Kefir, The old Food that became Fashionable and its Health Benefits

Kefir, the old food that became fashionable and its health benefits

In recent years milk and its derivatives have been demonized. They have been attributed, without a scientific basis, to being the source of health problems.

On the other hand, the concern to follow healthy lifestyles and the return to a more natural diet has redirected the look towards the fermentation products of milk, which can be taken by people with a certain level of lactose intolerance.

These products include yogurt and cheeses, but kefir has recently become very popular.

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Milk and milk have accompanied us since the Neolithic, when the human species domesticated animals to provide themselves with proteins without the need to go hunting.

This group of foods provides us with high biological value proteins, vitamins and minerals. Among the latter is calcium, whose availability is greater than in legumes, nuts and vegetables, since the fiber present in these hinders its absorption.

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Mammals are characterized by taking breast milk as the first food.

This is a complete food that provides all the nutrients necessary for the growth and development of the newborn in the early stages of life, as well as antibodies that help the still immature immune system of the offspring.

If your taste does not convince you, you can mix it with fruit.

This is a complete food that provides all the nutrients necessary for the growth and development of the newborn in the early stages of life, as well as antibodies that help the still immature immune system of the offspring.

In the small intestine, an enzyme is produced, lactase, which makes it possible to digest lactose, the main sugar contained in milk. In the vast majority of the world's human population, said enzyme is deactivated at an early age.

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The consequence of the deactivation of this enzyme is that lactose can not be absorbed, which generates transient symptoms derived from malabsorption that cause discomfort.

A plausible hypothesis to explain this phenomenon is that it would be a mechanism to be able to wean quickly and efficiently the offspring when the number and frequency of births are high.

After the domestication of animals in the Neolithic, in some human populations in Europe there is a mutation that maintains the activity of lactase throughout adult life, or at least a large part of it.

Although the vast majority of the world population does not tolerate lactose in adulthood, among Europeans the lowest rates of intolerance to this substance are registered, with a great difference compared to other human groups.

This adaptive mechanism allows the human being to have an extra source of food in adulthood, especially in regions where winters are long and the food available in nature is more scarce, as in much of the European continent.

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In the modern era, cases of lactose intolerance have increased, either by reversal of the favorable mutation, either by mixing populations or simply because previously it was not diagnosed and now it is. For this and other reasons, a controversy has arisen about the convenience of dairy products in human nutrition.

In the modern era, cases of lactose intolerance have increased.

In the modern era, cases of lactose intolerance have increased.

We start from the basis that no food is essential. The ones that are essential are the nutrients.

Therefore, at a time when so-called "superfoods" are so fashionable, it can be said that not drinking milk or dairy products does not have to cause any health problems if their lack is supplemented with other foods that provide the right nutrients.

However, if your consumption - in the amounts recommended by nutritionists - is tolerated by our body without causing any disorder, there is no reason to do without them.

Milk fermentation products, in which lactose has been transformed into other molecules -mainly lactic acid-, can be ingested by people with a not very severe intolerance level to this sugar.

Kefir and its benefits

Kefir, or milk kefirada, is a dairy derivative produced by a symbiosis of bacteria and yeast - popularly known as "kefir fungus".

Both are grouped into granules that are held together very loosely by a polysaccharide matrix that synthesize the microorganisms that form the consortium.

This consortium carries out a lactic-alcoholic fermentation, unlike yogurt, in which the fermentation is only lactic.

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The generation of alcohol - which is found at very low concentrations, around 0.5% - is due to the action of the yeasts.

In addition to the transformation of lactose into lactic acid, other metabolites, not present in milk, are produced by the action of microorganisms.

In addition, milk proteins are degraded in a multitude of peptides, many of which have biological activity - antihypertensive, antioxidant, antimicrobial -.

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Finally, it is a probiotic food that contributes to create an adequate balance in the gut microbiota, a concept that is now fashionable in science and in society in general, since alterations in the microbiota have been related to different diseases.

In short, our modern societies are rediscovering old foods that, to those who like and tolerate them, will bring them a new flavor, texture and health benefits.

This article was originally published in The Conversation magazine. Manuel José Rodríguez Ortega is a tenured professor at the University of Córdoba, Spain, in the area of ​​Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

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