Katie's Tonix

Water kefir is a fermented drink made from water, normally flavoured and then fermented with water kefir grains. The grains are ‘friendly’ bacteria similar to those of milk kefir but these ones are vegan and are used with water or coconut water.

Our Water kefir is refreshing and slightly effervescent. It terms of flavor, we have started with is Blackcurrant and Acai flavor, so it is light pink in colour and tastes fruity. We make this with tea bags as berries are out of season at the moment. We can’t wait for summer and to make our water kefir with fresh berries. We are also working on some new flavours at the moment using medical syrups, wild foraged things and other tea bags. Our water kefir is not too sweet, which is just the way we like it.

Because of the probiotic effect of this ‘friendly’ bacteria that we use to ferment the kefir I wanted to talk a little bit about the effects of probiotics and why they can have such a positive effect on our health.

Our bodies are hosts to hundreds of different types of beneficial yeast and bacteria and this is called our microbiome.

Probiotics are ‘a live microbial food supplement that beneficially affects the host animal by improving its intestinal microbial balance’.

Probiotics are helpful for:

• Protection from harmful bacteria, viruses and parasites
• Protection from toxins
• Absorption of vitamins & minerals
• Absorption of glucose & fatty acids
• Boosting immune system
• Manufacturing of vitamins, enzymes
• Manufacturing of neurotransmitters

PREbiotics are different to PRObiotics

Prebiotics are the food for the bacteria. Prebiotics are generally the fibre in foods that our body does not use, but our microbiome does. This keeps our digestive tract healthy and functioning at its best.

It is really important to include these in the diet as well as probiotic foods such as ferments, because these induce the growth of the friendly bacteria and can alter the composition of the gut microbiome in a positive way.

Some foods that are particularly high in prebiotics include:

Leeks, onions, garlic, chicory, dandelion greens, Jerusalem artichoke, asparagus, bananas, oats, flax seeds, wheat bran.