The Dark Side of Water Kefir – Water Kefir Side Effects
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Sometimes my ferments don’t go over too well with the kids. They’re just not into the tangy, sour flavors of a good kraut or relish. Getting them to get plain asparagus is tough enough, let alone trying to get them to eat lacto-fermented asparagus. But there is one lacto-fermented beverage I’ve tried that has consistently been a hit with kids and adults alike – root beer water kefir.
Quick and Easy Root Beer Water Kefir
I haven’t tackled brewing with actual roots yet, although I did track down some of the needed ingredients. For now, I’ve just been using root beer extract.
To make root beer water kefir, follow the basic instructions for water kefir. To one quart of finished water kefir, add one teaspoon of root beer extract combined with one tablespoon of sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water.
Bottle and let sit on counter for a day or so to increase carbonation, and then refrigerate. We prefer it cold or served over ice. We have an ice shaver, and the boys used it quite a bit when they were younger. It’s an economical way to make a fun treat, and doesn’t take up much room in the cupboard.
If you’d like to try brewing your own water kefir, I recommend Kombucha Kamp for fresh water kefir grains. Their cultures ship fresh, not dried.
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Problems with Water Kefir
While I’m talking about water kefir, I’d also like to mention one health “problem” that I have run into from drinking water kefir. I haven’t seen this mentioned anywhere else. I probably should have thought of it sooner myself, but it never occurred to me until it happened.
Most of the recipes I’ve seen for water kefir suggest putting a piece of clean eggshell in during your ferment, to make sure you have enough minerals for your kefir grains to eat. I usually put in an entire egg shell.
Welllll…like I said, given that I get quite a bit of hard water buildup on my faucets, I should have known better. I really didn’t need to add the eggshells in my water kefir. My well water has plenty of calcium and minerals already. When it was warm outside (there were three days this season that were warm – seriously), I started slugging down water kefir. The effects were very obvious. Instead of my usual 4-5 number on the Bristol Stool Chart, I moved into the 2-3 range. Too much calcium causes constipation.
So just be warned – if you have hard water, you probably don’t need to add extra minerals to your brew. Also, if I drink larger quantities of water kefir, it tends to unsettle my stomach (possibly because of the excess calcium?). For me, kombucha has the opposite effect. Around here, we regularly use kombucha to settle an unsettled stomach after eating out, or when someone is just feeling “a little off”.
Water kefir and kombucha drinkers, what effects have you noticed since you started drinking your brews? Has anyone else run into this? Let me know.
More Home Fermenting Posts
You may also enjoy:
- How to Brew and Flavor Water Kefir “Soda Pop”
- How to Homebrew Kombucha – Save Money and Enjoy a Healthy Drink
Originally posted in 2011, updated in 2017.
Hi,
After his first glass of water kefir, my husband had a bad headache, and refused to take any more.
My symptoms have been different. It has an effect on my eyes. After a couple of hours, one eye started to feel weird and some mucus produced. Overnight, the eye was gummed close. Luckily, its only one eye at a time…
If I take very little, then I am fine, but half a glass would cause problems. Perhaps its a very individual problems?
If you’re reacting that strongly, you may have a sensitivity to something in the water kefir and it might not be the best choice for you, or it may be a die off reaction as the good bacteria try to move into your guts. I have no way to tell via internet, but always listen to your body.
Here is a listing of some side effects of kefir and discussion: http://mykefirworld.com/side-effects/4582679381
Yes, likely more HERX reaction here.
From hours of research I’ve come to the conclusion that using an airlock lid when making kefir is important, especially here in Hawai’i where there are lots of other microbes everywhere.
I’ve read about someone who had adverse reactions to kefir when it was made without an airlock lid, and that once she started to use an airlock lid those symptoms went away and she believes it was because a fungus in her apartment was growing in with the kefir. This goes against other things I’ve read about how kefir kills pathogens.
