Kefir and antibiotics.

Hi, I stopped dairy a while ago which meant I stopped my kefir( Siggi's brand from Iceland). Yesterday I had to start a 10 day course of Clindamycin for cellulitis. The pharmacist (who I deal with all the time and trust) reminded me I should be on probiotics and showed me a brand from the store. But I didn't want to buy a strange brand off the shelf. I also don't trust kefir made in the US because of the cows here. (Don't like US cows-how unpatriotic! LOL) Anyway I'm going to the store in the morning. Does anyone have any other ideas how to cover the antibiotic RX with food. I will also go back on mu Icelandic kefir. How much a day? I stopped dairy just trying to have a healthier diet so have no allergies. Thanks. irina1975

[Hellonwheels]

Can't blame you for not trusting conventional dairy in the states. I don't either. Lifeway has an organic kefir that might do, if you can't find Siggi's. Also, raw sauerkraut---I've found in Trader Joe, Whole Paycheck, and Sprouts. Garden of Life raw probiotics, also. All good stuff.

[Hidden in reply to Hellonwheels]

Hi HellonW. Thanks so much. Yes. Forgot about lifeway and the raw sauerkraut. Where was my mind? There is a Sprouts just about 2 miles up the road where we go all the time. Will go tomorrow am.My procedure (TEE) isn't til 1PM Must be there at noon. We'll go to Sprouts first. Also love whole foods though sometimes expensive. I guess you know it's nickname is Wholepaycheck.LOL . Thanks so much. Am getting ready to go to bed early to be rested tomorrow. My procedure is small just a quick look down my throat (with a little anesthesia) to be sure my surgery (Watchman procedure) is healed and I can stop my coumadin. I am excited because I wanted the procedure to get off coumadin. I told my doc I would take my last coumadin pill with a little champagne!LOL Don't drink but must celebrate. As I recall Sprouts has Siggi's. Are you inthe US? Some products I tend to buy from abroad because here they seem to add preservatives and other chemicals to food when they're not necessary. Thanks again. Talk to you soon. irina1975

[Hellonwheels in reply to Hidden]

Yes. I'm in Georgia Good luck today, and congrats on that procedure and getting off another pharmaceutical !!! I was just complaining the other day about all the "poisons" in our food supply. Really ridiculous! I don't buy from abroad, but I DO read every label, and buy mostly single-ingredient foods and make my own. It's tiresome, but with thyroid issues, I've found it necessary for health and well being, and sanity

You're quite welcome, by the way, and take care---Helen

[Hellonwheels in reply to Hidden]

Also, don't forget about organic sour cream, cottage cheese, and kombucha. A little red wine probably never hurt, either

[Hashi-Monster]

I make my own Kefir using light coconut milk ( dairy free). You can buy the kefir grains online.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to Hashi-Monster]

You don't get the same number of nutrients etc in coconut and water kefir as the dairy-based version, but if you are vegan, it has to be sufficient.

[Greybeard]

Have you thought about water kefir, it has helped my gut problems. U-tube has lots of how to video's

[Ellie-Louise in reply to Greybeard]

Your username rang loud bells, were you ever on the MOTS forum?

[Ellie-Louise]

What’s wrong with your cows irina, is it because of the grass or something else? Just curious.

[Hidden in reply to Ellie-Louise]

Dottie's right. And also commercially raised cows are treated so badly and when taken to the abbatoirs for slaughter they are treated in such inhumane ways their stress levels must be sky-high which is not only horrific for the animals but those hormones affect their meat. You don't want to know anymore about commercial farming and food production in the US. Because of the size of our country access to small, humane farms is not readily available to most of us plus the big commercial companies make it difficult for farmers that want to practice moral farming to be easily put out of business. It's very financially difficult for them and for potential customers. I try to buy grass-fed meat but it is expensive. I am able tobuy it online because I eat small amts of meat. I also buy pasteured chicken and eggs. Also 'grass-fed' does NOT mean grass-finished. This means that a product can be labelled grass fed but toward the end of their lives they are fed grain and other 'bad stuff' to get them ready for the commercial market. And most grain and animal feed here is GMO-especially corn and soy, sprayed with pesticides, and overfed with antibiotics. I try to be vegan but even soy here is mostly GMO. IMO opinion we can't win here re eating healthy food unless we have our own farm or order online.. Sad. Money rules! irina1975

[lbrosa in reply to Hidden]

all of what irina1975 wrote is SO TRUE...it is discouraging! My husband and I both grew up on a small farms in upstate central New York back in the 1950's and we raised our own meat, veggies and milk so at least I had healthy food while growing up...but, nowadays it is impossible for folks to live like that! First of all to afford the land and taxes and even if you have inherited the land...to pay the taxes to keep it and to make a living from it has become nearly impossible! We can not afford to buy what is labeled organic foods and even if we could it is becoming more and more evident that labeling is not 100% reliable! So we do the best we can!

