What is kefir water?
Q&A with the Madre...
Pretty much everyone’s heard of kefir by now, but do you know the difference between Kombucha and Kefir, milk kefir grains and water kefir grains, and have you heard of a SCOBY?
WHAT IS KEFIR WATER?
Q&A WITH THE MADRE...
Pretty much everyone’s heard of kefir by now, but do you know the difference between Kombucha and Kefir, milk kefir grains and water kefir grains, and have you heard of a SCOBY?
Q: What is Kefir Water?
A: Kefir Water is a fermented, lactose-free drink bursting with live cultures. It’s fruity, light and naturally as effervescent as champagne.
Q: What are the benefits of kefir?
Q: Where does kefir water come from?
A: Kefir Water most likely originated in Mexico, using a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeasts (SCOBY) taken from the pads of the Opuntia Cactus. This SCOBY is commonly referred to as a Tibicos culture and looks like clear, tiny, gelatinous crystals or ‘grains’.
Q: How do you make kefir?
A: To make water kefir, you dissolve sugar in water and add dried fruit before incorporating the kefir grains, leaving the mixture to ferment at room temperature for 24-48 hours.
If you’re interested in the sciency bit, read on: when mixed with fresh water, fruit and sugar, the kefir water grains begin to metabolise the sugars, converting them into carbon dioxide and very low quantities of alcohol.
This process leaves you with an effervescent, deliciously fruity drink. The end product also contains trace alcohol (<1.2% abv), giving it that hopsy, satisfying yeasty kick.
Q: Is kefir low histamine?
A: Histamine is not inherently “good” or “bad”, although too much histamine can produce unpleasant inflammatory effects. Histamine only becomes “bad” when your body can’t break down the molecules rapidly enough, or if your body is producing too much of it.
A build up of histamine has a lot to do with the health of your gut, because certain gut bacterias play a key role in degrading histamine. If your gut health is unbalanced, and you do not have enough of these histamine-degrading bacteria in your small intestines, you may experience a flare-up.
While Agua de Madre kefir water is not low histamine, it can play a key role in restoring balance to your gut health, repopulating your small intestines with a rich variety of important bacteria. Having a healthy, well-equilibrated gut will reduce histamine levels in the long run.
But remember, Madres, all fermented food and drink contains histamine, so if you have a histamine intolerance, be very careful!
Q: Is Kefir dairy-free?
A: Some kefir is made with dairy milk and milk kefir grains, which look like tiny florets of cauliflower (weird!). It doesn’t take a genius to guess that milk kefir packs a dairy punch (duh!).
But Madres, worry not: water kefir is totally free of dairy. It’s an exciting alternative to milk kefir, offering the same probiotic boost without having to consume the lactose (yay!).
Q: Is Kefir low in calories?
A: Because the SCOBY in water kefir metabolises the vast majority of the sugar added in the initial stages of production, water kefir has a low calorie count, averaging roughly 61 calories per serving.
Q: Is Kefir low fat?
A: Given that water kefir is made with fruit and water, it’s also also very low fat.
Q: Is Kefir low carb?
A: The good news just doesn’t stop: water kefir is pretty low carb too.
Q: Why should you add kefir into your routine?
A: Adding kefir to your health routine is a great way of boosting your gut health and improving your immune response. Agua de Madre contains certain live cultures that have been proven to survive gastrointestinal conditions, reaching the gut ‘alive’.
Even consuming a small amount of kefir water every day can produce exciting results, playing a key role in rebalancing your gut microbiota.
Health benefits aside, Agua de Madre is also delicious in its own right, without any of the sour or medicinal aftertastes that are present in other kefir products on the market.
But, Madres, don’t just take our word for it. If you want to give the fermentation process a go at home, why not try out our Madre’s DIY fermenting kit?