Probably you are already familiar with this quite popular prebiotic called kefir but the question remains: how much kefir should I drink each day: find the answer here.

What is Kefir?

This traditional beverage is a fermented drink obtained by fermenting milk or water with kefir grains, that originated in the Caucasus Mountains. Kefir grains look like "small cauliflower florets or cooked rice" they have a length of 10 to 30 mm and an irregular shape.

Their color is white to yellowish in and they have a firm texture and slimy appearance. Kefir is absolutely beneficial for our gut system because it contains several species of lactic acid bacteria, yeast, and acetic acid bacteria which greatly contributes to a proper

In case you want to know about the specifics of this natural prebiotic and try a recipe of homemade kefir, please check What is Kefir and How to Make it at Home: Easy Recipe

Kefir water is an excellent natural prebiotic - Freepik

Why including Kefir in our Diets?

Kefir is not only a natural but also a highly nutritious and soothing drink. But the truth is that it only works in your favor of taken in the adequate amounts. which brings us again to our question: how much kefir should I drink a day?

Many people think of kefir water as if this was a medicine and probably want to know the exact "dosage" is for best results. But let's keep in mind kefir is natural food, so your body will know how to handle it.

The many benefits of including kefir as part of your daily diet have been known for ages. Many close people have actually told me about how great kefir has worked for them, so even though it does have healing properties, kefir still a food. Kefir is made with no manufactured ingredients, no extra sugar or MSG's that can harm or alter the natural balance of your guts. But still you may wonder: how much kefir should I drink a day? So let's start by recounting some facts.

What's the average amount of kefir that most people drink a day is a more precise starting point, probably. It appears to be that the range for water kefir is about 1/2 cup to 2 cups per day. Of course this number are not the outcome of a rigorous scientific research, but they aren't less valid because of this.

These figures come out of forum discussion and personal experiences that have been shared with us. As regards milk kefir, the average daily intake comes down to 1 cup or a little bit more. More than that quantity is not recommended. But, we insist: kefir is not a medicine and your body will naturally know how much kefir you should drink a day.

Milk kefir - Freepik

Let's say for example that you love grapes or strawberries, you' re perfectly familiar with that feeling of craving one, but it's usually mo more than a couple of them that you eat each time. And if your overindulge on anything, you'll body will notice, it will feel like too much. Something very alike should happen with kefir.

You know that you ar ingesting the right amount a day if you crave kefir like you would crave a fruit or a yogurt! If what you feel whenever you think of kefir os opposite to this then something is not going well in the process of obtaining your kefir. A kefir that is unbalanced, has probably fermented too much and it won't do any good to your body. If you are your making your own kefir at home, go over the steps and remember that a good fermentation is key to the process. In case you are buying your water kefir, you should probably try organic or a different brand.

For some people, it may come as a shock but kefir should always be pleasant- both in smell and taste - even to people not used to drinking kefir. If it's not pleasant it means something went wrong in hte process and your kefir is not balanced or it's probably over-fermented.

It's commonly the case that people want to over ferment kefir grains in order to squeeze as much health benefits out of it. But this is not the it works. Over fermenting your kefir grains will ruin the culture by upsetting the natural bacteria balance in the beverage. And when it goes to your body it may cause an extra fabrication of enzymes and acids that will make you feel sick. As when you get food-poisoned.

So, wherever go you decide to incorporate kefir into your diet, please do it right and with patience, when your body gets used to it, the many health benefits will come along.

How do I know if I'm drinking too much?

Well, for your own safety there are some pretty obvious warning sings indicating that you're probably taking more than your digestive system can handle.

If you are drinking a balanced kefir water or milk, not negative symptoms should arise but every organism works differently so you may experience minor symptoms such as temporary bloating, gases or some sort of stomach discomfort at starting out. This could happen particularly if you have sensitive digestion.

What happens when we drink too much kefir all at once is that we are overproducing acids, which can slow down digestive movement. As a result, more gases are produced and bloating continues. So, how much kefir should I drink a day? The answer is very relative to what your body is telling you. If you experience significant stomach discomfort, you should stop or cut way back until you feel better and then slowly increase from there. Getting the body used to prebiotics takes time and patient and you shouldn't hurry!

Kefir water served with ginger, orange and mint - Freepik

Another common thing is that when you keep on reacting negatively to kefir, your body is probably fighting yeasts, lactose, acids or probiotics generated within the kefir water or milk. In this sense, please keep an eye on the process because something needs to be readjust, for example if you are making kefir milk out of raw milk, there could be more bacteria generated since raw milk is barely intervened. Kefir shouldn't be just yeast, but a perfectly and healthily balanced formula with both bacteria and yeast.

What about kefir and lactose? Is Kefir better and more digestible than yogurt? These are also commonly related questions like how much kefir should I drink a day? Again, it depends on the quality of the product and your organism. But it's fact anyway that if you can handle yogurt that is usually pasteurized and so, you can handle kefir.

So, is Kefir for everyone?

Yes it is! Buy you have to go about it easily, especially if your digestion is delicate or slow. We discourage the use of probiotics in general if you are experiencing any sort of gut problems. Probiotics itself may cause even more harm if this is your case. If you have significant gut lining issues or a bad case of leaky gut, more amounts of bacteria and yeast are not going to help. When your whole digestive system is already in trouble, the body won't tell good bacteria from bad ones and nutrients won't be absorbed.

If you know or highly suspect something so serious like continuous bloating and inflammation, then we recommend addressing this issue with a doctor before you start drinking kefir.

It's very common for people with SIBO to have some problems with probiotic since there is already an overpopulation of bacteria and as we said, adding more won't help at all!

In case you can't tolerate kefir that much- which is not very common, but it might happen - you can alternate kefir water or milk consumption with kombucha. Kombucha, especially if homemade has a very low pH which might go more gently on your sensitive digestive system. Homemade kombucha can be as powerful as kefir. Kombucha is very acidic and detoxing, so the regular intake is usually reduced to 1/2 cup per day.

Kefir is delicious and healthy - Freepik

How much kefir should I drink a day? Let's recap

So based on what we said:

In case you want to know more about the many health benefits of Probiotics, don't miss: Why Probiotics are good for you? Learn their Health Benefits