Kefir in the big city: healthy, tasty, economical

The New Year holidays, fortunately, are over, and it’s time to remove their consequences from your waist. Let's talk about kefir - one of the most favorite products for those losing weight and all those who want to be healthy. You will learn the opinion of gastroenterologists: why kefir is useful, who should not drink it, which kefir is better, how to choose it correctly.

First, a couple of interesting facts about kefir.

Do you know that:

• Kefir “comes” from the Caucasus; for a long time, kefir starter was passed down from generation to generation. Kefir appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.
• Kefir fungus is a complex combination of several microorganisms - lactic acid bacilli, streptococci, yeast, acetic acid bacteria, and others.
• It was never possible to grow kefir grains artificially.

Everyone knows about the benefits of kefir and other “fermented milk”. What is it?

• For digestion - promotes the growth of “correct” microflora in the intestines, eliminates constipation, stops fermentation processes and acts as an antiseptic. Kefir bacteria break down milk sugar, and all the beneficial components of kefir are completely absorbed by the body. Kefir contains useful calcium, potassium, vitamins, and amino acids.
• For the kidneys - has a diuretic effect, helps get rid of edema.
• For the nervous system, kefir is a little tonic. Therefore, you should not drink it before bed.
• For exchange - kefir helps to lose extra centimeters. 100 g of kefir with a fat content of 3.2% contains only 59 calories. Low-fat has even less - 31 Kcal per 100 g of product. If you want to lose weight, drink kefir, fermented baked milk, acidophilus, if you can.

Fermented milk products slow down aging, help cleanse the body, improve intestinal function, skin and hair condition, and are simply irreplaceable in the diet of those who care about their health. If you use them correctly.

Myths about kefir - how not to overdo it with healthy fermented milk products

Myth one. Kefir is good for everyone

Not really. There are some citizens who should not drink it. Those who suffer from:

• allergies to dairy products
• peptic ulcer in exacerbation
• exacerbation of pancreatitis
• lactose intolerance.

And do not give kefir to children under one year old.

Myth two. The bigger, the better

Some fans of a healthy lifestyle drink a couple of liters of kefir a day. Despite all the benefits of kefir, you should not consume more than 300-400 g per day. Otherwise, the digestive system will “rebel” - you can overload the pancreas and get upset bowel movements.

Myth three. Kefir helps against dysbiosis

Yes, it contains bacteria that are beneficial to the digestive system. However, according to recent research, kefir should not be consumed by those who suffer, for example, from fungal diseases. It is better to take another fermented milk drink that does not contain yeast - natural yogurt, fermented baked milk.

Myth four. Behind the wheel? Don't drink kefir!

If kefir is 5 days old, then it’s really not worth it. And not just because of the alcohol content. Kefir is not strong enough to cause problems with alcohol testing. There are products that contain much more alcohol than kefir. For example, grape juice. And in black bread there is generally 0.1% alcohol. And apples contain alcohol. Nobody prohibits these products for those who drive.

The secret of losing weight on kefir with sugar

In reality, do you know at least one woman who would eat everything, drink this kefir with sugar, or even sweet yoghurts, and lose weight? Probably not. Or she is carefully hidden under a fake picture on a social network. From there, by the way, the fashion for strange folk recipes began. Someone managed to lose weight with fermented milk and sweets, go ahead, let’s try everything, because kefir itself is a drink for everyone, although we don’t want to admit it.

The secret of success lies in two things:

• consumers of kefir with sugar greatly limit themselves in food. You will not find even half of the recommended caloric content for their age, height and weight in their assets. Many people generally eat something like just vegetables or fruits, or even just the notorious kefir with sugar. Some people are on some kind of diet. Others actively promote to the masses the idea that, if possible, a woman should never eat;
• the second part of the secret is that kefir and sugar replace these people with something more substantial. Let's say you have a nice habit of eating a pack of cookies with tea in the evening. The calorie content of that pack is about 560 kcal. If you replace it with a glass of kefir (60 kcal, and a couple of teaspoons of sugar), you will save money. Let's say the rest of your diet is within the normal range, and you are not used to overeating. Once you reach the caloric intake required for weight loss, you will begin to lose weight. If, despite the kefir manipulations, you haven’t started, it means you’re eating too much.

