Functional Food - Part One - Water Kefir

I have been looking for more ways to be healthier and seeing as how much I love food I decided to look for some ways to combine the two.

I started reading about functional food.  Food that isn't just great to eat and good for you but also contains health-giving additives. 

I can lose hours on pinterest exploring and learning, it is a wealth of information.  Pinterest are now pitching themselves as the worlds catalogue of ideas, and it's a well deserved title.

I found four particular things that caught my eye, there is a fifth but that'll be a wait "n" see as it is dependant on another part.  Anyway one of the first things I have being trying to let go of is soda.  It is a difficult one, mainly as it is just so easy and cheap when it comes to grabbing a cold one so the first up is Water Kefir.

A lot of you may have heard about Kefir, as in the dairy kind, however Water Kefir grains use a sugar, fruit, water combination to work.  The process itself is done in two fermentations, and here I mainly cover the first fermentation.

The hardest part to date was to find a supply of Water Kefir Grains.  I finally managed to source some and they turned up in a couple of days with some great instructions, Kefir grains, sugar, sultanas and a little baking soda and some suggestions on what type of vessel I would need as well as a suggestion on where to source the container/vessel.  Fantastic service for anyone starting out!

I was a little nervous starting out as the grains are living and need to be looked after and cared for in the right way and if you do it right these beautiful little grains will multiply and you end up with an unlimited supply.  My little beauties have already doubled their population within a couple of days and one brew.  I have a second brew of a first fermentation already underway.

It is fine to drink after the first fermentation and it does taste good however everything I read suggested a second fermentation for a flavoured bubbly drink.  There are so many suggestions for flavouring, which is usually a combination of fruits and/or herbs.  I settled on a ginger and pear combination and peeled and cut up a pear and grated a little ginger and popped a little of each in six, 500ml bottles with the swing top lids, then filled each bottle leaving an inch of air at the top.  These will sit out for a couple of days then they will go in the fridge to slow down/stop the fermentation process ready for drinking.  The second fermentation also boosts all the good stuff even more.  I am really looking forward to trying this combination so look out on face book for an update when I finally get to try my first batch!

When it comes to functional foods it is really important to introduce these to your system gradually and work your way up to larger serving sizes.  Also a good point to note is Water Kefir has a alcohol level of around the 1% or less but you are not going to be drinking gallons of the stuff, remember everything in moderation!  As I have had a lot of changes to my diet over the last couple of years I am starting out slow with a gulp or two a day of the first fermentation and will work my way up to larger servings to make sure I don't have a bad reaction to what is a really cool part one of my Functional Food journey!

Below are a few photos from the Water Kefir journey so far...  Anyway I must go as I am currently working on Part Two and need to get back to it!

Update: Jump forward a couple of days - For my second fermentation on my first batch I tried Pear and Ginger, it has lovely delicate bubbles and a light Pear and Ginger flavour.  It is delightful and I am part way through my second bottle and I have another four bottles chilling to use up.  I cut back on my brew from a 3L to 2L as six, 500ml bottles is a lot so figured four bottles every couple of days will be much easier to handle, especially as it has a limited shelf life of a couple of weeks in the fridge.  I have just bottled up my second batch this time I am trying a bottle of Lemon and three bottles of Pineapple.  Really looking forward to trying these.  I didn't have many ripe lemons so could only manage the one bottle of the Lemon.

I am loving Water Kefir as an alternative to soda and knowing it is good for me just makes it that much better.