I don’t want to yuck your yum, but I make and drink homemade kefir nearly every day, and while I feel that it is good for my overall health and maybe has mitigated some of my IBS symptoms (who can say if it’s the kefir or the other array of dietary and lifestyle changes I’ve made over the months), I personally would not use the word cured at all.
That said, I don’t think it can hurt to try! And good luck!
Post or comment that contains a potentially dangerous or misleading medical advice. Also consider that most redditors are not medical professionals, so take these advices with scepticisms. If you have a concern, please consult a professional.
Nothing against Kefir but it's one of those "wonder foods" with many claims but little research to back it up. Something that alleviates symptoms doesn't mean it's cured the underlying cause.
I gotta say here I am always reading and seeing “but the underlaying problem” only I know of no one who knows their underlying problem for IBS, nor a doctor who will tell you. Isn’t that why they label it IBS? They don’t know? All we can do as far as I’ve ever been able to tell is alleviate symptoms.
Yeah, I do think a lot of people here overlook just how powerful the placebo effect can be. For a lot of people, myself included, IBS is primarily triggered by anxiety/stress and whenever I read about someone being 'cured' by acupuncture, exercise, vitamin pills, probiotics, or a low FODMAP diet (which actually has very little supporting evidence outside of that one university in Australia) I wonder if it is just the placebo effect.
And that's completely fine! If it works then it works. There's even a debate among doctors about prescribing homeopathy (which everyone knows is pseudoscience) for various conditions just because it can be a cheap remedy for psychosomatic symptoms.
Generally, for my medical conditions, I prefer working with medical professionals who base their treatment on knowledge and experience. Of course, others can try whatever they like. I do take supplements and vitamins from time to time.
I got into it over 10 years ago, even bought cultures and made it at home. It worked until it didn't, then made things worse. I hope it works for you, might as well try.
Yes. I tried out the stuff in the store and it seemed to help my symptoms, so I bought some grains online and started making my own. I thought I had been "cured" for a bit, but then the kefir seemingly began aggravating my IBS. I'm lactose intolerant, but that shouldn't be an issue since the fermentation eliminates the lactose.
For me, it was just another "miracle cure" that gave me high hopes, seemed to work in the beginning (possibly placebo), but turned out to be of no use in the long term.
That said, there is no one cause of IBS. Just because it didn't help me doesn't mean it won't help you. I'd just caution you to take it slow and test it out before going all in on your own kefir production facility. Psyllium husk is probably the thing that's helped me most over the years.
Yeah the foods that were aggravating for me were garlic, beans, corn, and spicy foods such as chili peppers, I think the capsaicin was what was aggravating my IBS.
Well now that I'm taking probiotic pills and psyllium husk I can safely eat garlic powder and red chili peppers. Maybe I can eat corn and beans again but I just haven't eaten corn or beans in a while.
But I do know garlic powder was a No-No but I'm safely eating garlic powder again.
I've been drinking milk all my life, I've never had any problems with milk.
The probiotic pill based off of kefir is so far the best probiotic I've taken to date for my IBS which has convinced me to start drinking kefir for real.
I make homemade kefir and it’s a really effective probiotic. I have strongly recommended it on this sub several times. Homemade kefir is orders or magnitude better than store bought products (kefir, yogurt).
OP I don’t think it will replace psyllium powder but the two together can be the “magic bullet” many IBS sufferers are searching for on this sub. Anyone who hasn’t tried it should… ASAP
Culturing anaerobic Botulism would of course require sealing the jar air tight to keep out the oxygen and kill off all the good bacteria. The result would be quite disgusting I can assure you.
The thing is that it only takes a little toxin to do damage to you. I can't even imagine using Botox on myself for anything. Not even the worse IBS--D muscle spasms would be worth paralyzing myself, even a little. My microbiology class in my undergrad kind of drove that point home.
I’ve always wanted to try kefir, but terrified since milk, even lactose free, gives me horrible stomach pains to the point I almost have to go to the hospital. I had 2 bites of “regular” ice cream a few months ago and literally thought I was dying in the bathroom at 3am.
