Kefir is a fermented milk-based beverage to which a number of health-promoting properties have been attributed. The microbes responsible for the fermentation of milk to produce kefir consist of a complex association of bacteria and yeasts, bound within a polysaccharide matrix, known as the kefir grain. The consistency of this microbial population, and that present in the resultant beverage, has...

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are microorganisms that benefit animals with allergic diseases and intestinal disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease. We propose that LAB can prevent cardiomyocytes inflammation and apoptosis in BALB/c mice using an ovalbumin (OVA)-induced allergy. Thirty-nine male BALB/c mice were divided into five groups: normal control, allergy control and three allergy group...

To evaluate the effect of fermented milk kefir on X-ray-induced apoptosis in the colon of rats, we examined the apoptotic index, the mean number of apoptotic cells detected by H&E staining per crypt in the colon, in control rats and kefir-pretreated rats drinking kefir for 12 days before irradiation. Apoptotic cells were confirmed by TUNEL staining, and active caspase-3 expression was studied b...

UNLABELLED Milk products are good sources of calcium that may reduce bone resorption and help prevent bone loss as well as promote bone remodeling and increase bone formation. Kefir is a product made by kefir grains that degrade milk proteins into various peptides with health-promoting effects, including antithrombotic, antimicrobial and calcium-absorption enhancing bioactivities. In a controll...

The use of freeze-dried kefir coculture as a starter in the production of feta-type cheese was investigated. Maturation of the produced cheese at 4 degrees C was monitored for up to 70 days, and the effects of the starter culture, the salting method, and the ripening process on quality characteristics were studied. The use of kefir coculture as a starter led to increased lactic acid concentrati...

AIMS It has been previously shown that the probiotic kefir (a symbiotic matrix containing acid bacteria and yeasts) attenuated the hypertension and the endothelial dysfunction in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). In the present study, the effect of chronic administration of kefir on the cardiac autonomic control of heart rate (HR) and baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) in SHR was evaluated. ME...

Kefir is a complex fermented dairy product created through the symbiotic fermentation of milk by lactic acid bacteria and yeasts contained within an exopolysaccharide and protein complex called a kefir grain. As with other fermented dairy products, kefir has been associated with a range of health benefits such as cholesterol metabolism and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition, antimic...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To determine kefir's effect on the prevention of gastrointestinal complaints and quality of life (QOL) in patients being treated for colorectal cancer. DESIGN Randomized, controlled, prospective, interventional study. SETTING Istanbul University Oncology Institute in Turkey. SAMPLE 40 patients, 20 of whom were randomized to the experimental (kefir) arm and 20 who were r...

OBJECTIVE We aimed to investigate the effect of kefir on Ischemia-Reperfusion (I/R) injury on rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS 24 male Sprague-Dawley rats between 250-350 g were selected. Rats were divided into three groups, and there were eight rats in each group. Rats were fed for 60 days. All of the rats were fed with the same diet for the first 30 days. In the second thirty days, kefir [10 cc/...

In this study, various yeasts (Kluyveromyces marxianus, Saccharomyces turicensis, Pichia fermentans) and lactic acid bacteria (Lactobacillus kefiranofaciens, Lactobacillus kefiri, Leuconostoc mesenteroides) were entrapped in 2 different microspheres using an entrapment ratio for the strains that was based on the distribution ratio of these organisms in kefir grains. The purpose of this study wa...