Milk Kefir (pronounced keh-FEER) is a wonderfully delicious slightly carbonated fermented milk beverage similar to yogurt (or buttermilk). Kefir is simply milk that is fermented at room temperature with kefir grains for about 24 hours. It has many wonderful health benefits, a great flavor and is also usually tolerated well by the lactose intolerant. It’s much easier to make than yogurt – no heating or incubating involved, and kefir has a much larger spectrum of probiotics than yogurt. The reusable, sustainable grains also make it more economical.
Kefir has gained in popularity lately, due to interest in eating more responsibly and locally, as well as more economically, combined with a greater awareness of the health benefits of probiotics from cultures and whole foods.
But with that popularity has come a load of misinformation and deceiving products on the web. Authentic kefir can only be made by real kefir grains, not from any kind of packet or powder (or from incubating store-bought kefir). Kefir available at the stores are simply imitations. This is due to regulations on consistent products with known ingredients, bottling procedures and packaging and shipping standards. As with most nutritious foods, real kefir can only be made and experienced at home.
Milk Kefir originated roughly 2,000 years ago in the Caucasian Mountains between Europe and Russia, which makes kefir one of the oldest milk ferments in existence. If you have more questions you can check out Yemoos Nourishing Cultures to see photos, FAQ’s, health benefits and other information on milk kefir.
Now, lets get started!
Category Archives: Enzymes
Research: Pineapple Enzyme Kills Cancer without Killing You
Could an extract of pineapple fruit be both safer and more effective than a blockbuster chemotherapy agent?
Every once in a while a study pops up on the National Library of Medicines bibliographic citation database known as MEDLINE that not only confirms the therapeutic relevance of natural substances in cancer treatment, but blows the conventional approach out of the water. Published in 2007 in the journal Planta Medica, researchers found that an enzyme extracted from pineapple stems known as bromelain was superior to the chemo-agent 5-fluorauracil in treating cancer in the animal model. The researchers stated:”This antitumoral effect [bromelain] was superior to that of 5-FU [5-fluorouracil], whose survival index was approximately 263%, relative to the untreated control.”
Read more at Research: Pineapple Enzyme Kills Cancer Without Killing You and read my comments below…
Patricia’s helpful hints:
Pineapple is a VERY powerful food. it contains many enzymes that aid digestion of every type of food… and apparently cancer cells too! Pineapples are worth their weight in gold. I used to buy them by the case.
Let your pineapple ripen to the point that you can smell its sweet aroma on the bottom end and can easily pluck out leaves from the top. I was fortunate enough to have known an Indian man who showed me how to peel and cut a pineapple. He peeled it and lost very little of the pulp or juice.
It’s best not mix pineapple with meals. Eat/drink pineapple for breakfast and wait 3 hours before you eat anything else… or eat it all day long (you will love the way you look and feel after a 3-day pineapple feast)… but do not mix it with meals or eat it soon after you have eaten a meal. The cleansing action will give you a tummy ache if your stomach is full.
Kiwi and strawberries have similar enzymes and activities in the body. Fresh, raw, organic fruits are dynamite in the health department.
I like to cut a pineapple in half lengthwise and cut out a bite at a time. I eat even the core. It requires a fork and knife – and then a spoon to scoop out the rest.
DO NOT EAT the prickley little “stingers” that extend through the skin; they are intended to keep bugs out and they are very irritating to the mouth. But if you find little black seeds inside, enjoy them as you would any seed. Pineapple seeds are very strong medicine.
Blend the pulp to drink it – but don’t include the skin. Coconut milk is one of the few things you can combine with pineapple. Fresh pineapple juice plus sweet young Thai coconut meat and milk make a heavenly drink. A virgin pinacolada – VERY nurturing, nutritious and healing.
Some say that even canned pineapple is helpful. Once I was shopping in a small Texas college town and the only pineapple available was in a can. I intended to buy a can of pineapple in its own juices but when I got it home, opened it and dipped my fork in, my body rejected it, Each time i tried to eat a bite of it, I gagged. I became curious and looked at the label – I had accidentally picked up a can that was packed in sugar syrup. Bodies are so smart. My body knew it wanted pineapple, but not processed sugar. It’s not nice to try to fool Mother Nature.
Pineapple juice not from concentrate is good… but avoid the reconstituted juice. Fresh, raw, ripe and organic is always best. Pineapple makes a great breakfast!
Once you’ve eaten a pineapple, you can plant the top in soil and it will grow a new plant. I’ve never tried planting the seeds, but if you have, or if you do, please let me know how it works out!