It bears repeating over and over: You’re less than 10% human cells. The rest of your body is 90% microbes. You are a giant supra-organism, an ecosystem. You have to understand this if you want easy weight loss with yogurt and kefir.
The human body carries about 100 trillion microorganisms in its intestines, a number ten times greater than the total number of human cells in the body.
People tend to forget this. People would die without these symbiotic little guys protecting us. They keep us alive and healthy. Just remember that next time you’re sterilizing everything out of fear of germs. The immune system is a muscle, and it will waste away if it doesn’t get exercise.
Another important thing to always keep in mind: you’re not “eating” your food. Your gut bacteria are. They are the force that ultimately breaks down your food. They’re the gatekeepers to your body’s composition.
Fat vs. thin people: What is the major difference?
It’s all about what you have swimming around in your gut, believe it or not.
“Genetically” fat people essentially have different strains of gut bacteria compared to thin people! They’ve done tests on rats with different levels of obesity to discover this simple fact. They found that the community of bacteria within the fat mice had a greater capacity to harvest energy from the diet than the lean microbes. They also had a higher tendency to encourage adipose tissue formation than the lean mice.
In other words, the fat mice had bacteria that could get MORE calories out of the food and would store fat much easier than the thin mice. To prove this point, they bred mice with completely sterile guts (no previous gut flora). They injected the obese mice’s flora into the sterile mouse’s gut. Lo and behold, within a mere 2 weeks, the mice got much fatter.
The gut flora determine the EFFICIENCY of how well you harvest your calories from your diet.
Bad bacteria = more calories!
Remember that the caloric load of all foods, the numbers you see on the side of a box or can, are all determined in a laboratory by a carefully calibrated machine. It is literally burning up the food and measuring the energy given off by said it. The human body is much more complicated than this!
When that food enters your gut, it is ultimately burned, but in a completely different fashion involving bacteria and broken up slowly via fermentation. The energy extracted from your mouth to your butt is not the same as being burnt in a machine!
It has been calculated that a MERE 12 CALORIES per day can make the ultimate difference between staying a certain weight and gaining a whole pound of fat in roughly a year’s time. It’s all about how your food is processed. So, how do we get easy weight loss with yogurt and kefir? Change the strains of bacteria in your gut.
How do I change my bacteria??
Simple: Eat yogurt or drink kefir. You can also easily make your own sauerkraut or brew your own kombucha. You need to introduce high quality strains of good bacteria into your gut. This is easily done using simple methods to make your own fermented food at home. I personally love a glass of kefir almost daily. It won’t change overnight, but the sooner you start, the better!
Oh, and NO, store-bought yogurt and kefir is also not the same damn thing. I’m not sure about elsewhere in the world, but here in America, our government mandates that all food producers sterilize the schyt out of food before it can be made available to consumers. So this store-bought yogurt and kefir MAY be created using microbial fermentation, but then they PASTEURIZE IT.That means they heat it up and KILL ALL the beneficial bacteria. And don’t be fooled by the crap on the bottle saying it’s a probiotic. They merely added a bit of secondary bacteria to the batch after it had been pasteurized, and it’s usually only a couple relatively small strains. It’s NOT the same thing!
The enemy
Oh, and not to mention, they also DUMP a ton of sugar into most commercially produced yogurts and kefir drinks (as well as all kinds of additives and artificial flavors). You don’t need that extra sugar and junk when you’re trying to drop weight. If you really want to drop some extra weight, go for a low carb diet. That means avoiding sugar!!Guess what? Those “bad bacteria” I mentioned? They LOVE sugar. LOVE IT! That’s usually how they grow so easily in obese people, because most of their diet is quickly and easily digested carbohydrates! If you remove sugars from your diet, you will literally STARVE those bad bacteria!!Commercially mass-produced yogurt and kefir is an ABOMINATION! It’s mostly dead and the added sugar is completely unnecessary. Fux these A$$holes for ruining something so beautiful.
Probiotic pills are a waste of money!
I’ll go into more details on a future post, but for now I want to warn you that probiotic pills are a complete waste of money. The simple secret to easy weight loss with yogurt and kefir: MAKE IT AT HOME FOR CHEAP!Probiotic pills don’t work as well as yogurt/kefir/sauerkraut/kombucha for these reasons:
- Bacteria are mostly dehydrated or dormant, sometimes flat-out DEAD.
- You’re lucky if a small fraction of those beneficial bacteria are going to be revived and contribute to your health.
- A pill can only cover a tiny area of your gut. You need to COAT it to be effective.
