Involvement of gut microbial fermentation in the metabolic alterations occurring in n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids-depleted miceInteresting to see that you can improve your omega 3 ratio by increasing your intake of Fructooligosaccharides. It's not that they actually contain omega 3 but they do encourage the production of butyrate which does in the colon what vitamin d does in the rest of the digestive system and that is act as an anti inflammatory agent. So by reducing your inflammatory status you spare the need to use omega 3 to resolve inflammation.

article on the topic here.
Prebiotics may restore metabolic alterations linked to omega-3 poor diets

I know it is difficult to know what kinds of bacterial and yeast strains and their volume exist in any kefir mix in a household. We can only hope that we have a robust and diverse bacterial/yeast mix and that we can keep it that way in how we make the kefir and age it. I make my own kefir and it has surely helped many people including myself but I still have questions that need to be answered so that I am not giving out incorrect information. Can anyone help?

My questions are these.

1. When one drinks kefir, it makes sense that we are only drinking the byproducts [metabolites] of the kefir grains, not the live bacteria and yeasts themselves. Is this true? If we are not drinking the live organisms themselves we can't really call this a "living food". If bacteria and yeasts can break free from the grain matrix and we digest them, how many and what kinds of bacteria/yeasts can we swallow? Perhaps we should be "eating" grains instead of drinking kefir elixor?

2. Since kefir is a liquid it cannot be enteric coated. So which bacteria/yeast strains can typically survive gastric juices and get to where they need to be in order to derive benefit?

3. Therapeutically speaking, how much kefir (milk or water grain-based) should one be drinking per day? What is the best time to ingest this stuff - before eating a meal or afterwards? How long before or after?

4. Is there any way at all that one can have their kefir tested for which strains and their corresponding volumes to be known? I can see this being a medical benefit for doctors prescribing probiotics - if they know exactly what ratios exist in the grains and/or in the elixor, they can prescribe a therapeutic kefir mixture that targets specific ailments. Maybe, maybe not.

Thanks to everyone who can help me with these questions

I think I can answer number 1 and maybe number 2.

I don't care if you are talking about milk or water kefir. The kefir is of no use until it is cultured. Cultured means that bacteria is formed (like with yogurt and sauerkraut). I don't know about yeast. I do not think kefir would contain any yeasts. Bacteria reproduces fairly quickly, so there will be a lot of probiotics when you are ready to drink it. The bacteria thrive in a sugar environment, which helps them to propagate. Both good and bad bacteria love sugar. The grains attract the good bacteria, so you don't have to worry about spoilage. However, the kefir will not last too long, because when the sugar is digested by them, they begin to die. Using milk, the bacteria thrive on lactose in the milk. Milk is alkaline, so drinking a glass (about 6 ounces) will help dilute the stomach acid. With water kefir, you have to add a lot of sugar for the culturing. But again, by the time you are ready to drink it, the sugar is gone. Once again, the water will help to dilute the stomach acids. It is the same for any liquid that you drink with your meals. The stomach acids are diluted.

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- Jim

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein

Joseph Neu of the University of Florida School of Medicine and his colleagues reviewed several studies that compared health impacts using live microbes versus those that had first been killed by heat or ultraviolet radiation. The dead bugs were just as effective as live ones, they report, but “considerably safer for the host.” For instance, they appeared less likely to provoke an overzealous immune response.

One study worked with Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, better known as LGG. Researchers administered high doses of the bacterial strain to human cells that normally line the interior surface of the gut. When stimulated in a way that simulated the presence of a pathogen, the gut cells revved up a bigger inflammatory response than when the probiotics were absent. Both live and dead LGG induced fairly comparable responses — ones that would be expected to improve the gut’s ability to fight infection.

Then the researchers repeated the experiment, this time with gut cells that appeared healthy — i.e. not under siege by pathogens. Here, live LGG triggered significant inflammation. Which is not a beneficial response, since healthy cells might be slammed by deadly chemical shrapnel unleashed by immune cells. A similarly big dose of dead LGG caused only mild inflammation.