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What is probiotic?
Yogurt and other fermented milk products are probiotic. This simply means that they contain healthful bacteria such as lactobacilli which are lactic acid secreting bacteria. Preliminary research suggests that consumption of probiotics provide many benefits but one major benefit is the increased immune function that people with a rich probiotic diet seem to enjoy.
Kefir is a fermented milk beverage which originated in the Caucasus Mountains. It has a refreshing, tangy flavor with a hint of carbonization from the combination of yeasts and bacteria used to create it.
Both kefir and yogurt are at their best when left unadulterated by sweeteners and thickeners both natural and artificial. Take your yogurt and kefir straight or mixed with fruits for best results and look for natural products free from chemical additives or make your own.
I like a glass of kefir (plain) as a refresher anytime of day and I use yogurt as the liquid in my morning breakfast shake. If you really can’t stand the taste of plain kefir, then by all means try the flavored ones. You still get the probiotics even with the added sugar and flavors.
You can make your own.
Many years ago I was an avid reader of the Whole Earth catalog which purported to demonstrate healthy and natural ways of living. I even made yogurt for a time. Now I don’t remember how but it is easy enough to find the yogurt recipe on the web. Making your own, you can control the quality of the ingredients such as lower fat milk without the hormones. You also avoid the gelatin that commercial yogurts often contain.
Greek style yogurt is strained to remove the watery whey. It is thick and creamy.
Don’t buy the store-bought pasteurized crap at all if you want the benefits of probiotics. The heat from pasteurization kills the beneficial bacteria.
You are lucky to be in California where raw milk is legal. Look for the “Organic Pastures” brand…google for a location if needed.
Making yogurt is easy. Put a bottle of raw milk in a warm spot in your kitchen…top of fridge where it catches rising heat from fridge working is good. 24-36 hours later you have yogurt. For complete consistency in taste you will need more consistent temps than that, but just keep it between 85-108 and you are good to go.
Kefir is a bit more complicated, but not much. For folks who avoid all alcohol, like me, don’t drink kefir. The yeast combined with the lactose in milk (lactose is a sugar you know) makes alcohol…not much, but some.
Two questions: won’t the culture develop the bacteria in pasteurized milk if you make your own?
In LA, we used to get Altadena raw milk. There were always controversies and I am not sure if it is still available. We don’t see Altadena up here or any other raw milk products in the supermarkets. Organic pastures is LA based and they don’t show a distributor in NoCal
Organic Pastures is based in Fresno. Check their website for where to get their products close by.
CDFA (Ca Dept of Food and Ag) put Altadena out of business. Food regulators…ALL of them…HATE raw dairy.
No…it won’t become yogurt because pasteurized milk is DEAD. Thre are no good bacteria left to grow.
Raw milk left out becomes yogurt. Pasteurized milk rots.
http://www.organicpastures.com/
So what is commercial yogurt?
PS
The above written by a former goat dairy owner, goat milker, yogurt and kefir maker, and maker of artisnal cheeses, including the best Feta you ever put in your mouth.
Bob,
You are amazing. Still have any goats?
Nope. Went to rehab in 04…girlfriend at the time took care of things while I was away. She and I had split (2006)when I relapsed, almost died, spent a month in the hospital and went to jail for another month month (story for another time)in 2008.
I had sold them 5 months before going in the hospital because I was already too sick to care for them.
Then, two weeks before hospital and jail my house burned down. I got out of jail December 29, 2008…I’ll be damned, 2 years ago tomorrow…and spent last year rebuilding…rebuilding my home AND rebuilding me.
Now I’m trying to decide if I’ve gotten enough strength back to get goats again next spring.
If not, I’ll raise meat rabbits and chickens…layers and fryers. I’ve done both before and they are easier than goats.
Love those cute little bunnies. Are they tasty?
Commercial yogurt is dead milk with bacteria created in the lab, not in nature. What’s the difference? Body uptake…plus the dead dairy dosen’t “feed” it. Bacteria are living organisms and, like all living organisms must be fed.
Pasteurized milk is NOT clean milk…it is a dead liquid that is milky in appearance.
Google food laws…check for what constitutes an “adulterated” food. You will find that pasteurized food would be considered adulterated if you came up with the idea…it’s only legal because the government wants it.
Did you know that Louis Pasteur rejected pasteurization and called it a mistake in his last days?
Very tasty, very nutritious, very beneficial (bunny crap is best manure you can use on a garden) and very easy and cheap to raise.
You ought to consider keeping a few. If the economy does what I think its going to you’ll be glad you have bunnies and a garden.
What’s going on in Greece and all over Europe is a cakewalk compared to what we will look like in 6-18 months.
Damn Ralph…20 more points and you’ll be in the Alexa 400K club.
And Google still doesn’t know I exist.
For the life of me I can’t figger that out. Google PR had me at a 2 when my Alexa was 2.9 million.
Note that I AM catching up on Alexa…I’m now at 660K. My goal (at last for now) is 100K, then 5K…I’ve got a blogger friend who is at 5200.