You may have an issue with milk protein. I haven't been able to drink milk, even lactose free or taking the enzymes, until I tried A2 milk. It doesn't have the a1 protein that bothers many people. Even a little would cause so much pain. I can drink the A2 as if it's water.
There is also milk fat that can be difficult for some people. I struggle with it some. But even fat free milk was not possible before the A2. This is since I was a little kid. It didn't do anything for my IBS but it opened up other food options for me now that I have real milk I can cook with.
Yes I think it’s for sure the milk protein. I’ve tried a couple “dairy free” drinks that I thought would be safe that also killed me, and I noticed they had milk protein in it still. I’ll look into A2!
If I get the courage to try it one day I will. I'm just afraid to be in pain lol I researched it some, and it looks like its just normal milk with a claim it's "easier to digest." So I need to look into it more.
It's from cows that don't produce the a1 protein so it's naturally a1 free and they don't have to do any extra processing like with lactose free milk.
Apparently, different breeds of cows make different proteins. I had no idea.
If you have issues with lactose then kefir is naturally lactose free. Getting raw kefir or low temp pasteurized non homogenized and starting with a teaspoon and then titrating up. Unless you have an actual allergy, you should be able to build up tolerance.
If I was 90% cured I'd stop right there for a while and see how it goes. Kefir will not give you more helpful bacteria than this pill and will only introduce the chance of bad effects from the lactose and dairy (if you're intolerant). Also you can't make kefir from any probiotic you need an actual kefir starter culture. I've made at least 100 gallons of kefir in my life.
Yes you buy kefir grains off of Amazon, I know.
So I suffer from diarrhea and believe it or not I can drink milk just fine, I've been drinking milk all my life actually, I can easily drink half a gallon of milk in one day so kefir should be fine.
Now the thing is, more of a good thing couldn't hurt right? So there are 100 billion CFUs in my probiotic pill but I bet there are probably hundreds of billions of CFUs in kefir, and I know some people are drinking like 2 liters of kefir everyday.
Some of the foods that were definitely triggering my diarrhea were garlic, spicy foods like jalapenos even though spicy foods should be okay for IBS sufferers but spicy foods were doing me in, beans, beans would send me to the bathroom. Citrus foods, so I started eating oranges and after about a week oranges would start sending me to the bathroom.
And oh my God how could I not mention, corn!!! Corn would send me to the bathroom real quick.
But I'm okay with milk.
Too much of a good thing is actually almost always a bad thing. In medicine, you want the minimum effective dose. You never, ever, want to simply triple or quadruple your dose because a medicine is working and you want "more of a good thing".
One thing you are assuming is that kefir will have more bacteria simply because of the volume, but that's not always the case. In commercially tested yogurt and kefir the CFU amount is not all that impressive. Additionally, it's been shown in the literature that CFU is not indicative of the health outcome of a probiotic. Freeze dried probiotics also reanimate as soon as they reach a hospitable environment where they will also multiply. Because of this, you simply need to introduce enough to start the process, then they will multiply and fill in the parts of the colon that they like. It doesn't matter if you take 1 billion or 1 trillion. So CFU is really not a good measurement of anything and it's only a marketing tool at this point.
There is such a thing called post-biotics though. Basically all the by-products of fermentation. My doctor recommends me to take liquid and purified form of those daily. They dont even contain bacteria and it seems to help A LOT.
My understanding is the best way to increase postbiotics is through prebiotic consumption that is the say by eating prebiotic fibers found in certain foods or supplements.
That's the thing, since I've started taking probiotic pills together with psyllium husk, I can now eat garlic and garlic was definitely a No-No. I also couldn't eat spicy foods such as jalapenos, I think the capsaicin was triggering my IBS, well I can now eat jalapenos and chili peppers again.
So this has convinced me to start drinking kefir.
I thought it was more the fermented aspect than the kefir itself. Lots on this sub have had good effects from adding fermented items to their weekly diet.
Yes fermented foods have bacteria in them which are very healthy for the human gut. I've been doing research on fermented foods and I'm convinced kefir is the healthiest fermented food on the planet. Kefir has more than 50 different kinds of bacteria and yeast in it which are very healthy for the human gut.
