What is Kefir? - The Importance of Bacteria
This is probably our most important What is Kefir? article! To understand how good kefir is for the human body, it is essential to appreciate the role good bacteria play in keeping us healthy.
The key point is this: Not all bacteria are bad.
Some are harmless, and some are essential! Bacteria exist inside all of our bodies and help to subdue infection, aid digestion and perform other useful jobs.
Our skin is covered in helpful bacteria that stop our bodies being invaded by eating all the excess sugars that bad bacteria could use to multiply! Kefir contains many types of bacteria, often over thirty, living in harmony with yeast (the same stuff that is used to make bread and beer!).
The bacteria and the yeast share what is called a "symbiotic relationship" - which means that they help each other to survive.
The bacteria create a crystal-like shell out of sugar and use it to store the yeast, as well as handy sugars and proteins.
The crystal like shell that kefir bacteria create is like a castle.
If it is invaded by unfriendly bacteria, the many types of bacteria inside are able to overwhelm it so that it does not cause harm to the grain.
If there were only one kind of bacteria inside the defenses would be limited, and would often be beaten by other bacteria that wanted to consume the food inside.
Working together, the kefir bacteria and the yeast are able to keep each other safe.
The crystal-like shell is repaired by bacteria if it is damaged and is constantly growing - it eventually grows into what we recognize as a kefir grain, and sometimes parts of it will break away and start to form other grains too.
When we consume drinks made with kefir, we are letting these friendly, organized microbes into our digestive system.
The bacteria are not harmful to us, so our bodies allow them to live in our intestines, doing what is kefir's job - stopping harmful bacteria from developing.
There are already bacteria living in our digestive system that do the same thing, but it helps to give them a hand! The extra bacteria from kefir may even help to digest our food for us.
So in summary: Without bacteria there would be no yogurt, no soy sauce and cheese...
although this wouldn't be such a big problem, since there would be no life on earth capable of eating any of those things! Bacteria work in our bodies every day to keep us alive, and are used by other animals (and even plants) in a similar way.
If we encourage the growth of helpful bacteria in our bodies we can help to prevent digestive problems occurring later in life - as well as easing ones that already exist.
Now that you know how cleverly organized the bacteria in kefir are, maybe you would like to read some of our other What is Kefir? articles, or learn how you can start making your own probiotic health drinks with a kefir starter.
The key point is this: Not all bacteria are bad.
Some are harmless, and some are essential! Bacteria exist inside all of our bodies and help to subdue infection, aid digestion and perform other useful jobs.
Our skin is covered in helpful bacteria that stop our bodies being invaded by eating all the excess sugars that bad bacteria could use to multiply! Kefir contains many types of bacteria, often over thirty, living in harmony with yeast (the same stuff that is used to make bread and beer!).
The bacteria and the yeast share what is called a "symbiotic relationship" - which means that they help each other to survive.
The bacteria create a crystal-like shell out of sugar and use it to store the yeast, as well as handy sugars and proteins.
The crystal like shell that kefir bacteria create is like a castle.
If it is invaded by unfriendly bacteria, the many types of bacteria inside are able to overwhelm it so that it does not cause harm to the grain.
If there were only one kind of bacteria inside the defenses would be limited, and would often be beaten by other bacteria that wanted to consume the food inside.
Working together, the kefir bacteria and the yeast are able to keep each other safe.
The crystal-like shell is repaired by bacteria if it is damaged and is constantly growing - it eventually grows into what we recognize as a kefir grain, and sometimes parts of it will break away and start to form other grains too.
When we consume drinks made with kefir, we are letting these friendly, organized microbes into our digestive system.
The bacteria are not harmful to us, so our bodies allow them to live in our intestines, doing what is kefir's job - stopping harmful bacteria from developing.
There are already bacteria living in our digestive system that do the same thing, but it helps to give them a hand! The extra bacteria from kefir may even help to digest our food for us.
So in summary: Without bacteria there would be no yogurt, no soy sauce and cheese...
although this wouldn't be such a big problem, since there would be no life on earth capable of eating any of those things! Bacteria work in our bodies every day to keep us alive, and are used by other animals (and even plants) in a similar way.
If we encourage the growth of helpful bacteria in our bodies we can help to prevent digestive problems occurring later in life - as well as easing ones that already exist.
Now that you know how cleverly organized the bacteria in kefir are, maybe you would like to read some of our other What is Kefir? articles, or learn how you can start making your own probiotic health drinks with a kefir starter.
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