Does it come in liquid form? I've only seen the granuals that look a bit like large-grained corm meal.

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~~~Teelbee
Back to GOAL!!!
start weight: 176/goal range: 137-134/now: 138
Reached goal in Aug. 2003 - 4rd year of maintenance.

I have the liquid, got it at Whole Foods as I recall....

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Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

I don't have a place to get it locally, but I know netrition sells it. HTH.

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True, true. I made a margarita sorbet last week that was darn delicious! Just a shot of tequila in the batch gave it a lovely flavor. And serving it in margarita glasses with some Chinaco A?ejo drizzled over the top got raves!

Don't use too much vodka, though; I did that once with rum and even an ounce left a noticeable taste in the finished product.

And this was a bad thing WHY?! LOL!!

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Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

I tried a recipe that called for both glycerine and lecithin, but no xanthan. I will try your recipe this summer.

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Henry

Well, you know, booze on the breath when you show up to work in the morning after your usual ice cream breakfast...awkward!

LOL!!! OK, I can see where THAT might be less than desirable....

__________________
Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

Question - is there any reason not to feed kefir to an infant under 1 yr old? My granddaughter is just starting out on yogurt, but I didn't know if kefir might have qualities not suitable for little ones (kinda like you don't feed honey to a baby). Any thoughts on this? DD2 is going to try to make her own yogurt, but if Sophie can have kefir, I might consider getting a start from someone and trying it out for her.

Thanks a bunch.

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Nita

No idea from this nullipara, but it seems to me the stuff is all good. If yogurt is okay, I would bet kefir would be too.

I think I read somewhere that women are traditionally given kefir right after giving birth; that would imply to me that it's okay, at least second-hand, for babies.

Nita, this is how I understand the problem.

Honey is a problem because a certain percentage of batches have naturally occurring spoors of clostridium botulinum. In an infant's digestive system, the bacteria can multiply, producing along the way, a neurotoxin.

This process can also occur with certain low acid foods that are not processed properly, since the proper combination of heat and pressure will kill the bacterium. That's why we pressure can certain foods. The spoors won't hurt anyone with a developed digestive system. However, if you don't can properly, and these bacteria are present, they'll muliply in the canned foods, producing lots of the toxin, which will cause botulism poisening in people of any age.

This is a link to Dom's (the kefir guy) site where he (with references) lists the type of bacteria found in kefir. You'll see that the clostridium group is not among them.

From what I can find, it seems unlikely that botulinus spoors are found in kefir.

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Maggie, I understand all that about botulism poisoning from honey. I just wondered about the streptococci bacteria found in kefir, if it was a problem, or not.

And I also understand that after a child is a year old, they should be able to have honey. We always used to have raw honey that DH got from a woman he worked with, but I never gave it to the kids, and then I read that even processed honey should be avoided by babies. So, they didn't get ANY honey until they got older. Now I wouldn't give it to a child because I know what sugar, even natural, can do to kids who have a hereditary predisposition to gain weight.

So, I imagine kefir is just fine for babies, especially healthy babies who have good immune systems. This particular baby had to be formula fed because her mom didn't have enough milk, even using all the folk remedies, etc. And when she was on formula, she gained lots of weight, and she's still a chunky one, even now that they've cut out one bottle and she's getting lots of veggies and some meat. They are feeding her plain yogurt with her daily prunes (she NEEDS the prunes), so she's getting the milk protein. I'm going to mull over getting some kefir grains and trying it on her, see if she likes it. She really likes the yogurt, even plain without fruit.

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Nita

LOL, I figured you knew about the problem with honey, Nita. It's just sometimes I try to remember to lay things out for those who might not be familiar with a particular issue.

As for the two streptococcus type bacteria listed as being part of kefir, they are beneficial, not harmful organisms.
One of them has been renamed Lactococcus Lactis and the other Strep is the main bacteria used to make yogurt. Both are used in various fermented dairy products, such as yogurts and cheeses.

As far as the strep component, I get the impression that if yogurt is ok, kefir is probably just as safe.

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Thanks!!!

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Nita

Why not put in a call to the nurse or pediatrician where the baby goes? I'm sure they could tell you if there was a problem feeding it to young'uns...we get calls like that all the time in my office - we don't do peds though (we're family practice but don't do the baby stuff) or I'd ask my docs for you!

Char

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Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!