Health Benefits

    1. Kefir helps with lactose intolerance.
    2. Kefir has "inhibitory power" against e. coli. In other words, kefir is hard to contaminate with "bad" bacteria because it can fend for itself.
    3. Kefir has anti-allergenic properties, that is, it improves the body's ability to handle things that might normally trigger allergic responses.

References:

    1. Kefir improves lactose digestion and tolerance in adults with lactose maldigestion Steven R. Hertzler, PhD, RD, Shannon M. Clancy, MS, RD. The breath hydrogen area under the curve (AUC) for milk (224±39 ppm · h) was significantly greater than for the plain yogurt (76±14 ppm · h, P<.001), the plain kefir (87±37 ppm · h, P<.001), and the flavored yogurt (76±14 ppm · h, P=.005). The flavored kefir had an intermediate response (156±26 ppm · h). The yogurts and kefirs all similarly reduced the perceived severity of flatulence by 54% to 71% relative to milk. Abdominal pain and diarrhea symptoms were negligible among the five treatments. Because kefir improved lactose digestion and tolerance in this study, its use may be another potential strategy for overcoming lactose intolerance.
    2. Chemical and microbiological characterisation of kefir grains GRACIELA L. GARROTE a1, ANALÍA G. ABRAHAM a1 and GRACIELA L. DE ANTONI
    3. The anti-allergenic properties of milk kefir and soymilk kefir and their beneficial effects on the intestinal microflora Je-Ruei Liu, Sheng-Yao Wang, Ming-Ju Chen, Pei-Ying Yueh, Chin-Wen Lin, Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, December 2006.