I've been making kefir for a few weeks. It did not really 'work' until I switched from using UHT goat milk to regular pasteurized cow milk. UHT alters milk proteins and this can cause problems with fermentation. I'm currently getting good results mixing UHT goat and lowfat cow milk at around 1:3 .
I also recently tried doing a 2nd ferment with lemon peel. I juice the lemons and save the peel by freezing. After sifting out the kefir grains I add in the frozen peel of half a lemon and let it ferment for another 12 hours.
With that amount of peel, there is a bit of a bitter undertone - but I like the lemon flavor and overall quality of the kefir.
My sinuses seem to open up immediately when I drink it.
I also noticed something interesting when I drank some while eating a radish. This batch of radishes was extremely spicy, but there seemed to be no heat at all when I ate the radish and lemon kefir together.
Lemon contains eriodictyol, a bitter flavonoid, that antagonizes TRPV1 -
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcp.2010.11.004
#NaturalProducts #FunctionalFoods
#eriodictyol #kefir #TRPV1