Nancy got me curious about making your own kefir and its healing benefits to the intestines. I wanted to get more probiotics than the two species my supplements are giving me. Kefir has something like 40 different beneficial probiotics!
I found this website to locate someone in my area for kefir grains. Kefir grains are not grains at all, but the organisms and structure they create to make cauliflower looking blobs.
http://www.torontoadvisors.com/Kefir/kefir-list.php
We did a trade off in town, and I've been making dairy kefir ever since. I donated a couple of dollars, so it was really cheap. I think it's been helpful, but it's only been about two weeks since I got them. Anything to compete with those bad bacteria in my gut!
I'm curious about making coconut milk kefir. I'm hoping Nancy will chime in here. Nancy, did you rinse your kefir grains in water before transfering them over to coconut milk, or does it matter? Does it take longer to make kefir in coconut milk than it does in dairy milk?
Nancy, I'm also wondering if you eat your kefir grains and have you noticed the healing benefits from that? I accidentally got a small one that I didn't filter out once and it seemed really chewy.
If you want to learn more about kefir, this is the "everything you wanted to know about kefir, but were afraid to ask" website. The information and layout can be a little overwhelming, but there's a lot of good info there.
http://users.chariot.net.au/~dna/kefirpage.html
Please chime in with your personal experiences with kefir!
Claire