Blog 2: What is Kefir?

Blog 2: What is Kefir?:

Kefir is a strain that my group and I are concentrating on within Nutriplus so I’ve thus decided to look more into it, as I’ve never heard of it until recently. Our idea is concentrating on helping prevent Crohn’s symptoms and Kefir is widely recommended to consume for those who have Crohn's. Crohn's causes an overgrowth of bacteria in the bowel and what kefir does is help that by using "good" bacteria through probiotics. Kefir is a cultured, cream based product with numerous health benefits that is considered a healthier and more powerful version of natural yogurt with huge natural benefits. The natural occurring bacteria that are with Kefir combine symbiotically to help give superior health benefits when it is consumed on a regular basis. Kefir contains valuable vitamins & minerals and contains complete proteins that are easily digested.

 My group and I discussed making a water based product for the lactose intolerance as people who have Crohn’s disease are also widely susceptible to other diseases. However, Kefir’s overload of the beneficial yeast and bacteria helps to provide lactase, this is an enzyme that consumes the majority of the lactose that remains after the culturing process making it consumable for those who have lactose intolerance as well as Crohn’s. Therefore there is very little need for the water-based product unless it is more beneficial to our product on a sensory level which we haven’t looked into yet.

We will be able to supplement kefir from nearly any milk product as it is made from all kinds, ranging from cows & goats to soya & coconut. Although kefir can cause a mucous style foaming, this foaming is considered good and creates ideal conditions within the digestive tract for the colonization of good bacteria, which is an added benefit to our product. It is produced from a gelatin-based grain. These grains contain the friendly bacteria’s and yeast. The kefir grains ferment the milk to create a cultured product. 

Kefir benefits include;

1. Vitamin & mineral source.

2. Powerful probiotic.

3. Contains antibacterial properties.

4. Improves bone health.

5. Helps against digestive problems.

6. Well tolerated by people who have lactose intolerance.

7. Helps with asthma and allergies.

8. Easy to make.

I researched and sourced all my information from the below link, so feel free to look further into it to anyone who actually reads these blogs.

What is Kefir?. 2015. What is Kefir?. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.kefir.net/what-is-kefir/.[Accessed 03 October 2015].

Blog 1: Idea Generation

Blog 1: Idea Generation.

On week one two others and myself, Aidan & Shane, were assigned to work with the company Nutriplus. Nutriplus is a bioprocessing company that deals with nutraceuticals. One of our group members, Shane, has previously worked in the bioprocessing industry when he worked in a brewery so this already gives us an upper hand within the company. 

Our first team assignment set up a number of tasks for us to tackle. These included understanding the nutraceuticals industry, identifying a new target market, discussing the past, present & future of nutraceuticals and lastly to review some scientific literature.

These were valuable tasks in my eyes as I was never 100% sure what nutraceuticals actually were. To put it vaguely the results I found were that a nutraceutical product are products isolated from food and sold in supplemented form.

We then decided to pick a product to develop and as the other member of our group, Aidan, has Crohn's disease, we thus decided to create a product which helps prevent the IBD symptoms, as Crohn’s is an incurable disease. What the idea entails is supplementing the strain Kefir into an Actimal type drink.

Kefir is a type of probiotic except it is considered to be much stronger. With probiotics for Crohn's disease, the idea is to have so called, “good” bacteria to go head to head with “bad” bacteria in your gut to help ease inflammation. Probiotics are already available as supplements in capsules, tablets, or powders at health stores. The advantage of probiotic foods over supplements is that they contain live active cultures. It is presumed that live cultures are more effective than supplemented ones, as the supplemented cultures have to be dried out. However, bacteria that are dried remain dormant and will start to grow again after coming in contact with the moisture in your intestines.

I will go into this in more detail in further blogs but that’s all for today I’ll leave a link below of where I got most of my information for anyone who wants to look into Kefir and probiotics further and get a little teaser into next weeks blog.

Crohn's and Probiotics: Fighting Back With Good Bacteria | Everyday Health. 2015. Crohn's and Probiotics: Fighting Back With Good Bacteria | Everyday Health. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.everydayhealth.com/hs/crohns-disease-treatment-management/crohns-probiotics-good-bacteria/. [Accessed 07 October 2015].