Of course, we are simplifying here; there are situations when, “according to the table,” a person is in a deficit, but in fact, he suffers from excess weight and cannot lose it. This is possible if the body is adapted to diets and already perceives the normal “table” calorie content for weight loss as a deficit. This is possible if the level of secretion of thyroid hormones is reduced, or the level of prolactin secretion is increased. “This” also happens with some systemic endocrine diseases. Therefore, if your calories are low, your weight is high, and you still can’t lose weight, it’s better to give up the illusion that kefir will help and start another, more scientifically based weight loss program.

What can you bake with kefir? 6 RECIPES!

1. Kefir cake: “Black Prince”.
Ingredients: For the dough: 1 egg, 1 glass of sugar, 2-3 teaspoons of cocoa, 1 glass of kefir, 1 teaspoon of soda, 1 glass of flour. For the cream: 200 g butter, 0.5 cups sugar, 250 g sour cream.

Preparation: Beat the egg with sugar until thick foam, add kefir, soda and beat again. Then add flour, the dough should look like thick sour cream. Pour into a greased tall tin and bake at 180°C. Check the readiness with a match - stick a match into the pie; if it comes out damp, finish baking the pie. Remove from the mold and cool on a wire rack, then cut the cake into 2 layers, spread with cream, and decorate with nuts and chocolate on top. Preparation of the cream: grind the butter with sugar, add sour cream and beat everything.

2. Pie with potatoes + meat. Ingredients: 2 eggs, 1.5 cups of flour, 1.5 cups of kefir, 1 teaspoon of salt (for pregnant women, but you can do a little more), 1 level teaspoon of soda, pepper, potatoes, meat of your choice (pork, minced meat, sausages, stew, whatever your heart desires), onion, spices (herbs).

Preparation: Mix eggs, half a glass of kefir, add salt, soda, add flour, stirring constantly (a food processor works well). Add kefir and stir. It looks like sour cream, flowing but thick. In a greased frying pan, place layers of onion rings, potatoes sprinkled with spices and salt, meat, and potatoes. Fill everything with dough. Bake for 20 minutes.

3. Pancakes. For a glass of kefir: 2 eggs, 2 tbsp. l. sugar, soda and flour.

Or maybe a light pie. 1 tbsp. kefir, 250 g margarine, 1 tbsp. sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp. semolina, 1 tbsp. flour (or another glass of flour instead of semolina), and add whatever else you want: nuts, raisins, poppy seeds, grated carrots, candied fruits, cocoa, vanillin.

4. Pie with cabbage. Ingredients and preparation: A glass of kefir, 2 eggs, baking powder or slaked soda, flour so that the dough is thick like pancakes. Salt of course. A little dough on a greased frying pan, then chopped cabbage, then the rest of the dough, pieces of butter on top.

5. Apple pie. Ingredients: 1.5 tbsp. kefir 1 tsp. soda 2-3 eggs 1 tbsp. sugar flour

Preparation: The dough should look like pancakes. Pour 0.5 dough onto a baking sheet, place peeled and chopped apples on top. You can sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top to taste. Then pour in the remaining dough. Bake in the oven until done.

6. Pie “Childhood”. Ingredients and preparation: mix 3 cups of flour with 150 g of melted butter, 1 egg, 100 ml of sour cream (I replaced it with kefir), 1.5 cups of sugar, 1 packet of baking powder and 1 packet of vanilla sugar.

Knead the dough well, it turns out elastic and does not stick to your hands or dishes. Place the dough in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Cut 600 g plums into halves (remove pits). Place the dough in a greased form, place the plums on it and sprinkle them with sugar. I also added large grapes. Place the pie in an oven preheated to 200 degrees, bake for about 30 minutes, sprinkle the cooled pie with powdered sugar. Bon appetit!

The benefits of kefir for weight loss

To begin with, I would like to note that even if you just drink pure kefir a few hours before bedtime, you can achieve the following results:

• cleanse the body (in particular the stomach) of toxins and waste;
• normalize metabolic processes and remove extra centimeters from the waist;
• renew the intestinal microflora, which facilitates easy digestion of fruits and vegetables. And this directly affects the speed of weight loss.

Fact . In addition, the drink has low calorie content, but is highly nutritious. After using it, it is much easier to fall asleep at night, get rid of puffiness, dark circles under the eyes, a “clogged” stomach and many skin problems.

Now it’s clear why kefir is useful before bed. All that remains is to figure out what quantities you can drink, and what healthy recipes nutritionists suggest using.

Kefir smoothie recipe with parsley

Recently, people who care about their health and weight have often begun to include celery in their diet. You can also make a healthy drink based on it and it will take very few ingredients. Namely:

• fresh kefir (0%) – 250 ml;
• celery – 3 stalks;
• parsley - 2-3 sprigs.

