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Kefir for Breakfast ~ My Favorite Four
Have Your Probiotics for Breakfast
Your Body and Food. You can't win together if you don't work together.
I learned a long time ago that if I wanted to feel good, I had to have kefir every day. It seems to work best for me to have kefir in the morning, but sometimes I have it other times too. I've kind of played around with different ways to have it and found these four breakfasts give me lots of energy. Each one has different components I use to give me the nutrients I need. I have many reasons I always consume kefir.
- Kefir helps my blood pressure stay in the normal range1,2
- Kefir helps my blood sugar stay regulated3
- Kefir helps detox4 me, and keeps my hormones in balance.
- Kefir helps my digestion stay at peak performance and keeps my immune system running strong5
- Kefir gives me a crazy amount of nutrients and probiotics - 50+ probiotics - that's over 40 times the amount found in yogurt.6
- Kefir keeps my skin looking great.7
I did an experiment and tried going without kefir for two months but cut it short when I started gaining weight, got indigestion,8 and experienced a host of other problems. Check out my article to learn more. I Stopped Eating Cultured Foods ~ Here’s What Happened! Kefir has many transient bacteria strains which means they are strains that aren't permanent guests in your body, so having kefir regularly is a must for me.
These four recipes are the ones I use most, but this is always subject to change as the different seasons come about. Here are the reasons, recipes, and methods I use to make kefir not only taste good, but also supply my body with super nutrients to keep me running strong! Kefir is breakfast for champions!
My 4 Favorite Kefir Breakfast Recipes
I love lemons, but I really love lemon curd! Its usually full of sugar but I devised another way to make lemon curd so I could have it on a regular basis. It takes about eleven minutes to make and I keep a jar in my fridge at all times. Lemons are superfoods and my microbes love the pectin, a form of soluble fiber in lemons. Lemons are loaded with vitamin C which is pretty impressive at 187% of the daily value, making it a super infection fighter and immune booster. It helps with inflammation relief and is a natural diuretic. Lemons are very low in calories and you want to zest the skins of lemons anytime you can. The skins have up to ten times more nutrients than the juice! They can pack a wallop. You will love this recipe! It's so easy and yummy - you just scoop some curd into your glass of kefir, stir a little, and oh my it's so good and easy!
Blueberry Cherry Collagen Smoothie Bowl
I love this fast breakfast recipe for many reasons. Adding berries to kefir means you're getting lots of antioxidants and polyphenols, which help fight chronic disease and they give me tons of energy! They're higher in fiber compared to other fruits and they're rich in vitamin C. Berries may also help regulate your blood sugar and insulin levels.
Human studies suggest that eating berries may protect cells from high blood sugar levels, help increase insulin sensitivity and reduce blood sugar and insulin response to high-carb meals 9,10
Berries have huge anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation is your body's response to infection or injury. However, certain lifestyle choices such as unhealthy food choices and lack of exercise can cause inflammation too. Inflammation is believed to be a contributing factor in diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Berries can help you reduce inflammation and give you sustained energy throughout the day. This meal is so easy to make and rich in so many things your body needs. It takes less than 5 minutes to make, and it will make you feel fantastic!
Collagen is something I have almost every day. Collagen is found almost everywhere in the body, but it is most abundant in the skin, bones, tendons, and ligaments. It also helps to hold our tissues together and gives strength to our skeleton. It also makes your kefir creamy and yummy and helps so many things that you might want to take a look at this article. Are You Getting Enough of This Powerful Protein?
This is my super fast breakfast meal and I enjoyed it while I was writing this post. This is the one I make when I have a lot of things to get done and I want something fast and filling. I also like this in the summertime because it's cold and cools me off after a workout. I love the nut butter and it has a soothing effect on my brain. Nut butters contain a compound called beta-sitosterol that fights the effects of stress. Beta-sitosterol is a chemical found in plants and often called a plant sterol. It can be found in nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables and is often used to make medicine. Studies of endurance athletes used beta-sitosterol to normalize high cortisol levels, lower inflammation, and improve immunity.11 So the next time you're stressed, try this kefir shake and see if it helps. It works for me!
Einkorn Toast & Grapefruit Kefir
This is my super comfort food breakfast. First of all, if you haven't heard about einkorn bread then you're missing out. It's helped so many people who struggle with gluten allergies and it will give you tons of protein and more vitamins and minerals that just about any other bread. I'm in love with this ancient grain and it has helped me so much. This bread makes wonderful toast. Feel free to add your favorite topping: nut butter, jam or kefir cheese along with some honey.
Grapefruit kefir is the easiest kefir you'll ever make. You just squeeze a grapefruit into your kefir and there is no need to sweeten it. The grapefruit makes it taste crazy good. Grapefruits have not only vitamin C but also vitamin A. Diets high in vitamin A and fiber can fight off the effects of seasonal allergies by boosting your immune system. The fiber in the fruit gives your gut bacteria the fuel they need to make short-chain fatty acids, which help control any allergic reactions. Meanwhile, the vitamin A helps those same fatty acid cells continue to function properly. My daughter came up with this super easy recipe when she wanted a super-fast smoothie. She had an abundance of grapefruits from my grapefruit trees so she squeezed some of the juice into her kefir and voila! Delicious and the easiest way to get your morning kefir.
Here is another addition to the four recipes that I have been having for the last year. I've been singing the praises of red phenol powders and L. reuteri yogurt but never did I expect to see such changes in my energy and physical being as I have from these few additions to my smoothie. This is my morning ritual along with my daughter. I always double my smoothie to share with her and we drink it together. The rest of my family has it too, but they make their own concoctions of kefir, L. reuteri, and red phenols every morning before they head to work. This is how I know it works for them - they actually make it every day. The benefits are huge and it's helping them, and making them feel better, or they wouldn't do it. I can talk till I'm blue in the face, but if they don't feel changes it doesn't happen. L reuteri is a powerful yogurt and when you combine it with kefir you get so many health benefits.
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Nine times out of ten, I have a kefir smoothie every morning. A cup of coffee and a smoothie has been the norm for me for over twenty years. It's super fast and it tastes really good, but since last March I've changed it up a lot with spectacular benefits. I'm kind of shocked at how much this has changed me and how much I am learning about microbes. Check out my smoothie and add species to your gut that you may be missing and see what a difference it can make.
References:
- Y. Hata et al., “A Placebo-Controlled Study of the Effect of Sour Milk on Blood Pressure in Hypertensive Subjects,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 64, no. 5 (November 1996): 767–71: ajcn.nutrition.org/content/64/5/767.full.pdf
- J.Y. Dong et al., “Effect of Probiotic Fermented Milk on Blood Pressure: A Meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials,” British Journal of Nutrition 110, no. 7 (October 2013): 1188-1194: abstract at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23823502
- A. Everard et al., “Cross-Talk Between Akkermansia muciniphila and Intestinal Epithelium Controls Diet-Induced Obesity,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110, no. 22 (May 28, 2013): 9066–71: www.pnas.org/content/110/22/9066.full
- Rodrigues, K. L., Caputo, L. R. G., Carvalho, J. C. T., Evangelista, J., & Schneedorf, J. M. (2005). Antimicrobial and healing activity of kefir and kefiran extract. International journal of antimicrobial agents, 25(5), 404-408
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4052788/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4626640/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15848295
- Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues by Martin J. Blaser
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19930765
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21929838
- Shawn Talbott, The Cortisol Connection: Why Stress Makes You Fat and Ruins Your health — and What You Can Do About It (Berkley, CA;Hunter House, 2007), 23-27.
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