Ever heard of Kefir? It’s basically “fermented” or “cultured” milk – think of it as kind of a super-yogurt (another cultured milk product). I started drinking it a couple of weeks ago for the health benefits. I admit I was kind of scared when I was standing in the refrigerated section of the local organic store; I was afraid kefir would taste as strange as it sounded. In faith, I reached out, grabbed a bottle, and took it home to try it.
And you know what? It wasn’t that bad. It tastes like tangy, slightly sour yogurt, and it’s very slightly bubbly(the label says “effervescent”). I started out with trying Lifeway brand’s Blueberry and then Strawberry flavored “smoothies,” then moved on to the regular plain drink.
If you’re interested in trying kefir, I would recommend starting out with a flavored drink before jumping right into plain kefir – it helped me transition into the overall taste. I now can say I honestly like kefir (especially the flavored kind – yummy!), and I’m going to branch out to trying other brands next shopping trip.
Also (at least in the brand pictured), the flavored kefir doesn’t contain any unnatural dyes. For the Strawberry and Blueberry flavors, only additional ingredients besides what’s in the plain kefir are organic cane juice, strawberry or blueberry concentrate juice, and red beet juice (plus the ubiquitous “natural flavors”). The flavored kefir has 20 grams of sugar and 20 grams carbohydrates per serving, as opposed to 12 grams of sugar and 12 grams carbohydrates for the plain.
If you’re looking to branch out from plain old yogurt, you should try kefir!