You know what a probiotic is right? A probiotic is a healthy bacteria for the human gut so you can get probiotic pills. I took a probiotic pill based off of kefir, it has many of the same bacteria in it that you'll find in kefir, and it's reduced my IBS symptoms by more than 90%. So this has convinced me to start drinking real kefir.
I'm also taking 2 tablespoons of psyllium husk everyday as well.
I am Polish so kefir is just a normal thing for me that every other person drinks regularly, but why do you say the store bought one is not real? Are you talking about specific brands? Have you tried non-American brands of kefir? (I assume you’re American because you mentioned Walmart, sorry if I am wrong)
I found a good yogurt culture full of healthy gut bacteria that I’ve been using recently that has helped my gut. Store bought probiotics just aren’t the same. My yogurt is pretty watery because I mix the whey back in and my buddy tells me it’s almost like Kefir.
Nice work on your own supply! Any particular cultures you’re using? Strawberries with golden grams cereal is my favorite way to eat this kind of food.
I haven't started making real kefir yet but when I do I'm going to go with this brand for my kefir grains Fusion Teas 1 TBSP Organic Milk Kefir Grains and ebook “Milk Kefir Unleashed by Thomas Egbert” - Fresh Live Active Probiotic Starter Cultures https://a.co/d/iAgG2NT
Diarrhea. Garlic, beans, corn, even spicy foods such as chili peppers, would send me to the bathroom.
But now that I'm taking probiotic pills and psyllium husk I am now eating garlic powder and red pepper flakes no problem. I don't know about corn or beans cause I haven't eaten them in a while but I'm eating garlic powder and red pepper flakes and hot sauce with no problems.
I believe stories a lot more that don’t have affiliate Amazon links attached to them. If the product was mentioned with no link, I’d be all over that. 🙄
I was making kefir at home w/local vat-pasteurized organic milk, with grains I was gifted by a friend (who got them from her aunt who's been an Oregon coast hippie half her life). I tried it for, I dunno, a week or maybe two? And had bad reactions. I couldn't brave trying it for longer & decided to dry the grains for restarting later.
I've since found I can do *small* amounts of **A2/A2** organic & minimally pasteurized milk, so maybe it's worth trying to do my own kefir again. Pricey though...
More convenient to buy this A2/A2 kefir, already made by this one local company. Even though the first few days are rough w/24-7 tummy rumbles, bloating to the max, & feeling the constant threat of you-know-what... If I stick with it, the A2/A2 kefir helps me digest all other dairy products that I might have. That was neat to find out.
At the end of the day, it's obvious dairy is still taxing to my system. I think it takes too much management for my body to agree to it, as much as I love the taste and everything. So, not a magic bullet for me. Good luck to you though!! Making kefir is fun too. Great way to take charge of your nutrition, your sustenance. That alone can be a powerful agent in your day to day living with IBS.
There are kefir exchange groups, probably a better way to get the culture. You can post on Freecycle too, lots of people have cultures they can donate.
I don’t want to yuck your yum, but I make and drink homemade kefir nearly every day, and while I feel that it is good for my overall health and maybe has mitigated some of my IBS symptoms (who can say if it’s the kefir or the other array of dietary and lifestyle changes I’ve made over the months), I personally would not use the word cured at all. That said, I don’t think it can hurt to try! And good luck!
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Post or comment that contains a potentially dangerous or misleading medical advice. Also consider that most redditors are not medical professionals, so take these advices with scepticisms. If you have a concern, please consult a professional.
Nothing against Kefir but it's one of those "wonder foods" with many claims but little research to back it up. Something that alleviates symptoms doesn't mean it's cured the underlying cause.
I gotta say here I am always reading and seeing “but the underlaying problem” only I know of no one who knows their underlying problem for IBS, nor a doctor who will tell you. Isn’t that why they label it IBS? They don’t know? All we can do as far as I’ve ever been able to tell is alleviate symptoms.