- Pills are expensive, buying a bottle for a monthly supply adds up quick.
- The numbers on the pill bottle are meaningless for most people. (See below)
It’s a numbers game. You want as many beneficial strains of good bacteria in as big a number as you can get. Let’s take something like “Now Foods Probiotic 25 Billion – 50 caps” for 20$. In theory, that whole bottle will have about 1 trillion total bacteria (if you’re lucky). Guess how many beneficial bacteria are ACTIVELY swimming around in a 500 mL glass of kefir?
7 Trillion beneficial bacteria
In one simple glass, you can have the equivalent of 7 whole bottles of probiotic pills. That’s 1,000x the population of the EARTH! These little Microspartans, as I call them, are lean mean fighting machines that are working for you. They help keep you thin and they protect you from diseases. They will KILL off the bad bacteria and they are crucial to easy weight loss with yogurt and kefir.
If you combine these delicious probiotic-dense foods with a caveman mindset and/or a low carbohydrate way of eating, you’re going to see some tremendous results. That’s what I did and I lost over 100 pounds! (Plus my immune system is top-notch, so I never ever get sick!)
Easy weight loss with yogurt and kefir?
It’s easier than you think. Every week or two, I go out and buy some high quality organic milk to “feed” my kefir, then I let it grow and multiply. I drink it almost every day and it keeps me thin.
It can be a pain to arrange making your own fermented foods at times, but I will soon have more posts and videos on how to make it as easy as possible. Don’t waste your money on store-bought crap, do it yourself and your body will thank you.
What do you think? Do you currently eat any probiotics? How do they make you feel?
Comment below!
Your friend,
-Yossif
Author: Yossif Etok
Pic credits:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sauerkraut_Jar.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fatmouse.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Kefir_glass_london_feb_10.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/48/Kombucha_Mature.jpg/405px-Kombucha_Mature.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Obstjoghurt01.jpg
https://farm1.staticflickr.com/71/159830128_571dd5fb74_o.jpg
http://pixabay.com/static/uploads/photo/2013/07/12/14/50/bottle-148883_640.png
About Yossif
Great article. So many people don’t look after their guts and fuel it with lots of healthy bacteria. I eat lots of sauerkraut and yogurt, plus I avoid processed food as much as I can.
Hi – I am very new to kefir. ( Been using Greek yogurt for years, even before it was “hip” – LOL! ) I am very interested in learning more about kefir, and how to make it. I am somewhat lactose intolerant – not bad, but just a bit. ( I do, however, have to watch my sugar/carb intake VERY carefully, as I have epilepsy. ) I have heard that kefir can be made with coconut milk, which is dairy free, and lower in carbs? Do you know anything about this? Also, if you do, in your opinion, does it offer the same health benefits as regular kefir? * I have found a local lady on Craigslist, who sells kefir “grains”; I am trying to contact her to learn more, and hopefully get started with this. Thank you, Yossif, for all the good info <3
Yep! I’ve made some fermented coconut milk in the past and it’s very tasty. In theory, you should get virtually all the same probiotic benefits as milk kefir. Keep in mind, fermented milk will be much lower in lactose (as the kefir will eat it up) so you may be safe with even milk kefir. I let mine go extra long to help reduce the carbs as well, so that might be right up your alley. Just keep in mind, the grains may take some time to get adjusted to the coconut/almond milk, so I’d say let them sit in milk and use only a portion for the other milks. (Just in case it doesn’t work.) Thanks for reading and let me know how it goes!
-Yossif
Thanks so much for this informative article! Do you mind if I post it to my FB page, Salubrious Kitchen?
Cheers!
Denice Victor Ullestad
Please do, thanks!
-Yossif
I’ve made my own yogurt in the past and really loved it. But I didn’t get in the habit. This post is totally inspiring. I want to start making it again. For me the motivation was REDUCING PLASTIC. But it makes good sense that homemade yogurt is healthier and more nutritious (and tastier, though sometimes it’s hard to get the consistency right) than store bought.
I have made coconut milk yogurt before and had a hard time getting it to set up. It stayed very liquid. It still tasted good but didn’t have much body. suggestions?
Yossif I totally agree with everything you said! It makes me so mad when people talk about how to lose weight like eating the low fat crap or margarine instead of butter. Sad thing is it’s engrained into their brains and think I’m crazy when I tell them otherwise. We JUST started making homemade yogurt and I’m excited! We’ve been doing kombucha, kefir, and sourdough for a while now. One step at a time we just keep adding to our probiotic family.
