is familiar to almost all residents of our country; many people love this drink, but not everyone knows about its beneficial properties. Nutritionists call kefir a natural antioxidant. It is able to effectively restore strength after a serious illness and slow down the aging process, prolonging the period of a person’s active life.

The benefits of kefir

To obtain a healthy tonic drink, fresh milk is fermented by adding special kefir grains, which contain over two dozen beneficial microorganisms. The result of this process is a drink enriched with vitamins and microelements. Kefir also contains a small amount of alcohol, but you should not be afraid of getting drunk, its amount does not even exceed 1%.

The unique composition of kefir gives the drink numerous healing properties:

• It normalizes metabolism, helps restore sleep, and relieves fatigue.
• When eating food that is heavy on the stomach, kefir makes it easier to digest.
• It is useful to use kefir to eliminate dysbiosis and remove toxins from the intestines.
• With the help of kefir, you can deceive the feeling of hunger and use the drink to lose weight.
• Kefir is an excellent prevention of atherosclerosis, as it effectively removes unnecessary cholesterol.

• With the help of kefir, you can boost your immunity and strengthen your resistance to colds.
• Consuming kefir helps normalize the activity of nerve endings.
• Kefir is useful for the effective restoration of cellular structures.
• The drink is recommended by nutritionists during periods of recovery after injuries, treatment or operations.
• With the help of this drink, the intestinal microflora is effectively restored after treatment with heavy antibiotics.
• Saturates the body with calcium, which is useful for the normal condition of bone tissue, teeth, hair and nails.

Harm of kefir

This product is completely natural and has a limited shelf life. In this regard, when purchasing, you should definitely inquire about the expiration date and production date of kefir. Otherwise, you can get serious health problems.

In other cases, kefir should be completely avoided by people with gastrointestinal diseases, in which there is high acidity of gastric juice. Another serious contraindication is sensitivity to the components of the drink and their intolerance. People who are prone to stomach upset should also use this healthy drink with caution. Under no circumstances should people who cannot tolerate milk protein or suffer from intestinal disorders drink kefir.

How to give kefir to children

Drinking kefir in childhood is very useful, the whole point is in what quantity you can give the drink to the child and at what age you can introduce it into the baby’s diet. Despite all the usefulness of the product, it should not be included in the menu of a child under one year of age. The fact is that it is difficult for a baby to efficiently process a large amount of milk protein. The baby's kidneys suffer from this.

Consumption of kefir by an infant can lead to the appearance of blood in the stool and loss of hemoglobin. Also, difficulties with digesting this drink are associated with a large amount of a substance such as casein. This causes colic and diarrhea in the baby. Fatty acids found in abundance in kefir are also harmful to children's health.

Feeding the baby kefir puts too much strain on the child’s gastrointestinal tract. Because of this, there may be frequent disruptions in the functioning of the intestines, which leads to the development of dangerous diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to start complementary feeding with kefir from the age of one.

The child needs to be gradually introduced to kefir. On the first day you only need to give 50 ml, the next day the amount of kefir is increased to 80 ml, and then the amount is increased to 100 ml. They skip the fourth day and monitor the baby’s well-being. If there is no diarrhea and the child’s stool is normal, then on the fifth day they give 150 ml. In the future, the dosage should not be increased, since the stomach of a small child is not able to digest a larger amount of kefir. When choosing a product for a child, children under three years of age should buy low-fat kefir, and then gradually increase the fat content of the product.

Kefir during pregnancy

For women expecting the birth of a baby, kefir is very useful. Experts advise drinking a glass of this drink every night before going to bed. It perfectly calms the nerves and helps women who suffer from insomnia and poor sleep fall asleep easier.

In the morning, a glass of kefir will be an excellent substitute for a full breakfast. This is especially important for women who are watching their weight gain and do not want to gain too much during pregnancy. Drinking kefir is also beneficial for pregnant women who suffer from toxicosis. In this case, kefir with a low fat content will be healthier, and to improve the taste of the drink, you can add a slice of lemon or a spoonful of honey.

While waiting for a baby, a woman may suffer from specific ailments that are explained by her condition. For example, in the second half of pregnancy, many expectant mothers experience heartburn. The reason for this is the increased size of the child, which puts pressure on the internal organs. In this case fermented milk drink you need to drink on an empty stomach.

For those pregnant women who suffer from constipation, it is useful to drink kefir not only in the morning, but also in the evening. A small spoon of vegetable oil added to the drink will help increase the laxative effect of kefir.

Often expectant mothers are worried about thrush. To treat it, you can use the same healthy drink. Biokefir containing lactulose is ideal for this purpose.

Kefir contraindications

Taking into account the possible harm from consuming kefir, we can formulate a list of contraindications when it is better not to use kefir. Such conditions include:

• High acidity of gastric juice.
• Peptic ulcer disease.
• Children's age up to one year.
• Milk protein intolerance.

For everyone else, kefir will only be useful. However, when consuming, be sure to take into account the freshness of the product and its storage conditions.

How to make homemade kefir

A tasty and very healthy drink is easy to prepare yourself. For it you will need to buy a regular milk with a fat content of 3.2% and a special starter. It is sold ready-made in packages of 30 g. Such a package will be enough to make kefir from 1.2 liters of milk.

Before preparing kefir, be sure to boil the milk. An exception to this point is the use of ultra-pasteurized milk. It will only need to be heated to 40 degrees.

If you boil milk, then after boiling, cool it to a temperature of 40 degrees, and then pour it into a clean, sterilized glass jar. After this, add the starter there and mix well. Then the mixture of milk and starter must be poured into smaller sterilized containers and covered with lids.

These jars must be placed in a dark, warm place and wait 8 hours. After this, the drink can be drunk, but for storage it must be placed in the refrigerator. If desired, you can add dried berries, nuts or other additives to kefir. If you want a harder drink, increase the fermentation time.