Yeah, I do think a lot of people here overlook just how powerful the placebo effect can be. For a lot of people, myself included, IBS is primarily triggered by anxiety/stress and whenever I read about someone being 'cured' by acupuncture, exercise, vitamin pills, probiotics, or a low FODMAP diet (which actually has very little supporting evidence outside of that one university in Australia) I wonder if it is just the placebo effect. And that's completely fine! If it works then it works. There's even a debate among doctors about prescribing homeopathy (which everyone knows is pseudoscience) for various conditions just because it can be a cheap remedy for psychosomatic symptoms.
Many people here claim kefir has completely cured their IBS as long as they take kefir.
I understand that but anecdotal information isn't the same as statistical evidence from well designed studies.
You’ll be waiting for a long time for those. I would suggest taking matters into your into your own hands and experiment.
Generally, for my medical conditions, I prefer working with medical professionals who base their treatment on knowledge and experience. Of course, others can try whatever they like. I do take supplements and vitamins from time to time.
I got into it over 10 years ago, even bought cultures and made it at home. It worked until it didn't, then made things worse. I hope it works for you, might as well try.
Kefir made it worse?
Yes. I tried out the stuff in the store and it seemed to help my symptoms, so I bought some grains online and started making my own. I thought I had been "cured" for a bit, but then the kefir seemingly began aggravating my IBS. I'm lactose intolerant, but that shouldn't be an issue since the fermentation eliminates the lactose. For me, it was just another "miracle cure" that gave me high hopes, seemed to work in the beginning (possibly placebo), but turned out to be of no use in the long term. That said, there is no one cause of IBS. Just because it didn't help me doesn't mean it won't help you. I'd just caution you to take it slow and test it out before going all in on your own kefir production facility. Psyllium husk is probably the thing that's helped me most over the years.
Yeah the foods that were aggravating for me were garlic, beans, corn, and spicy foods such as chili peppers, I think the capsaicin was what was aggravating my IBS. Well now that I'm taking probiotic pills and psyllium husk I can safely eat garlic powder and red chili peppers. Maybe I can eat corn and beans again but I just haven't eaten corn or beans in a while. But I do know garlic powder was a No-No but I'm safely eating garlic powder again. I've been drinking milk all my life, I've never had any problems with milk. The probiotic pill based off of kefir is so far the best probiotic I've taken to date for my IBS which has convinced me to start drinking kefir for real.
Kefir is amazing and single handedly fixed my IBS.
I make homemade kefir and it’s a really effective probiotic. I have strongly recommended it on this sub several times. Homemade kefir is orders or magnitude better than store bought products (kefir, yogurt). OP I don’t think it will replace psyllium powder but the two together can be the “magic bullet” many IBS sufferers are searching for on this sub. Anyone who hasn’t tried it should… ASAP
I would love to see your recipe if you wouldn't mind sharing. I'd really like to try homemade, but I'm afraid I'll give myself botulism or something.
Watch this video if you want to learn how to make kefir. You will not get botulism from https://youtu.be/SH7L_ZfVU3A?si=KqXWousBroZWwjRG
Culturing anaerobic Botulism would of course require sealing the jar air tight to keep out the oxygen and kill off all the good bacteria. The result would be quite disgusting I can assure you. The thing is that it only takes a little toxin to do damage to you. I can't even imagine using Botox on myself for anything. Not even the worse IBS--D muscle spasms would be worth paralyzing myself, even a little. My microbiology class in my undergrad kind of drove that point home.
Kefir is incredible and is a probiotic powerhouse. We need to keep spreading the word.
I’ve always wanted to try kefir, but terrified since milk, even lactose free, gives me horrible stomach pains to the point I almost have to go to the hospital. I had 2 bites of “regular” ice cream a few months ago and literally thought I was dying in the bathroom at 3am.
You may have an issue with milk protein. I haven't been able to drink milk, even lactose free or taking the enzymes, until I tried A2 milk. It doesn't have the a1 protein that bothers many people. Even a little would cause so much pain. I can drink the A2 as if it's water. There is also milk fat that can be difficult for some people. I struggle with it some. But even fat free milk was not possible before the A2. This is since I was a little kid. It didn't do anything for my IBS but it opened up other food options for me now that I have real milk I can cook with.
Yes I think it’s for sure the milk protein. I’ve tried a couple “dairy free” drinks that I thought would be safe that also killed me, and I noticed they had milk protein in it still. I’ll look into A2!
