Hi ,I’ve had 2 attempts at taking kefir for some gut health. First one was full fat dairy it made me feel really lousy, I don’t usually have a problem with dairy. On the plus side I gave it to my daughter and it has had huge benefits for her eczema. Attempt two 6 months later tried it with coconut milk, same reaction. Anyone know what reaction I’m having?
Cheers
Where did you get your grains? Did you allow them time to recouperate after being starved in the post? Mine took almost a month to become drinkable. Are you making it with very very fresh good quality organic milk preferably from grass fed cows, feeding the kefir grains regularly (twice a day) & keeping it at an ambient temperature so it's happy & well nourished? Some people don't like it because they've left ot too long & it's gone sour & cheesey & the kefir grains & kefirans are starved or dead. Remember it's alive, so needs to be cared for carefully. Maybe try it after it's only fermented for a few hours & just starts to give off carbon dioxide, then work up to drinking it just as the kefir starts to separate in to curds & whey.
When you made it the second time, did you buy kefir water grains, or try to adapt the lactose feeding dairy grains?
My favourite kefir information & troubleshooting website is Yemoos.
Worse case scenario is that one or more of the critters in the lactobacillus, yeast, streptococci symbiosis that make up the grains just doesn't agree with you. A different combination might work as each culture contains different micro-organisms.
Dried kefir starter & shop bought only contains lactobacillus. It's not as resistant to stomach acids, but perhaps start from there & see if you can build up tolerance. I initially started culturing it from shop bought added to organic wholemilk. Pour 500mls of milk from a two litre bottle of fresh organic wholemilk , then top up with 500mls of shop bought kefir, again the freshest you can get, put the lid on, agitate gently to mix it up, then leave for 6 hours & taste. It should be cultured in this warm weather, or take longer if your kitchen is cold.
If you try kefir powder, the instructions are to reconstitute & ferment, then add a few tablespoons to a pint of fresh milk. I used about 1/3 to 1/2 to fresh milk & think it would have lasted indefinitely had I not moved up to fermenting grains.
Hi thanks for in-depth reply. I used my original grains that I gave to my daughter, I just stole some back rinsed them in coconut milk, and made a coconut milk batch, maybe I need to start again with new water grains and go slowly. It was like the worse Hashi flare I’ve ever had It’s taken me 5 days to get back to my mediocre state of health. Lol
You're welcome!
I've read dairy grains can be coaxed into growing in something else by alternate days feeding in milk then something else, but have never tried it.
Are you sure your flare up wasn't a coincidence as you're not allergic to milk?
I’ve heard that a negative reaction to fermented foods - in the form of gut pain, gassiness, is that what you mean? - can indicate SIBO.
Fermented foods can increase histamine in some people. Histamine is cleared by the DAO gene and those with a genetic SNP on that gene are unable to utilise the DAO enzyme effectively to clear histamine.
One of the moderators here even linked to an article on an earlier post explaining that fermented foods like kombucha and kefir etc don’t have those miraculous benefits for all due to histamine intolerance.
Is that just people with a defective gene intolerance?
It may well be other things too. I don’t know. Sorry.
I’ e been reading about it for several years, & have never come across that on the hippy dippy or research websites.
In this post there is an article which redapple has posted about kefir and histamine:
Great article by Dr Ben Lynch on histamine intolerance. I consider him to be a pioneer in epigenetic research:
Kefir is a very concentrated probiotic. Usually, it is best to build up to it by fermenting yoghurt first which is milder and more tolerable to the gut. Build up a tolerance to yoghurt first and then consider trying kefir. Start with one teaspoon of kefir a day and only increase if there are no gut symptoms. As the bad bacteria die off you will feel a bit queasy, a bit fluey perhaps, headaches too, but this a sign it is working. Once you experience die-off symptoms stop taking the kefir until the symptoms recede, then start again. Keep increasing the amount you take until no more die-off occurs.
Histamine may also be an issue as referenced above.
Best of luck.
Thanks all for replying, I think what I have learned is it doesn’t matter what you do or which way you turn this bloody disease is a complicated pain in the arse. No wonder this forum just keeps growing.
Keep smiling
I had palpitations so bad I had to stop kefir, gave it a few days to stop palps then started again at less than a teaspoon a day slowly building up to half a small glass, any more and the palps come back. Apparently I'm 1 in a 1000 to get this reaction,.. Marvellous 🙄
Hi I didn’t get that just stomach cramps,gas,headaches and that horrible tired spaced out feeling. For something that’s supposed to be so good for you I find it really odd. Might try enzymes instead.
Probably change in gut bacteria - I've always reckoned that the bad ones get stroppy at being moved out. Been drinking kefir for nearly 20 years now. It's the only non-vegan thing I eat/drink. What sort of lousy? If you have a semi functioning thyroid, the extra tyrosine might have made a difference to your meds, but unlikely as it is not in water kefir
Look up high histamine foods , kefir is one of them and the same thing happened to me - really annoying as it’s great for gut health for some people but not everyone !
Thyroxine reaction??
Reaction to eating gluten?
Reaction to Eltroxin 
Severe allergic reaction to levothyroxine
