Thursday, May 19, 2016

Kefir - Chapter 18


I have been brewing milk kefir since 2009, and as you can see on the right hand column of my blog, have posted many "chapters" about it.  I admit that it is an "acquired taste", but I really do love kefir and it didn't take long to get there.  Mine is quite sour, smooth and with a full body.  It is wonderful, not only for drinking, but for baking, and the "kefir cheese" can be used in place of cream cheese.

I have reported a few "cures" I have observed through the ensuing years.  Well... I am here to tell you one of my own.  It is slightly embarrassing, but such a wonderful turn of events for me that I have to tell you about it.

About 12 years ago I contracted a food-borne illness from some tainted table grapes.  They were sold in a local store at a deeply discounted rate, so I stocked up.  The package that I used first had a little mold in it.  It never occurred to me  that would be a problem.  I took off the bad grapes, gave the others a good rinse and chowed down.  Big mistake!!!  I came down with the worst case of diarrhea I had ever had... and it continued.  After several days I was forced to go to the doctor.  He gave me an antibiotic, and something for amoebic dysentery and one other thing that I can't remember right now. The icky sickness I was feeling went away, however, the diarrhea did not.  And I have struggled with that ever since, every day.  Ugh.  It was embarrassing and exceedingly inconvenient. A gastroenterologist diagnosed me with collagenous cholitis and he said it was nothing to be concerned about, as far as it causing anything serious, so I thought, "Ok.  I'll just ignore it as much as I can and not keep trying to 'cure' it."  Now... on to the kefir part:

I generally only drank a small glass of the kefir every day, because for most of those years, we had milk goats and I wanted to be able to drink more fresh goat milk.  At the end of May, our milk goat, Heidi, died. So, I have been using the whole milk from the store since then.  About 2 months ago I started drinking a whole glass of milk kefir at breakfast.  After a couple of weeks I noticed my gut problem improving, and before long, I was almost completely normal. 

I am astounded and oh so grateful.  People talk a lot about probiotics.  The milk kefir is full of them - some articles say as many as 20 varieties.  Fermented foods of all kinds are very good for the gut flora and of course the kefir is fermented.

There you go!

8 comments:

  1. Oh no! What happened with Heidi? You've only had her a year!

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  2. We had bred her to a pigmy goat buck, and so expected small kids. She got bigger and bigger and as she approached he due date had a very hard time getting around. A week before she was to kid, she couldn't even get up. The day before she was due, she died. We took her down to the woods to bury her, and opened her up to see what was happening. She had 3 very large, perfectly formed kids in her. It is one of the saddest things I've ever seen. So sad, for me, in fact, that I doubt I will ever get another milk goat. It was the same week we had to put my poor diabetic kitty to sleep too. Not a happy week. Had a few sleepless nights. Thank you for caring, Athanasia.

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  3. can you tell me what your user name is on eBay so I can order the kefir grains from you? Thanks!

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    1. Dianne, I don't sell on eBay anymore, but if you will give me your email address we can make arrangements!

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    2. I am so sorry about losing your milk goat. I don't know what I would do without my goats. I am currently milking 3 of them. I just love the fresh goat's milk.

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    3. Thank you. Yes, it's sad. When I walk past the place where they are buried, it tugs at my heart. We had goats for many years and I miss them. Maybe someday we'll get another, but we are getting older and.....

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