Kefir grains are little colonies of bacteria. They look a bit like cauliflower. They are sturdy too, you won’t have to worry about damaging them, when you strain them out. I even read somewhere that squeezing them will even make them sturdier and grow faster, so don’t worry about being gentle. When I squeezed them I got a sticky spider-web-like string. I read somewhere (can’t remember) that this is normal.

Kefir whey seems simple to make. I haven’t tried it yet, unless it was by accident. I did find some info regarding how to make kefir whey, and I wanted to jot it down for the future.

“You make whey from kefir the same “way” you make whey from yogurt. You simply pour the kefir into a fine mesh sieve sitting over a large measuring cup and let it drain through very slowly overnight. The remaining kefir will harden into a soft kefir cheese and the resulting liquid will be kefir whey.”

I found this awesome drawing to help explain from ecosalon ==>

Later, health nuts 😉

I’ve decided to start an online journal of my health journey. I’ve had thoracic outlet syndrome (aka chronic nerve pain) for about a little over the year. I would like to share with everyone what I’ve done to improve my health.

For several months I’ve been vegan, although I don’t keep track of how long exactly it’s been. When I go out, I still order mostly vegan, as I don’t trust sources industrial sources of meat, fish, and dairy. After a lot of research, I’ve decided to change up my high raw vegan diet, to include some local animal products after researching how important they are for maintaining and improving your health. I’ve recently read The Body Ecology Diet, Wild Fermentation, and have almost completed Know Your Fats. These books have an especially high regard for full fat, raw milk kefir.

So I decided to be open minded and try it out. When I mentioned this to my Naturopath, she thought fermented foods would be a good idea and that I could transition from my expensive probiotics. I’ve been on Xymogen’s ProbioMax Plus DF. The great thing about kefir grains are that they are pretty inexpensive to find, and if you maintain them will continue to grow wonderful probiotics for you. If you would like to stay vegan, perhaps you don’t have or can’t afford a good milk source, you can ferment in nondairy sources.

I purchased my kefir grains from GEM Cultures, which was listed as a resource in Wild Fermentation. I’m using raw whole cow’s milk, a nylon strainer, and some mason jars. I’ve been fermenting for 24 hours, and although I’m not sure if it tastes right, I’ve still been drinking it and I haven’t gotten sick yet. Keep in mind, I’m lactose-intolerant and get sick if I consume more than one cup of food with a lot of milk or cream. I will keep you posted on all the gnarly details. Later health nuts 😉