Kefir with whole milk or skim milk?

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Jessieqaz
Jessieqaz Posts: 13
in Food and Nutrition
I would like to get the benefits of kefir but at the same time have some weight to lose, should I make my kefir with whole milk or skim milk? Or should I just skip it altogether?

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  • LolBroScience
    LolBroScience Posts: 4,537 Member
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    Why would you mix it with milk? Because you don't like the taste or consistency of the kefir? Just trying to understand, as I drink kefir on the regular.
  • hgycta
    hgycta Posts: 3,013 Member
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    People usually recommend skim milk if you're watching your calories over whole. However, by always choosing nonfat products you may be unable to absorb some fat-soluble vitamins (provided you're not eating anything else with it). For this reason, I'd try to use 1% milk, if it's available. Still low calorie, but provides some dietary fat.
  • Jessieqaz
    Jessieqaz Posts: 13
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    The grains I have are milk kefir grains so I have to use milk and they are higher in probiotics than water kefir (if what I read is correct) I have always thought that whole milk is better than skim/semi-skim which is the culprit for inflammation but I am worried about the extra calories.
  • Tilandra
    Tilandra Posts: 21
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    For LolBroScience: Kefir is a cultured milk product, made much the same way yogurt is. Link for info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kefir

    Jessieqaz: I've not made my own kefir, but I have made my own yogurt. With yogurt, the amount of milkfat affects the firmness and texture of the final product.... ie. if you use low fat milk to make yogurt, it will have to ferment longer to get a firm texture, as it doesn't have as many of the necessary proteins for the proper reaction. I would imagine kefir ferments under the same principle. You'll have to decide which is more important... the calories or the texture of the finished product.
  • DJLS81
    DJLS81 Posts: 12 Member
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    I'm due to order some Kefir Grain in the next few days, never tried it before and only heard about it a couple of days ago. I'll be trying 1% milk to start with to see how that goes, i'm going to be using the Kefir as a smoothie base
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    Can someone explain to me what kefir is? My local store has started carrying it, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is! Lol.
  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
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    missiontofitness wrote: »
    Can someone explain to me what kefir is? My local store has started carrying it, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is! Lol.

    cultured dairy. think drinkable yogurt.

  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    libbydoodle11 wrote: »
    missiontofitness wrote: »
    Can someone explain to me what kefir is? My local store has started carrying it, and I cannot for the life of me figure out what it is! Lol.

    cultured dairy. think drinkable yogurt.

    Ah; thank you. That sounds like a great smoothie base.

  • gabrielledomenge
    gabrielledomenge Posts: 1 Member
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    Making your own kefir is best, often the kefir in the grocery store has so many added carbs that using it as a smoothie base may not give you the same health benefits.
  • VioletRojo
    VioletRojo Posts: 596 Member
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    I always use whole milk for making kefir and yogurt. Try this series of videos on how to make it, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxGH5wC1kis&t=604s
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
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    gabrielledomenge wrote: »
    Making your own kefir is best, often the kefir in the grocery store has so many added carbs that using it as a smoothie base may not give you the same health benefits.

    What health benefits in kefir can be cancelled out by just adding carbohydrates to it? My husband, for example, uses kefir instead of milk for his morning cereal. He's adding carbohydrates to it, but that doesn't change the basic nutrients in it or eliminate the potential advantages of consuming fermented food.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    edited January 2018
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    gabrielledomenge wrote: »
    Making your own kefir is best, often the kefir in the grocery store has so many added carbs that using it as a smoothie base may not give you the same health benefits.

    They add "carbs" to plain kefir? I guess I haven't looked at different kefir brands much other than Wallaby and the Siggi's (if that's what the drinkable Siggi's is), but I am skeptical about this.

    Ingredients I've seen in the plain = Pasteurized Milk (or Skim Milk), Live Active Cultures.

    Making it would probably be fun, though.
  • Rosemary7391
    Rosemary7391 Posts: 232 Member
    edited January 2018
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    janejellyroll wrote: »
    gabrielledomenge wrote: »
    Making your own kefir is best, often the kefir in the grocery store has so many added carbs that using it as a smoothie base may not give you the same health benefits.

    What health benefits in kefir can be cancelled out by just adding carbohydrates to it? My husband, for example, uses kefir instead of milk for his morning cereal. He's adding carbohydrates to it, but that doesn't change the basic nutrients in it or eliminate the potential advantages of consuming fermented food.

    I assume that the added carbs are sugar in store bought kefir. I add a bit of sugar to my home made kefir because I prefer the taste that way. I also like to chill it before drinking. However, I always add sugar just before I drink it. I think making it with sugar added could alter the balance of microbes - which may or may not be a bad thing. Adding any sort of carbs at the time of eating won't make a difference to the kefir! Maybe gabrielledomenge is avoiding carbs for some other reason?

    Also, this is an old thread...

    Lemurcat - making it is really easy, but pretty cool. You can make all sorts of things with live kefir - I've made cheese and whey by accident (over cultured!) and I'm going to try bread once my grains are rebalanced after the Christmas freezer trip. The grains also grow and are supposed to be edible - I've not tried that...
  • Tried30UserNames
    Tried30UserNames Posts: 561 Member
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    I've always made mine with raw whole milk. When I buy it, I'm not sure what they make it with, but it's usually fruit flavored, very sweet and tastes like ice cream.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Pretty sure that if you bought plain it would not be fruit flavored.

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