I'm wondering why no one is addressing what seems to be obvious to me - that the quality of the milk is a huge factor in health and also the reactions that some people seem to have to kefir.

Pasteurized, homogenized milk, even the "organic" labels (still factory farmed), causes many issues in some. I don't believe that pasteurized milk is good for anyone, as all the enzymes are killed and the proteins are changed into something totally different than the original state of the milk. Humans have benefited from milk for thousands of years IN THE NATURAL STATE, but we've only been drinking this factory farmed, cooked crap for a few generations.

Also, cows fed grain yield milk that causes reactions to people who are allergic to wheat, soy or corn.

You have to wonder whether the benefits of the kefir is being cancelled out by the "dead" milk.

I go with 100% grass fed, organic, raw cow milk from my local (licensed and inspected) dairy. It is fresh from that morning and it's yellow - not white - with cream on top.

I also make water kefir, which isn't as powerful as milk kefir but still have some of the same strains of bacteria and yeasts. My kid loves this stuff, and won't drink the milk kefir. If I didn't have raw milk available I would only make the water kefir, personally.

Just my 2 cents

Hello Everyone! This is my first post in Curezone after two years of being a spectator. It's time to offer my two cents.

Yes, most of the lactose is removed when you make milk into kefir. (incidentally, lactose may help build up the friendly flora as it can serve as food for the friendly flora. but that's for later in your stages of recovery and for another post altogether.)

Indigoaura makes a good point. The quality of milk is highly important. Best to get good quality, raw GOAT's milk. Goat's milk is much closer to human breast milk. Think of it this way. When a baby cow is born, it already weighs 60 lbs. Whereas when a baby goat is born, it weighs 6 lbs, much closer to a human baby. The fatty acid chains in goat milk are much more comparable to human milk than cow's. Also, the casein in Goat milk is different from cow's milk casein. Cow's milk casein has alpha-s-1- casein, which many people are allergic to. Goat's milk has a type of beta casein. Finally, I heard that most cows in the West are genetically altered or bred for producing the most milk, which means that the milk they produce becomes also genetically altered and much harder to digest.

So if you can, get your hands on raw, organic goat milk and make that into kefir. The taste is strong at first, then you get used to it, then you learn to love it. I add a few drops of vanilla stevia in mine, and it tastes AMAZING! Ever since I've started on goat's milk kefir, I've gotten so much better.

Now if you find yourself really sensitive to even raw, goat's milk kefir, you might want to build up the flora in your gut for the first few weeks by taking water or coconut water kefir. That will allow for some healing to begin, and then you'll be able to move on to the milk kefir which will push your healing even further. I started with coconut water kefir. Best to get the water from fresh young coconuts, but the vitacoco brand should work, too if you don't have access to young coconuts. I was HIGHLY allergic to all types of dairy. Then I started taking the coconut water kefir every night (4 - 8 ozs), and within a few weeks, I started taking the raw goat kefir, and now I'm no longer allergic to dairy! (I try to stick to cultured dairy like yogurts, kefirs and cheeses to protect myself from the candida).

To sum it up, here's what I would recommend
1. Start with water kefir or coconut water kefir
2. After a few weeks, try some raw goat milk kefir. Start by taking small amounts then build up to it.

If you don't have access to raw goat milk, here's what I would recommend in order of preference:
1. Raw goat milk
2. Raw sheep milk
3. Raw cow milk
4. Organic goat milk
5. Organic sheep milk
6. Organic cow milk

I wish you health and a speedy recovery.