I found out about kefir from a post of someone using it to cure MRSA after trying lots of antibiotics and natural remedies, and I had been suffering from infections for years and using many different natural remedies only somewhat successfully and then water kefir is what finally cured me. Now it’s a year later and I still use it on my skin and it works, yet not as fast as it used to. And I drink 2 quarts a day now, and I don’t think I’m drinking enough water with it and am doing research on the negative effects of kefir. I really appreciate this article and all the comments!
I found a great discussion of the connection between water kefir and constipation here, with the suggestion to add Magnesium supplements until stools regulate: http://www.rosaceagroup.org/The_Rosacea_Forum/showthread.php?30249-Can-water-kefir-cause-constipation
Given magnesium’s laxative properties, that would make sense. Thanks!
Laurie, I thought kefir had good yeast. Ji said she ended up with thrush. Thats Candida. What gives there? Does kefir cause same issues as candida?
I am starting water kefir to help control candida.
Water kefir should not cause candida like issues in healthy individuals. for a full listing of the bacteria and yeast strains commonly found in water kefir, you can check out the post: https://commonsensehome.com/water-kefir-versus-kombucha/
That said, water kefir may trigger die off problems (Herxheimer reaction). There’s a pretty good discussion of this sort of reaction to water kefir (with regards to candida) here: http://www.thecandidadiet.com/forum/yaf_postst3716_Sugar-in-Water-Kefir.aspx
I have had Candida problems. I had a roaring yeast infection when my second daughter was born. She had terrible yeast infections in all her chubby baby folds. She had perpetual infections in the folds of her ears for years. It improved as she got older, but then the day came when she told me about the itching “down there”. I was heartsick. I put her on probiotics which worked, but we could never forget for her to take them. With two of us on probiotics, it also cost a lot! I decided it was time to explore traditional cultures. Since starting water kefir several years ago, my daughter has had maybe 3 infections, usually when we were on vacation or away from our kefir. Since she enjoys her homemade pop, I don’t need to remind her to have her regular dose. My grains now happily make kefir for many members of our extended family.
Thanks for sharing your story.
I started making water kefir two weeks ago – going gung ho with a glass or two a day. A week later I developed thrush, which is unusual for me, although I just finished 5 days of antibiotics the week before (antibiotics also unusual for me) along with flu symptoms. I persevered with the kefir through the next week but thrush remained and headaches, sinus trouble and tired body worsened. Spent the day in bed yesterday and stopped taking it. Am planning to wait til i feel better before reintroducing it again, in smaller quantities. Fingers crossed it won’t be so dramatic next time.
You can definitely have too much of a good thing. Thanks for sharing your story, and I hope you feel better soon.
I have heard that taking antibiotics can cause yeast infections. Perhaps the kefir didn’t have anything to do with your thrush. I bet when you are fully well that affect won’t happen.
Maybe a HERX reaction could be the issue, I had to stop kefir a couple times till I adjusted, love it now, hooked on it, haha. 🙂
Agreed. I had a similar issue and stopped for a few days to help adjust. After the adjustment period I stopped feeling bloated and the benefits were all there…plus ut helps me stay hydrated because it has more flavor than plain water and is relative easy to make compared to other naturally flavored water drinks. My only problem now is that the grains multiply so fast. Wish they were popular enough tp sell from time to time…but in the meantime I try to give what I can when I can.
If by chance you have chickens, they will eat extra grains.
You need to drink loads of water. What you’re experiencing is a candida die off and your body needs loads of water to transport the toxins of dead bad bacteria out of your system.
Had the same effect but 100x stronger and my whole immune system went awry, it’s been 2 years and my body is totally destroyed, I keep searching for answers on what went wrong. I suspect mine got contaminated with some pathogenic bacteria. Dangerous stuff totally destroyed my health. I think it also messed with my serotonin or dopamine since those are actually produced in the stomach.
I had a glass of home-made water-kefir on Sunday night, and did 10 poos yesterday, 10!
I think I’ll have to stick to kombucha
Some people pay big money to have their colons cleaned out. This is a good reminder why it’s always smart to start slowly when ingesting any new substance.