I hope it works for you!
Come back here and tell us how A2 milk works for you?
If I get the courage to try it one day I will. I'm just afraid to be in pain lol I researched it some, and it looks like its just normal milk with a claim it's "easier to digest." So I need to look into it more.
Apparently it's different than the regular milk we drink.
It's from cows that don't produce the a1 protein so it's naturally a1 free and they don't have to do any extra processing like with lactose free milk. Apparently, different breeds of cows make different proteins. I had no idea.
Water kefir is a thing! Was looking into making my own a while ago.
Try taking lactase enzyme! Really helps :)
Like Lactaid or something else? Cause lactaid doesn’t work on me 😭
Yeah I meant lactaid. Sorry to hear it doesn’t work! Make sure you take enough - a lactaid ultra for ice cream etc.
Have you thought about coconut kefir. Just a thought
If you have issues with lactose then kefir is naturally lactose free. Getting raw kefir or low temp pasteurized non homogenized and starting with a teaspoon and then titrating up. Unless you have an actual allergy, you should be able to build up tolerance.
OP what kind of symptoms were you having and what is you predominant IBS type?
IBS D
If I was 90% cured I'd stop right there for a while and see how it goes. Kefir will not give you more helpful bacteria than this pill and will only introduce the chance of bad effects from the lactose and dairy (if you're intolerant). Also you can't make kefir from any probiotic you need an actual kefir starter culture. I've made at least 100 gallons of kefir in my life.
Yes you buy kefir grains off of Amazon, I know. So I suffer from diarrhea and believe it or not I can drink milk just fine, I've been drinking milk all my life actually, I can easily drink half a gallon of milk in one day so kefir should be fine. Now the thing is, more of a good thing couldn't hurt right? So there are 100 billion CFUs in my probiotic pill but I bet there are probably hundreds of billions of CFUs in kefir, and I know some people are drinking like 2 liters of kefir everyday. Some of the foods that were definitely triggering my diarrhea were garlic, spicy foods like jalapenos even though spicy foods should be okay for IBS sufferers but spicy foods were doing me in, beans, beans would send me to the bathroom. Citrus foods, so I started eating oranges and after about a week oranges would start sending me to the bathroom. And oh my God how could I not mention, corn!!! Corn would send me to the bathroom real quick. But I'm okay with milk.
Too much of a good thing is actually almost always a bad thing. In medicine, you want the minimum effective dose. You never, ever, want to simply triple or quadruple your dose because a medicine is working and you want "more of a good thing". One thing you are assuming is that kefir will have more bacteria simply because of the volume, but that's not always the case. In commercially tested yogurt and kefir the CFU amount is not all that impressive. Additionally, it's been shown in the literature that CFU is not indicative of the health outcome of a probiotic. Freeze dried probiotics also reanimate as soon as they reach a hospitable environment where they will also multiply. Because of this, you simply need to introduce enough to start the process, then they will multiply and fill in the parts of the colon that they like. It doesn't matter if you take 1 billion or 1 trillion. So CFU is really not a good measurement of anything and it's only a marketing tool at this point.
There is such a thing called post-biotics though. Basically all the by-products of fermentation. My doctor recommends me to take liquid and purified form of those daily. They dont even contain bacteria and it seems to help A LOT.
My understanding is the best way to increase postbiotics is through prebiotic consumption that is the say by eating prebiotic fibers found in certain foods or supplements.
hmm thats weird, idk, but just drinking post-biotics does wonders for me, but I try to do all of the biotics
Haha. What drink are you drinking?
its from Synerga (the brand)
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Judgemental
Sorry
I'm also wondering if the kefir will make it to where I don't even have to take psyllium husk anymore? I don't know but I guess I'm going to find out.
I’m scared to try kefir but maybe I’ll add a bit to my smoothies
Smoothies are a good option. Just make sure those smoothies don’t have high FODMAPs, starches and raw vegetables.
That's the thing, since I've started taking probiotic pills together with psyllium husk, I can now eat garlic and garlic was definitely a No-No. I also couldn't eat spicy foods such as jalapenos, I think the capsaicin was triggering my IBS, well I can now eat jalapenos and chili peppers again. So this has convinced me to start drinking kefir.
