Kefir Grains

1 teaspoon Kefir Grains "raised" on raw, organic cows milk.

Kefir's tart and refreshing flavor is similar to a drinking-style yogurt, but it contains beneficial yeast as well as friendly 'probiotic' bacteria found in yogurt. The naturally occurring bacteria and yeast in kefir combine symbiotically to give superior health benefits when consumed regularly. It is loaded with valuable vitamins and minerals and contains easily digestible complete proteins.

For the lactose intolerant, kefir's abundance of beneficial yeast and bacteria provide lactase, an enzyme which consumes most of the lactose left after the culturing process.

Kefir can be made from any type of milk, cow, goat or sheep, coconut, rice or soy. Although it is slightly mucous forming, the mucous has a "clean" quality to it that creates ideal conditions in the digestive tract for the colonization of friendly bacteria.

Kefir is made from gelatinous white or yellow particles called "grains." This makes kefir unique, as no other milk culture forms grains. These grains contain the bacteria/yeast mixture clumped together with casein (milk proteins) and complex sugars. They look like pieces of coral or small clumps of cauliflower and range from the size of a grain of wheat to that of a hazelnut. Some of the grains have been known to grow in large flat sheets that can be big enough to cover your hand!. The grains ferment the milk, incorporating their friendly organisms to create the cultured product. The grains are then removed with a strainer before consumption of the kefir and added to a new batch of milk.

• "The surest way to get into trouble with your friendly bacteria is to take antibiotics, anti meaning "against" and biotic meaning "life".  Anitbiotics kill the friendly bacteria along with the unfriendly ones, so after taking a round of antibiotics, you have not only killed the bacteria the antibiotic intended to kill, you have also killed off a number of your good bacteria and now your bacteria are no longer in balance.  The good bacteria are no longer in control.  Other factors, which hurt the friendly bacteria, are a poor diet, stress, and poor digestion in the stomach and small intestine.  Probiotics decline as we age, so as we get older, it is important to add probiotic supplements to your diet..."  You can read the rest of the article here.

• Kefir's active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the food that you want and by keeping the colon envirnonment clean and healthy.  You can read the rest of the article here.

• And they're EASY to care for!  You can read the instructions here.