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The SCD™ Knowledge Base

Kefir

Catherine Tamaro writes:
What makes kefir different from yogurt is that kefir is fermented with bacteria and yeast, while yogurt is just fermented with bacteria. Elaine's position on kefir is more reflective of the intestinal diseases than autism: she feels that there is the chance of cross-reactivity between an already-overstimulated immune system and yeast from kefir. She has
 said that kefir is OK for someone whose gut is well along the road to healing.

My son with the intestinal problems and colitis has documented autoimmune activity. So, for example, I would not give him kefir. My child with ASD does not have overt intestinal problems, and he's been on SCD™ for a year, so sometimes I give him kefir. Kefir is much more sour than yogurt because the bacteria have produced acetic acid rather than lactic acid, so it's not something he's wild about anyway.

From Pecan Bread support group

From Elaine:
Kefir is a yeast fermentation which produces alcohol. So the yogurt made from Kefir grains will have a good deal of alcohol. Furthermore, upon checking, I have found that after a 24 hour fermentation there is 5% lactose remaining in kefir fermented milk. Kefir is a wonderful food but I cannot recommend it until the child is well.

Seth writes:
Kefir is more potent than yoghurt, so if one cannot tolerate the yoghurt then I would be cautious about trying kefir. Did you try straining the yoghurt? Making your own kefir isn't as easy as yoghurt to get started, but once you get started with it I think it can be easier.

If you're really interested in making Kefir, I suggest that you join a list dedicated to it. The one I belong to is:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Kefir_Making

If you let them know that you are on the SCD™ and need to remove all lactose, then Dominic (the list owner) will help you out and you can get grains.

There seems to be a bit of confusion over the word grain. Kefir has no grains of the wheat, barley, corn, and rice variety. The Kefir grain looks like small cauliflower and is squooshy like rubber. It is made of a polysaccharide matrix that the microbes make from the milk and live in/on it. The yeast are beneficial ones. Just as there are "good" and "bad" bacteria, there are "good" and "bad" yeast. Kefir is something I recommend to my friends who are on long antibiotic treatments because antibiotics do not kill the yeast in Kefir - so this is one advantage that kefir has over yoghurt.
From the LI listserve


 

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Information published on Breaking the Vicious Cycle Web site is intended to support the book Breaking the vicious cycle by Elaine Gottschall and is for information purposes only. It is not the intention of this site to diagnose, prescribe, or replace medical care. Your doctor or nutrition expert should be consulted before undertaking a radical change of diet.
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