Hello Kat,
You did an excellent job summarizing some history of kefir.
I also agree with you, regarding probiotic foods having to be taken on a
regular basis.
Many probiotic foods contain friendly and beneficial bacteria, which are not
native to the human GI tract.
To gain and maintain benefits, these bacteria and also yeasts, need to be
"updated" on a regular basis in order to keep
their numbers in the human GI tact. Providing the microbes with a food
source is also a good idea in order
to further increase their counts. E.g. when talking malt (maltose) or
lactose with yogurt (or kefir so I believe),
increased numbers of certain bacteria in faecal matter have been shown.
Did you know that the first recorded material regarding kefir, were
mentioned in Marco Polo's chronicles.
Kefir was forgotten for some 400 -500 years after Marco Polo mentioned it in
his chronicles.
Here's something interesting I just found on the net:
"She much-drunk airan from fermented unskimmed camel, cow, and sheep-milk
quenches thirst for hours, just as does the kefir of the Tartars from cow's
milk. The airan, after being condensed by boiling, and dried hard as stone
into little balls in the sun, is made into kurt, kurut, which can be kept
for months and is the only means of making bitter salt-water drinkable.
According to Marco Polo it formed the provision of the Mongol armies, and if
the horseman could not quench his thirst in any other way, he opened one of
his horse's veins and drank the blood. From kumiz and also from millet a
strong spirit (Kirghiz boza) is distilled, which produces dead-drunkenness
followed by a pleasant Nirvana. sensation."
http://www.shsu.edu/~his_ncp/Nomads.html
To find this particular section in the link above, do a "Find" for the word
"kefir" in your browser (in Internet Explorer, go to Edit/Find [on This
Page]... and type "kefir" in the pop up window. Note that this particular
webpage is quite large, with extensive material. I must do a thorough
read-through.
Bewell
Dom
----- Original Message -----
From katanne1890 :
Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2002 12:13 AM
I find it interesting how people who begin to eat fermented foods,
instinctively begin to realize they are also healing foods.
I began using probiotics in capsule form and had questionable results. Then
someone said to me, "Why would you want to pay hundreds of dollars a year
for bottles labeled "billions" of bacteria, that may or may not be healthy
when you can make fermented products (such as kefir or yogurt) for pennies
and get TRILLIONS of happy, healthy and friendly bacteria?"
That did it...I now use many different fermented foods for their medicinal
effects. According to my research, foods with "friendly" bacteria are far
more effective in healing than antibiotics, and are now being studied in
many medical experiments.
Friendly bacteria is called PRO-biotic meaning pro-life or life supporting.
While ANTI-biotics are anti-life or against life.
The research I have studied indicates that just taking probiotics for a
short time is not good enough, as any medical condition can return. One
must continue by adding it to the diet on an on-going basis. So drink up!
There are more and more wonderful studies being conducted, but a very good
book that puts it all together is called "Probiotics, Nature's Internal
Healers" by Natsha Trenev.
She also has a great story about kefir.
In the 18th century, travelers to the Caucasus region would come home with
stories of a powerful healing food (kefir). However, they could not bring
any back with them. All kefir starters were passed from generation to
generation and they DID NOT share their closely guarded kefir grains!
In the early 1900s, the All-Russian Physician's Society contacted the
Blandov brothers to see if they could get some kefir grains. The brothers
came up with a plan.
They sent a beautiful woman, named Irina Sakharaova, to dazzle a Caucasus
prince named Bek-Mirza Barchorov in hopes he would give her some kefir
grains.
The plan back fired, and the prince was not only not willing to give up the
kefir grains, he kidnapped Irina. Later, she was rescued by the Blandovs,
and filed a complaint against the prince in the Czar's court.
The prince offered Irina gold and jewels as reparation, but she refused.
She wanted kefir grains....so she got kefir grains. In September of 1908,
Irina brought the first bottle of kefir grains to Moscow, where it was
successfully used as a medicine.
In 1973, Irina received a letter from the Minister of the Food Industry in
the USSR, expressing his gratitude for her role in bringing kefir to the
Russian people.
So those of us who have kefir grains have an invaluable and healing gift,
and I for one am very grateful to Irina.
Take care! Kat
----- Original Message -----
From: <ijzendoorn@...>
Sent: Monday, April 29, 2002 6:20 PM
> > I really found that a very interesting explanation. I myself always
pictured the good guys crowding out the bad ones. That sounds very
simple but it may not be 100% correct. I have read about some replacing
going on and definitely replenishing when necessary. Food for thought..
I think the article explains it best. Virginia D.
Be kind to animals, hug your pet every day
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