bravebird wrote:hey all,
i've heard stories here and there from folks who believe kefir makes their teeth ultra sensitive...I am one of those people. It seems that sometimes after drinking it my teeth are quite sensitive for the next few days thereafter.
my main question is...how can we REALLY know if our kefir is safe to drink? People are getting grains from folks and have NO idea where the kefir grains have been prior to getting into their hands. I'm worried that perhaps myself, or someone who was involved with my kefir culture long ago, may have contaminated the grains with an unhealthy culture, i.e. S. mutans which is horrible for teeth!
I only culture my grains for a good 16 hours maybe.
any feedback?
thanks
All I can say to your concern about the culture is that you don't know and you will probably never know if you eat kefir. There could be almost any bacteria/yeast or fungi in it. It could be healthy, unhealthy or anything in between.
However I doubt that there would be S mutans in it, you are certain to have those already in your mouth if your more than a few years old. Those are one type of bacteria which produce dental plaque and require brushing and flossing to keep it to a minimum.
Xylitol can be quite effective to encourage the depositing of calcium on the teeth to strengthen them. It is also quite anti bacterial because bacteria cannot metabolize it and it destroys them. Probably not a good idea adding it to Kefir.
There are bacteria which can help the teeth and gums by competing with bacteria in the mouth and they produce H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) which can destroy other bacteria. But it's getting them into the gums so they can attack the bad guys which hide within plaque which is a biofilm that protects them from other bacteria and harmful substances.
Garden of Life Probiotic Smile are one brand which I have but there are quite a few different manufacturers.
Streptococcus rattus JH145, Streptococcus oralis KJ3 (previously called Streptococcus sanguis type II) and Streptococcus uberis KJ2 are anti carey bacteria used in probiotic smile and other such products.
Brushing and Flossing before and flossing after taking the bacteria could help get them past the plaque so they can attack S mutans and other harmful bacteria. Using some of the mouth washes that are available which deals with plaque might help.
There are a number of things which can break up biofilms such as menthol found in peppermint oil, acetic acid as in vinegar, thymol is often used, eucalyptus oil, clove oil among many others.
I cultured the bacteria in the mints (probiotic smile) and made a yoghurt using them and it came out very well. So it might be worth you considering doing something similar to aid your teeth. Using some xylitol might be helpful as well. There is a tiny amount in probiotic smile. The bacteria numbers are only about 200,000 per mint so they take a very long time to culture sufficiently to produce yoghurt. Using some of the yoghurt for further batches speeds it up after the first culture is complete. I purchased one pack of those mints and use them as a starter culture when I need to begin a fresh batch.
Personally I would not eat Kefir. I am more accepting of wild sauerkraut than I am of kefir.