Cultured Dairy. Good or Bad?
One thing that has really help our family’s health has been the introduction by Marjorie of keifer into our diet. We take organic whole milk that I can get locally, add raw eggs from our chickens, some bananas and coconut oil and blend up. Everyone has a glass of this every day. The cultured milk (kefir) is a probiotic with beneficial bacteria helpful to the gut, thus the digestive and immune system. There is even evidence of the digestibility of kefir for those that are lactose intolerant. It all depends on how someone can readily process milk casein and lactose (which are less in cultured milks than normal milk).
Raw pastured eggs add a good dose of protein, as well as “good fats”. Coconut oil is also a source of beneficial oils. Here is short listing from the website “Organic Facts” concerning coconut oil and good fats (http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils/organic-coconut-oil/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil.html):
The health benefits of coconut oil include hair care, skin care, stress relief, maintaining cholesterol levels, weight loss, increased immunity, proper digestion and metabolism, relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV and cancer, dental care, and bone strength. These benefits of coconut oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and its properties such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, soothing, etc.
We are not promoting kefir specifically persay, but more sharing the benefits of probiotics and getting those from sources that are readily available and healthy. Yogurt is another cultured milk product, but if someone is anti-dairy there are products such as kombucha that also are good (we make our own as well). I like using local organic whole milk as well as our own eggs because its one step in the direction of a more sustainable life, even though the presence of bananas and coconut oil are not “local” by Iowa standards.
If anyone has other sources of probiotics or comments, please share!
Filed under: Healthy Food, Organic Dairy on December 24th, 2010
It is a little late to be chiming in here but sauerkraut and kimchi made the old fashioned way are probiotic. As are pickles cultured rather than the ones we get in the store. . Homemade yogurt is also probiotic as are some varieties at the market, although I don’t trust many of them.
There is also water kefir which is a different kind of kefir grain which doesn’t incorporate dairy.
Oh, this is a great post about coconut oil. Thanks! I’m also a fan of coconut oil and I use it mostly on my skin and hair. It’s so lovely. My friend referred this http://products.mercola.com/coconut-oil/ to me and I must say that it’s really worth the benefits!