Kefir Starter 做酸奶原料

 What is Kefir?

Kefir is a cultured, enzyme-rich food filled with friendly micro-organisms that helps balance your "inner ecosystem."

Kefir Benefits

Kefir has many benefits including better digestion of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and has been known for thousands of years for its anti-aging and immune enhancing properties.

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.

Easily digested, it cleanses the intestines, provides beneficial bacteria and yeast, vitamins and minerals, and complete proteins. Because kefir is such a balanced and nourishing food, it contributes to a healthy immune system and has been used to help patients suffering from AIDS, chronic fatigue syndrome, herpes, and cancer. Its tranquilizing effect on the nervous system has benefited many who suffer from sleep disorders, depression, and ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

The regular use of kefir can help relieve all intestinal disorders, promote bowel movement, reduce flatulence and create a healthier digestive system. In addition, its cleansing effect on the whole body helps to establish a balanced inner ecosystem for optimum health and longevity.

Kefir can also help eliminate unhealthy food cravings by making the body more nourished and balanced. Its excellent nutritional content offers healing and health-maintenance benefits to people in every type of condition.

Nutritional Content of Kefir

Body Ecology Kefir Starter contains the following beneficial bacteria:

• Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis
• Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris
• Lactococcus lactis subsp. diacetylactis
• Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. cremoris
• Lactobacillus kefyr (thermophilic)
• Klyveromyces marxianus var. marxianus
• Saccaromyces unisporus
• Dextrose as a carrier (consumed during fermentation)

In addition to beneficial bacteria and yeast, kefir contains minerals and essential amino acids that help the body with healing and maintenance functions. The complete proteins in kefir are partially digested and therefore more easily utilized by the body. Tryptophan, one of the essential amino acids abundant in kefir, is well known for its relaxing effect on the nervous system. Because kefir also offers an abundance of calcium and magnesium, which are also important minerals for a healthy nervous system, kefir in the diet can have a particularly profound calming effect on the nerves.

Kefir's ample supply of phosphorus, the second most abundant mineral in our bodies, helps utilize carbohydrates, fats, and proteins for cell growth, maintenance and energy. Kefir is rich in Vitamin B12, B1, and Vitamin K. It is an excellent source of biotin, a B Vitamin which aids the body's assimilation of other B Vitamins, such as folic acid, pantothenic acid, and B12. The numerous benefits of maintaining adequate B vitamin intake range from regulation of the kidneys, liver and nervous system to helping relieve skin disorders, boost energy and promote longevity.

Kefir vs. Yogurt

Both kefir and yogurt are cultured milk products but they contain different types of beneficial bacteria. Yogurt contains transient beneficial bacteria that keep the digestive system clean and provide food for the friendly bacteria that reside there.

But kefir can actually colonize the intestinal tract, a feat that yogurt cannot match.

Kefir contains several major strains of friendly bacteria not commonly found in yogurt, Lactobacillus Caucasus, Leuconostoc, Acetobacter species, and Streptococcus species. It also contains beneficial yeasts, such as Saccharomyces kefir and Torula kefir, which dominate, control and eliminate destructive pathogenic yeasts in the body. They do so by penetrating the mucosal lining where unhealthy yeast and bacteria reside, forming a virtual SWAT team that housecleans and strengthens the intestines. Hence, the body becomes more efficient in resisting such pathogens as E. coli and intestinal parasites.

Kefir's active yeast and bacteria provide more nutritive value than yogurt by helping digest the foods that you eat and by keeping the colon environment clean and healthy. Because the curd size of kefir is smaller than yogurt, it is also easier to digest, which makes it a particularly excellent, nutritious food for babies, the elderly and people experiencing chronic fatigue and digestive disorders.

How is Kefir Made?

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.

Suggested Use

To activate starter for initial usage:

• Into container (preferably glass with lid), mix together the entire contents of onefoilpackageofkefir starter and one quart of slightly warmed milk (about skin temperature [92 °F/33.3 °C].)

  Note: Kefir is traditionally made with cow's milk, but can be made with soy, coconut, rice, goat, or sheep milk (other varieties of milk yield a more watery kefir than cow's milk).

• Shake, stir or whip with a whisk to mix well. Put lid on container.
• Let this mixture ferment at 72-75 °F (22.2-23.9 °C) for 18-24 hours for milk, 24-48 hours for coconut water and some others. (You will notice it is ready if the milk has thickened and has a distinctive, sour fragrance. Final consistency is pourable but not "eat with a spoon" thick.) Coconut water will not thicken like milk, only become cloudy and much less sweet.
• Shake or stir vigorously and place into the refrigerator. Even in your refrigerator the fermentation process continues, but chilling will slow down the fermentation of the healthy bacteria and beneficial yeast.