[Ellie-Louise in reply to Hidden]

I hope I don’t come back as an American cow, what a dreadful way of farming animals, animals that give their lives up for us.

Your country needs something like this that we have over here.

redtractor.org.uk/?src=landing

[Hidden in reply to Ellie-Louise]

I agree. What we need is a more compassionate government that is less $$$$greedy and has more respect for animals (and people). Unfortunately not likely to happen (at least currently).We have laws in place for many things here to be done right but if they get in the way of the powerful with money they are not enforced. Also many laws are written with a wide scope and open to very broad interpretation. Not always good for animals or people! And if corporations don't get their way there is always that wonderful American tradition-Litigation. Which can tie things up in the courts for years. I hate it when animals suffer. They are innocent and can't speak for themselves. Maybe they'll be a special place in "Dante's Inferno" for people who abuse animals! I'll stop now. Sorry for getting off-topic.

[Hidden in reply to Ellie-Louise]

BTW just viewed the Red Tractor site. And was impressed that 75% of farms are Red Tractor. When my sister was married and lived in Cumbria in the 90's when I visited we could walk down the road to a small farm and get fresh eggs. I had never had a fresh egg in my life before that. What a wonderful way to eat.

[Marz]

.... and the anti-biotics shoved into their teats for mastitis - yikes. Grass produces K1 which converts into K2 and protects us in many ways - or did.

[Ellie-Louise]

That’s dreadful, those poor cows. 😟

[Marz]

Sounds good ! I grew up on a Guernsey Dairy Farm in the 40/50's - grassfed of course. The cows still got mastitis though ..... how do organic farmers deal with it I wonder ?

[bantam12 in reply to Marz]

Organic animals are still given antibiotics.

[Marz in reply to bantam12]

Thought so ..... Recently re-visited Somerton to find the house my grandparents lived in after moving from Wellow.

[bantam12 in reply to Marz]

I will be driving through Somerton shortly 😜

[Marz]

Thank you for the link. I too was in Somerset 😊

[bantam12]

That farm is literally 5 mins from me.

[bantam12]

Nope, we are surrounded by farms and farm shops.

[Valerie0106]

I make water kefir with coconut water to avoid using sugar.

[SilverAvocado]

Hi Irina1975, there are a few non-dairy alternatives to kefir. The most obvious is water kefir. This grows in water instead of milk. You need to add sugar, and can add lemon slices and dried fruit, too. This requires grains similar to milk kefir.

Kombucha is grown with tea and sugar. You need a SCOBY, similar to kefir grains but one large piece, and it takes about a week to grow a batch, unlike kefir which needs to be changed at least once a day.

Sauerkraut is probably the easiest ferment to make, as you don't need to order any special vulture. Just shred a cabbage, soak it in salt, and keep it covered by water for a week or so. You can add a lot of other spices or vegetables once you get used to it.

These are all easy to make at home. I'm not very mobile, so I find kombucha the easiest, because it only needs do once a week.

[Angel_of_the_North]

Why not just make your own? It's pretty easy to get kefir grains online or from friends and that way you know where the milk came from too. A medium drinking glass a day is often recommended.

[mistydog]

Goat's milk kefir?

[Hidden in reply to mistydog]

Yes, I found it in a store here called Sprouts. I prefer to eventually make my own kefir with water but wanted to get started right away to cover the antibiotics. I bought 3 bottles. They are almost gone but they caused me no G.I. probs and, I believe, made the 10 day antibiotic stretch easier. The goat's milk was from a small humane family farm. As we don't have vast amts of sheep or goats here goats aren't farmed by big corporations. Even most of our lamb comes from Australia or New Zealand. That's the meat I use most often. A little humorous anecdote. I have a friend from Ireland who I worked with as a nurse. She has been over here for a number of years and has bought a house with lots of grass in the back yard. She wishes that city ordinances would allow her to keep a goat so her grass would always be in good shape!