Water Kefir for Candida Diet

Greetings! Eric Bakker, naturopath from New Zealand. Author of Candida Crusher. Thanks for checking out my video. Water Kefir or Dairy Kefir? What’s better? What are you currently making? I’ve looked at many websites just now and checked out YouTube videos and had a bit of a good think about Kefir. Kefir is something I’ve tried to make a long time ago. I personally don’t like Kefir. I’m a sauerkraut guy. Probably because my grandma used to make it, and I grew up with the taste of that nice piece of sausage and a piece of sauerkraut I loved. I don’t really care what kind of culture of medifood you eat. That you desire to eat. I think it’s important to pick something that you like to eat. Not that you think: “Oh it tastes so sour and crap but I have to eat it because I was told to eat it.”

Don’t eat something you don’t love. What’s the bloody point? That’s like trying to wear a dress that you hate the color of or trying to be with someone that you’re supposed to be with because your parents like that guy or woman, but you don’t like them. You only get somewhere in life, I believe, by really enjoying something that you’re doing, someone you’re with, or the food you eat. If you’ve got a desire for something and you love the taste of it, it means, in my opinion, you’re going to digest it better. It’s going to suit you better. I like sauerkraut, so you might like Kefir. That’s fine by me.

What’s better? Water Kefir? Dairy Kefir? Well, Water Kefir is something that some people start out with because it’s simple. They just get the Kefir grains, they get fruit juice or they might get coconut water or coconut milk. I would consume Water Kefir or non-dairy Kefir. If you look at the origins of Kefir going back a long time ago near the Caspian Sea in the Corpus Mountains in Southeast Asia somewhere. It’s near the Black Sea, near Russia or one of those Slavic countries. It’s a bit like kumis and yogurt and these sorts of foods.

When people made them originally they used to keep them in bladders or skins of animals they found. I think that’s how yogurt started. I think they were kept in sheep’s bladders and hung on the backs of camels or animals walking around the desert. Natural fermentation took place. But with Kefir, the grains got put in bags and hung. I was just reading on Wikipedia interesting hung in doorways. When people would walk past the doorway, the bag would get bumped, which would mix the Kefir to keep it well mixed.

I personally find Water Kefir quite strong. You’ve got to be careful with Water Kefir if you’re going to use a fruit juice, for example. If it’s not fermented properly, it could have a bit of an alcohol content about it. Also, it could not be properly fermented, which could give you a bit more sugar than you’d like in that product, which could actually make your Candida worse. Water Kefir can certainly make Candida worse. I’ve had many patients contact me saying, “I read in your book that you said to take Kefir, and I did, and I felt like crap! I’m feeling much worse.” So if you make Kefir, make darn well sure that you know how to make Kefir.

I think there are many people at home that don’t make these foods properly. They end up in worse positions than they were when they started. I think milk Kefir is better. You’re getting the added benefit of calcium and magnesium and the minerals if you use raw milk, especially. Unpasteurized with all the junk in it that the farmers have to put in there. They put the teets on the cows, and they’ve got to put them in iodine or in different solutions to clean them, and then animals get injections and chemicals and all that junk. You’re better off having a free-range organic or biodynamic milk as a starting point. That makes premium Kefir. I’ve tasted that kind of Kefir and it is amazing how good it tastes. If you’re going to use dairy products for Kefir, please use a good starting material. Use an organic or biodynamic certified biogrown kind of a product. Raw milk tastes beautiful. I’m no fan personally of dairy products. I’ve had milk occasionally, but I don’t really feel the need to drink milk in my diet. When it comes to yogurt or cultured food like that, I do like it.

Let’s go back to the dairy. As I mentioned, you’ve got the additional minerals in there that you won’t necessarily get in the Water Kefir. They’ve also found through research that Dairy Kefir contains up to three/four times more bacteria than the Water Kefir. You’re getting also different types of streptococci. You’re getting about 25 types of lactobacillus. One thing I haven’t found with Kefir is bifida bacteria. You don’t really get that in these kind of foods. Lactobacillus is what a lot of people don’t have a sufficient amount of anyway. Especially because it inhabits the small intestine where you really need these bacteria.

Water Kefir or Dairy? I think the Dairy Kefir is a better Kefir. But if you’ve got Candida, Coconut Kefir. Super. You’ve got the Capric Acid, the Caprylic Acid, you’ve got a hundred different minerals in that coconut. Also, I think it actually ferments better than the fruit juice does. It gives you a better quality product. Less chance of sugar in it. Anti-fungal activity. What should you do now? Now you’re all confused, aren’t you? Should you do Water Kefir? Fruit Kefir? Coconut Kefir, if you’ve got Candida.

If you haven’t got Candida and you’ve done a stool test, and you’ve got bad bacteria there or some parasites you want to conquer – Dairy Kefir. But it’s got to be made properly. That’s the big thing. If it’s not made properly, you buck it. That’s what we say in Australia. Because that means you could be literally creating a problem internally with something that you’re eating. You’re going to come to me saying, “Well, you told me to have Kefir.

But since I started, I’m feeling a lot worse!”

Think about that for a moment. If you’re feeling worse on a food like Kefir, back off. Remake it, get a batch from somebody else, try that to see if that works. Always start these foods slowly into your diet. I’ve had some patients who will drink four or five cups of Kefir. They’ll drink it all day long the first week they make it. Then they feel terrible. Think about it. Common sense – you know my thought on common sense. Click on the link below if you haven’t already grabbed my article, and don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks for tuning in.