FOCUS ON KEFIR
This fermented drink could rebalance your gut and boost your overall health, says dietician Carrie Ruxton
Carrie Ruxton
ADVICE LINE
CARRIE RUXTON PHD is an award-winning dietician, health writer and TV nutritionist.
Photograph iStock
What is it?
Originating from the Caucasus mountains at the border of Europe and Asia, kefir is a bacterial culture that used to be known as the ‘Grains of the Prophet’. Today it takes the form of a fermented milk product made with kefir ‘grains’ – gelatinous white or yellow clumps resembling cauliflower florets. Used as a starter culture, these grains contain a mixture of milk proteins, sugars and bacteria, mostly the lactobacillus type, which is commonly found in yoghurt.