How to prepare:

1. Kefir is put out of the refrigerator for at least 15-20 minutes. Drinking it directly from the refrigerator is strongly not recommended.
2. The required greens are washed under running water and dried on paper napkins.
3. All ingredients are placed in a blender bowl and blended at high speed for several minutes.
4. The resulting composition can be stirred several times with a spoon, after which it is poured into a glass.

Advice. The drink is drunk about half an hour before bedtime and no earlier than three hours after the last meal.

Is it possible to drink coffee with fermented baked milk or kefir?

This question is asked quite often online, which shows users’ interest in whether kefir can be used instead of milk for coffee. But there are practically no adequate answers; for some reason people are afraid to try such a mixture, convincing each other that the kefir will curdle and fall out in flakes.

It’s enough just to try it to make sure: when you first pour kefir, it really looks like layered, clotted in a transparent cup, simply because of the different densities of the liquids. After stirring with a spoon, the drink looks exactly like an Americano with milk, even light coffee color, uniform consistency.

Helpful Tips:

• Use a homogeneous (same in structure) product. Almost all store-bought ones are like this, but there are exceptions in the form of farm products. Homemade kefir (sour milk) will not work.
• Do not boil fermented milk products! Definitely don’t pour it into the Turk or into the coffee pot, and don’t pour it straight from the Turk. Let your espresso or Americano cool slightly. The drink from the coffee machine itself is not too hot; it does not need to be cooled.

Just in case: first pour a portion into a cup or spoon, make sure that the product has not turned sour or flaky, and then add it to the drink.

Dessert with egg yolk

In this option, it is recommended to first brew strong black coffee and leave it to cool to room temperature (or close to it). While the coffee is cooling, the egg yolk is separated from the white and whipped together with sugar using a whisk until foamy, and then poured into a container with cooled black coffee.

Then kefir is added in the same amount in which the coffee was brewed. The resulting mixture is whipped with a whisk until a thick foam forms. The dessert acquires its final structure after cooling for an hour and a half.

Cold cocktail made from coffee with kefir

To prepare such a dessert, you will need kefir and strong coffee in approximately equal proportions (the proportions can be slightly changed depending on taste preferences).

When mixing a cocktail, ice cubes are placed in a glass (their quantity can also be used to regulate the strength of the drink). The taste can be varied with the help of syrup, spices and herbs, and vanilla sugar; Decorate a glass with such a cocktail with whipped cream or slices of fruit.

Recommendations

You can simply add kefir to black coffee (for example, if you have run out of milk, but for some reason you don’t want to drink black coffee). However, you should remember: replacing it with sour milk (yogurt) will not work. One more nuance: homemade (farm) kefir is also not suitable for such purposes.

You can add kefir to coffee immediately after the drink has cooled a little (not only should you not boil coffee with kefir, but adding kefir to freshly brewed coffee is also not recommended).

To give a coffee drink with kefir a more pleasant taste, you can add syrup, sugar and (or) vanilla sugar to it.

More: Is it possible to add honey to hot tea?

Is it possible to lose weight if you drink kefir at night? How to drink kefir for weight loss

Many nutritionists recommend using this useful universal product when losing weight in the evening or at night.
At this time, the fat-burning property of the drink is more pronounced due to the active absorption of calcium. But there is no clear rule for when to use this product. Kefir is a protein that acts as a building material. It is not converted into fats, does not participate in energy metabolism, but accelerates these processes. That is, you can consume kefir in the morning in combination with carbohydrates and other proteins. For example, you can have oatmeal for breakfast and drink kefir. Or eat a vegetable salad, complementing your meal with a fermented milk product. The mutual action of the products will only enhance the weight loss effect. You shouldn’t give up kefir at lunch, adding a little cinnamon, honey or nuts to it. The daily intake for a healthy person is 1 ml, 400 ml is considered the best option. With an excess amount of kefir, indigestion, bloating, flatulence, and diarrhea are observed. The duration of a mono-diet on kefir should not exceed 3 days; with a balanced diet, drinking fermented milk product is allowed every day for a long time or constantly, if you do not get tired of it. In the evening and in the morning they drink 1 glass, at lunchtime you can allow yourself more. Kefir at night for weight loss can be consumed immediately before bed. The product is quickly digested, does not burden the digestive tract, and normalizes the intestinal microflora.

