Mangoes and strawberries topped with Coconut Kefir Ice Cream
Many years ago when I was battling high blood pressure and diabetes, I noticed and interesting occurrence. It seemed that when I drank a glass of kefir everyday my blood pressure would go down, and not just a little, but quite a bit. It would put me in the normal range. When I would stop drinking kefir, after three days, my blood pressure would start to creep up. So I started doing experiments on myself to see if it was the kefir. After many many, trial runs, I was convinced it was the kefir. I have never been one to just accept without knowing the reasoning behind it. So I began searching for answers.
A couple of months later I was reading a book called Bacteria For Breakfast where in one of the chapters it described fermented milk products and how they lower blood pressure in people with mild hypertension.They did a study on rats and humans.(Yamamoto et al., 1994) Interestingly, some strains of probiotic food produce their own ACE- inhibiting substances during fermentation process. Although most bacteria produce lactic acid produce ACE inhibitors during milk fermentation, out of 26 different strains that were tested, Lactobacillus helveticus was identified as the most effective. However it is important to note that the effect was most effective for patients with mild hypertension. It said that it worked on an enzyme in the stomach much like an ACE inhibitor drugs will do. It will naturally lower blood pressure.
I also discovered that I need the mineral magnesium, and my body really struggled to hang on to it. Magnesium is the second most abundant element inside human cells and the fourth most abundant positively charged ion in the human body. Within the body’s cells, it serves literally hundreds of functions, one of them is blood pressure. Kefir not only has a lot of magnesium’s but the body can absorb it easier. It is like having a predigested food, caused by the process of fermentation and the body can use it instantly. Magnesium complementary partner is calcium. You should always have magnesium with calcium, and kefir does this for you.
Well, I was super excited, because not only did It work, but now I knew why. I love it when a food can bring you back into balance. These beautiful cells in our body who know how to be well if only given the right tools. Now I am not telling anyone to get off their medication. What I am saying is add some kefir than monitor yourself and see if it has the same effect on you.
“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.”~ Hippocrates
- KEFIR COCONUT ICE CREAM
- 1 can unsweetened coconut milk
- ½ cup kefir. (I used the orange 2nd fermented kefir but you don’t have to)
- 2 -3 pcks of stevia or you can also use 4 tsps. honey
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- FRUIT SOUP
- 2 whole mangoes
- 1 cup strawberries or 6 large berries
- the juice of 1 orange
- KEFIR COCONUT ICE CREAM
- Blend in blender and place in Ice cream freezer. It will freeze in about 10 minutes. I love these machines!!
- You can make soup will it is freezing.
- FRUIT SOUP
- Blend in blender till mix and creamy.
- Serve soup with a scoop of kefir coconut ice cream garnish with shredded coconut.
Hi Donna:
I absolutely LOVE your website and all your great information!!! I can spend so much time here on your blog. Thanks for all you are doing!! Your way of presenting, your recipes, your knowledge, i just love it all!
I am a young mother of two. A two year old and 8 mo old and it has been so helpful to have this resource so that I can learn how to feed my children and give them the best health possible.
Thanks again and best wishes.
Thank you, Donna. I’ll give these a try. Congrats on your book!
Hey Donna..was wondering..saw the video where you said you made the keifer ice cream..was this the plain one..was wanting recipe..right now we have a nija blender and all we do to make a fruit ice cream is freeze banana..strawberries a little cream s and that is that..can we just make the mix up above..instead of using ice cream machine..just freeze it and then put in blender to make it soft serve..or how do you make the ice cream..in a regular ice cream machine?..sorry for the confusion
Patricia
If you go to the recipe tab on the top bar of my website and hit desserts you will see several options for kefir ice cream. Here is the vanilla kefir recipe. http://www.culturedfoodlife.com/kombucha-floats-made-with-kefir-ice-cream/
sounds really interesting. i haven’t tried this but i’m intruiged to do this. Even though I’m not having a high bp, i still want to (in case) lol thanks for sharing this.
BPMonitorDepot.com
Did the article you read mention anything about those who already have low blood pressure? Mine really doesn’t need to go any lower and I drink kefir and kombucha everyday.
It only lowers it when there is inflammation and stress causing it to go to high. It just balances the body. If you blood pressure is in a perfect range it will help keep it there.
great recipe, and I love that it combines the health benefits of coconut oil with kefir! Plus it’s simple (like you, I love my ice cream maker). The second time I made it I changed a little bit by adding some unsweetened dried coconut flakes to it. You might want to give that a try as well.
Hi Sandy which ice cream machine you can recommend me that it is not to expensive, thanks, maggie
Made this tonight but used kefir cheese instead of kefir. Scarfed it right up, we did! What fun!
I am very interested in the article. I read it about a month ago. Have you heard if it can help to keep blood pressure down during pregnancy? I am already drinking it because i have moderate blood pressure problems when i am not pregnant but with my last pregnancy i had very high blood pressure. I am trying to avoid medicine for the next time around. Thank you for all your amazing articles!!
Nicole it can really help with any kind of blood pressure problems. Drinking kefir when your pregnant will greatly help your baby when it is born because you will deliver healthy bacteria to the baby when it is born. Babies are sterile when they are born and get their bacteria that lays a foundation from their mother during birth. Really important to start off with a good foundation when you are born.
Hi Donna:
Thank you. About the volume of the galss you use, is it about 250ml?
Yes it is some days I doubled that but not always.
Hi Donna:
Because my parents, my husband and many my friends need to take high blood pressure medicine, I bought kefir grains from internet one month ago and hope they are helpful to them. But it has no significant effect yet. Your glad news excited me. Could you let me know where you get/purchase your grains and the difference of blood pressure(before & after drinking kefir)? Thanks a lot.
Best regards,
Sunny
It dropped my blood pressure from being in the high range to being in the normal range. I drank at least a glass or two a day. You can get kefir grains from here. http://www.culturesforhealth.com/milk-kefir-grains.html
In the beginning I used the kefir culture packages so I didn’t have to make it everyday. http://www.culturesforhealth.com/milk-kefir-starter-culture.html
Both methods worked. Here is a little video I saw on the news about kefir and blood pressure.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4293964/health-benefits-of-kefir/
Hi Donna:
Thanks again. You are so nice to share the information with me. Because I live in Taiwan, the kefir grains is more suitable for me. I would like suggest my parents to follow your way to drink kefir. Could you let me know the detail: drink kefir before meal? the volume of a galss is about 250ml? do you ripen the kefir(i.e. put the strained kefir at room temperature for more than one day) or drink the strained kefir right away(i.e. kefir milk only ferment for about 24hrs)? Thanks a lot.
Best regards,
Sunny
Hi Sunny,
It doesn’t matter when you drink the kefir with or before meals. They will both work. I always second ferment my strained kefir, (kefir that has been fermented for 24 hours) for another half a day, but you don’t have too. Here is a link: http://www.culturedfoodlife.com/second-ferment-your-kefir-your-tastes-buds-will-thank-you-2/
Makes a big difference in taste and in nutrients your body can absorb.