Kefir Health Benefits for Kids

Kefir health benefits for kids are as numerous as for adults. Kefir plays a vital role in protecting and improving the immune system and in promoting children’s health and proper brain function. Let´s take a look of the benefits!

Plain kefir or a kefir smoothie with the addition of fruits is an excellent, highly nutritional drink to help children grow better.

Kefir Helps Maintain Kids’ Immune System Strong and Healthy

smiling baby drinking yogurt or kefir

Kefir is a refreshing probiotic drink, made only from kefir grains, which contain a large range of beneficial bacteria and a variety of good yeasts.

It also contains minerals, vitamins, amino acids, proteins and enzymes, the most important among them being vitamin A, vitamin B2 and B12, vitamin D, vitamin K, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus.

Kefir strengthens bones, teeth and gums and enhances metabolism, while promoting proper utilization of fats, proteins and carbohydrates.

Kefir can be very useful in helping kids grow stronger and fight all the harmful bacteria and viruses they might get in touch with at kindergarten, school or outdoors.

Due to its high amount of beneficial probiotic cultures, kefir will help children have fewer flues, colds and stomach infections and therefore need fewer antibiotics and other medicines, which may have many negative side effects.

In case kids are prescribed antibiotics, kefir will protect their intestinal flora and help them fight better.

Kefir probiotics are thereby a very important part of nutrition during childhood and adolescence, as they will help develop a strong and healthy immune system.

Kefir Contains Vitamins That Are Important for Kids’ Healthy Growth

Strong Child

Kefir is rich in vitamins B1, B12, D and K, important for a healthy physical growth and brain development. It is also a refreshing and tasty drink that can be flavored with fresh fruits, honey and muesli, making of it an irresistible beverage every kid will love!

Children’s nervous system, proper brain function and mental performance depend highly on the daily intake of vitamin B, which can be obtained in proper quantities through kefir drinks.

Vitamin B12 is generally stored in small amounts in our body and needs to be constantly replaced through foods that contain it – kefir being one of the healthiest, most tasteful among them.

B12 is necessary for the child’s normal brain activity and it helps produce acetylcholine that assists memory and learning.

Consuming vitamin B12 through kefir will also contribute to the production of red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body, preventing kids from being weak, tired and too skinny.

Vitamin B1, known as thiamine, is also involved in the development of acetylcholine and improves child’s memory, while its lack may be manifested in decreased appetite, fatigue and weakness.

It nourishes the nervous system, helps release energy from carbohydrates and promotes growth and good muscle tone.

Kefir is an excellent supply of thiamine, especially for kids that eat too many sweets, as the excessive consumption of sugar may deplete the storage of vitamin B1 in the body.

Vitamin D is necessary for children’s bone growth and development, for it helps absorb calcium. A child who suffers from a vitamin D deficiency may be at higher risk of stunted growth, weak bones and fractures.

Vitamin K’s presence in kids’ blood is important to ensure proper blood clotting. Vitamin K helps produce blood-clotting proteins that control both coagulation and anticoagulation.

The lack of vitamin K can make small cuts bleed for a long time and cause small injuries to turn into large bruises.

Even Lactose Intolerant Kids Can Benefit From Kefir

boy drinking kefir

 

Contrary to many other dairy products that are indigestible and high in disaccharide sugar (lactose), kefir is an ideal probiotic drink for the kids intolerant to lactose.

Kefir contains plenty of beneficial bacteria and yeasts, which provide lactase, a digestive enzyme that breaks down lactose during the fermentation process and in that way pre-digests milk.

Children that are lactose intolerant can, therefore, safely drink kefir even on an empty stomach.

The pre-digestion process can however be enhanced even more if kefir is allowed to ferment for a slightly longer period of time, but it should never be consumed cooked, for high temperatures will destroy all of its enzymes.

Researchers from Ohio State University have shown that kefir can considerably decrease stomach pain and reduce bloating, flatulence, diarrhea and other symptoms of lactose intolerance.

However, if any slight symptom of intolerance occurs for some reason, you can always prepare a soymilk kefir and so provide your child with all of the beneficial probiotics and vitamins that kefir grains contain.

Share your experiences and recipes with other people. Leave a comment below.

About the author

Jessica

Jessica is a translator who has lived for many years in Asia and South America. She now lives and works in Europe, while preparing her new journeys. She enjoys traveling, meeting new people, exploring different cultures and foods, and being in love.

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  • Does it matter if the kefir has sugar in it?

    We buy a brand that has sugar in it, I know it’s not “ideal”.. but our son loves it and always asks for it. He won’t eat plain kefir. I doubt most kids would.