Thanks for the great information! After a round of strong antibiotics seven years ago my gut was in horrible shape! It took years of consistent probiotic consumption to correct it, fermented veggies, supplements, yogurt, pickles…you name it I eat it!
This is a great correlation you’ve made. Home made raw goat milk yogurt really is more complex and pure than even the best store bought yogurt. Thanks for making the connection with weight loss and how efficiently we process food.
I absolutely loved this post! Really great information and I learned a lot from it. I’ve been meaning to make my own yogurt for some time. I really need to get started!
Hmm, well I’ve found that letting the kefir sit longer un-refrigerated helps to increase the viscosity (thickness) a little bit more than usual. Otherwise perhaps you could add some kind of thickener like Chia seeds? Hard to say for sure.
-Yossif
Thanks! I only wish everyone would have at least one decent probiotic in their households.
Make sure you keep them all separated, as they can actually release spores into the air and possibly cause cross contamination! Good luck!
-Yossif
Yep, those anti-biotics are absolutely horrible for our guts. I very rarely get sick now that I regularly drink kefir.
Thanks!
-Yossif
Yep, nothing I’ve ever tried from the store can match the insanely deep and complex flavor of a nice ripe kefir drink. I’ll have to try some goats milk version to see how it tastes, thanks for the idea.
Also, try some cardamom and/or cinnamon in your kefir or yogurt. It’s insanely good.
-Yossif
Thanks! Glad you liked it.
-Yossif
THANK YOU for saying that the store bought stuff isn’t the same! I feel so badly for people who think they are making some sort of healthy change eating that sugar-laden, often artificially colored, dead-food that is label “yogurt” or “kefir” when in reality it’s a completely different animal!
Thanks so much for this article! I have been making my own sauerkraut and yogurt with love and tenderness; I was recently blessed with a kefir milk baby and BAM… WOW! I love the creamy wholesome taste! I am not able to purchase raw milk in my state (even though that is what I was raised on) so I use organic whole milk. Spastic colon-GONE, Gut cramps-GONE, getting sick most of the cotton pickin’ winter-GONE! Nice!
Great to hear!
-Yossif
At this time it sounds like Expression Engine is the best blogging
platform available right now. (from what I’ve read)
Is that what you’re using on your blog?
No, I’m currently using the Generate theme on the Genesis framework. I’ll take a look at it later, but I’ll likely stay with my current theme for now.
-Yossif
What is your view on resistant starches to feed the bacteria? Thank you!
This is great news! I’m very excited ! I recently bought two tablespoons of kefir grains and they are cultivating fast! Anyhow, I am at the first batch of kefir milk , but taste a little sweet on the side (wonder if that is normal) it is chilling in the fridge so maybe the consistancy and flavor will change . ?Wonder now if kefir will help my midsection and if so I can’t wait to start drinking it ! 😃
what do you think about water kefir? I love it more then the milk one! I dont drink juices anymore tnx to it..Water kefir when made right has the same taste as a soda pop…love it
Apart from giving my life to Yeshua (Jesus) I found Kefir to be life changing…I don’t have wind, IVS, my skin is great, my appitite through the roof and I’m as slim as a Navy Seal…oh and really great poo..no smell and long and medium width…lots of energy…I drink it in the morning for breakfast and I’m good to go untill that ravenous appitite kicks in…just make sure you satiate with good food but I have splurged on a big slab of ruhbarb crumble and a litre of custard ..opppps
Hi, I’ve started making kefir with almond milk but read that I should alternate between that and cow or goats milk etc to ensure the grains thrive. Is this correct? Also does the fat content of full cream milk remain if I drink it after fermenting over 24hrs? I’m worried I’ll gain weight and my doc said I can’t put anymore weight on due to diabetes becoming a problem. Thanks!
Can u tell me please when is the best time to drink my kefir to help weight loss as I also read somewhere that it can help with weight gain too and that’s something I don’t want to happen thank u
Larissa, you should eat low-carb. The fat will come off effortlessly and will stay off easily. Ripened kefir is what you want to drink on a low-carb diet. It has a reduced sugar content, due to the fermentation. Half a cup, once or twice a day should be safe to consume on a keto or low-carb diet. That amount probably won’t knock you out of ketosis. You could also just eat a more liberal low-carb diet, if you prefer. That involves eating 50 to 100 grams of carbs a day. Moderate low-carb is from 20 to 50 carbs a day. The strictest low-carb diet is 20 carbs a day total net carbs.