When to give up

Now we know that this product is best suited for weight loss. But when is it not recommended to drink it?

1. Kefir should be avoided if you have high stomach acidity.
2. In addition, be careful if there is increased gas formation.
3. If you are following a low-protein diet, you should also hold off on consuming kefir.

Nutritionists warn that excessive consumption of this fermented milk product may cause diarrhea. Some doctors argue that it is better to avoid kefir before bed due to poor absorption of proteins at night. However, one can argue with this point of view: today there is no evidence for this assumption.

If after drinking kefir at night you feel a heaviness in your stomach, we do not recommend continuing to drink it in the evening. This means that this product should be replaced with another, for example, herbal tea. In this case, it makes sense to consume kefir during the day - in the intervals between main meals.

This fermented milk product should be drunk very carefully during pregnancy. On the one hand, it relieves constipation, which is very important when carrying a child. On the other hand, kefir becomes a key cause of flatulence and heartburn.

Kefir for the night, how long before bedtime. Is it good before bed?

The benefits and harms of kefir at night are a topic of constant debate between doctors and nutritionists. Doctors everywhere insist on the benefits of the drink for the intestines, improving microflora, and for the immune system. Kefir at night has a mild laxative and diuretic effect, but this effect is quite weak and will not disturb sleep at night.

Drinking the drink at night is useful for normalizing the functioning of the digestive system. Kefir has a particularly beneficial effect on gastritis and other ailments of the gastrointestinal tract. However, its use during periods of exacerbation of these ailments can cause complications, in which case it is necessary to consult a doctor. Experts highlight a number of beneficial properties of the drink for the body:

• Normalizes liver function, promotes its cleansing and is indicated for cholecystitis.
• Kefir before bedtime stabilizes the functioning of the pancreas. People suffering from diabetes mellitus often drink it before bed.
• Oddly enough, kefir is an excellent sedative. With the help of a glass of kefir, you will fall asleep much faster, fear and anxiety will leave you.
• The drink perfectly strengthens the immune system. Its use is recommended during seasonal illnesses such as influenza and ARVI.

Fermented milk products slightly increase my appetite. If you drink a glass of kefir before bed, you will wake up in the morning with a slight feeling of hunger. This will help people who find it difficult to eat in the morning have a proper breakfast. In addition, kefir, like other dairy products, contains a large amount of calcium, and it has a positive effect on bones, teeth and hair.

For women with breastfeeding

Kefir is beneficial for its high calcium content, but its use is not recommended for nursing mothers in the first 6 months of pregnancy. Most of the calcium in breast milk is transferred to the baby, so the daily requirement of calcium at 7 months is higher for pregnant women. In addition, the benefits of kefir include stimulating the production of breast milk in women, normalizing digestion, and saturating the body of mother and child with other beneficial vitamins and minerals.

Arguments for kefir with sugar for weight loss

In general, the world of healthy lifestyle and fitness, or rather, that part of it that is actively involved in preparing non-athletes for the beach and vacation, is divided into two parts:

• Let’s call the first one “clean eating.” And these people, of course, will forbid you both kefir and sugar;
• the second is flexible nutrition. They will allow you anything as long as it fits within the calories prescribed for you.

First, let's talk about why kefir with sugar can help. First of all, a glass of kefir with a spoonful of sand is a meal replacement. Many people have sweet cravings before bed, and they simply can’t cope with it, so they eat candy. We all know what happens next. It is enough for such people to replace the candy with anything that would be sweet and convince themselves that it works.

Many people do the following trick - beat kefir in a blender with half a pack of soaked gelatin and sugar or sweetener. Some take honey, and other “healthier options”, it doesn’t matter. The product is poured into an ordinary deep plate or silicone mold and left for some time in the refrigerator. After an hour or two, milk jelly is obtained. Sprinkle it with cinnamon and that’s it, you can run and put on some tea, this will help you give up cakes and sweets.

Other people truly believe that it is beneficial to raise your blood sugar levels before bed, which helps you have a more restful night and sleep instead of thinking about food. The theory does not have sufficient scientific justification for all people. For many, an increase in blood sugar levels leads to exactly the opposite effect - an excited nervous system and the inability to sleep. In general, talk about the fact that the drink is calming, again, cannot apply to absolutely all people.

It is often said that in kefir with sugar, lactic acid bacteria remain the most alive, well-fed and healthy, and perfectly tidy up the intestinal microflora. But it is clear that no one compared the results from just kefir and the same drink with sugar.