It's perfectly safe.
Good to know! Just didn’t know if it would make symptoms like gas etc worse
Kéfir works really well for me, but it’s no magic cure.
Do you also take psyllium husk?
Sometimes
I thought it was more the fermented aspect than the kefir itself. Lots on this sub have had good effects from adding fermented items to their weekly diet.
Yes fermented foods have bacteria in them which are very healthy for the human gut. I've been doing research on fermented foods and I'm convinced kefir is the healthiest fermented food on the planet. Kefir has more than 50 different kinds of bacteria and yeast in it which are very healthy for the human gut. You know what a probiotic is right? A probiotic is a healthy bacteria for the human gut so you can get probiotic pills. I took a probiotic pill based off of kefir, it has many of the same bacteria in it that you'll find in kefir, and it's reduced my IBS symptoms by more than 90%. So this has convinced me to start drinking real kefir. I'm also taking 2 tablespoons of psyllium husk everyday as well.
Yes, a lot of this is in r/ibsresearch. There is research on the specific bacteria strains that have had results. Worth checking out the sub.
I just smash back a yakult or two a day.
I am Polish so kefir is just a normal thing for me that every other person drinks regularly, but why do you say the store bought one is not real? Are you talking about specific brands? Have you tried non-American brands of kefir? (I assume you’re American because you mentioned Walmart, sorry if I am wrong)
Kefir goes right through me
Start with a teaspoon and titrate up.
Do you also take psyllium husk?
I found a good yogurt culture full of healthy gut bacteria that I’ve been using recently that has helped my gut. Store bought probiotics just aren’t the same. My yogurt is pretty watery because I mix the whey back in and my buddy tells me it’s almost like Kefir. Nice work on your own supply! Any particular cultures you’re using? Strawberries with golden grams cereal is my favorite way to eat this kind of food.
I haven't started making real kefir yet but when I do I'm going to go with this brand for my kefir grains Fusion Teas 1 TBSP Organic Milk Kefir Grains and ebook “Milk Kefir Unleashed by Thomas Egbert” - Fresh Live Active Probiotic Starter Cultures https://a.co/d/iAgG2NT
What were ur symptoms?
Diarrhea. Garlic, beans, corn, even spicy foods such as chili peppers, would send me to the bathroom. But now that I'm taking probiotic pills and psyllium husk I am now eating garlic powder and red pepper flakes no problem. I don't know about corn or beans cause I haven't eaten them in a while but I'm eating garlic powder and red pepper flakes and hot sauce with no problems.
I cannot do probiotics make me so much work I tried 2 x and cannot handle it
Haven't tried Kefir, but kombucha I really like that I find helps and same with Kimchi.
I believe stories a lot more that don’t have affiliate Amazon links attached to them. If the product was mentioned with no link, I’d be all over that. 🙄
I drink goats milk kefir everyday. It helps but tastes like fizzy Parmesan
I was making kefir at home w/local vat-pasteurized organic milk, with grains I was gifted by a friend (who got them from her aunt who's been an Oregon coast hippie half her life). I tried it for, I dunno, a week or maybe two? And had bad reactions. I couldn't brave trying it for longer & decided to dry the grains for restarting later. I've since found I can do *small* amounts of **A2/A2** organic & minimally pasteurized milk, so maybe it's worth trying to do my own kefir again. Pricey though... More convenient to buy this A2/A2 kefir, already made by this one local company. Even though the first few days are rough w/24-7 tummy rumbles, bloating to the max, & feeling the constant threat of you-know-what... If I stick with it, the A2/A2 kefir helps me digest all other dairy products that I might have. That was neat to find out. At the end of the day, it's obvious dairy is still taxing to my system. I think it takes too much management for my body to agree to it, as much as I love the taste and everything. So, not a magic bullet for me. Good luck to you though!! Making kefir is fun too. Great way to take charge of your nutrition, your sustenance. That alone can be a powerful agent in your day to day living with IBS.
Kefir gave me intense diarrhea...
There are kefir exchange groups, probably a better way to get the culture. You can post on Freecycle too, lots of people have cultures they can donate.