12 – 24 hrs 1st fermentation = laxative effect
48 hrs 1st fermentation = constipate
You light want to let it brew longer (open top) and then bottle and leave for a day or 2 before refrigerating.
Also include some egg shell (about 1cm²)
Watch out on the egg shell if you have hard water, as calcium with a side of calcium will send the kefir into slimy mode right away.
Hey, I really need the answer to this question. for short fermentation, between 12-24 hours, what should be the ratio of water to grains? That makes a huge difference in the time required for fermentation!
Can someone tell me that? I really need the laxative effect. I see a lot of places people say that short fermentation will create a laxative effect, but I do not know how much should be the ratio of the water to grains?
Thanks.
I’ve generally seen recommendations of between 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup of grains per quart, but I haven’t seen specific recommendations regarding using water kefir as a laxative.
I have been noticing that I feel full and don’t need to keep snacking. I drink water kefir, starting with 1 quart probably about every 24-48 hours. Now I make 2 quarts in the same amount of time. I do notice some fullness and some constipation. Normally it makes me feel great!
I saw your post about drinking too much water kefir. I find similar things to be true with my body. I can drink as much kombucha as I want for an upset stomach, but water kefir can have the opposite effect. I think it is actually due to the production of acid from the kefir grains. Water kefir is very high in acid, which can cause: stomach pain, cramping, bloating, constipation/diarrhea. Too much acid is not a good thing for anyone’s body. Thanks for the post!
Thanks for adding this information, Sara. It’s interesting how some foods that taste acidic can have the opposite effect in your body, and vice versa.
I, too, have noticed much bloating as was trying to figure out why. I will do an experiment and see if its the kefir. I ferment kombucha and veggies too. Actually, just started with the veggies and the kefir.
Thank you for posting.
I add a pinch of bicarbonate and quarter of a lemon to my brew, then squeeze the lemon juice in when fermented. Maybe that will help as I never feel bloated, could be counter acting on the acidity ?
For those who have things like Stomach pain, cramping, bloating, constipation/diarrhea…. It’s possible your gut needs a little help from HCL/ Pepsin (Hydrochloric Acid). Our bodies make this but as we get older, and/ or take antibiotics, or take drugs that tamp down your gut juices… I used to eat junk food (including gluten and meat w/preservatives, think bacon) and then my gut decided it couldn’t digest after assaulting it for years with Prilosec, Protonix, Nexium, and Dexilant. I probably never had a need for those drugs but the Drs didn’t test me for low stomach acid. Here’s a link explaining the test: http://scdlifestyle.com/2012/03/3-tests-for-low-stomach-acid/
I became intolerant to dairy and other foods, and eventually even developed a condition with little or no HCL called idiopathic gastroparesis….
although looking back, I had dry mouth and food intolerances symptoms which all started with GERD. The way I have been able to digest, since I have so little HCL naturally, is to use HCL capsules when I eat protein (as many as 9 even), along with fresh grated ginger and Iberogast (from Amazon). I urge people to google their symptoms and add natural or the the word cure or fix to the search. Good luck!
I was fasting and looking for info on a long water fast and GERD. I ran across this: https://chriskresser.com/get-rid-of-heartburn-and-gerd-forever-in-three-simple-steps/
There is a free ebook that spells it all out. He points towars the fermented foods, kefie, kombucha, but first he recommends bone broth and single carb diet to help heal your stomach.
Be careful when using raw honey, it is a natural antibacterial. It contain hydrogen pyroxide which is produced in the bees mouth. Black strap molasses is a great additive if your needing minerals, I haven’t noticed it changing the taste at all.
Hi 🙂 Just to say – the first batch of water kefir grains i had i could not let brew for more than 24 hours, regardless of sugar or fruit content, because the alcohol level would be too high. however i got another batch and this second one, from a different supplier, have the lovely feeling that water kefir gives but i can leave these for 48 hours and i don’t get any sort of ‘alcohol’ related feeling from it. not eloquently phrased (long day!) but hopefully you know what i mean 🙂
Glad you found some grains that worked for you. 🙂
I haven’t made water kefir yet (looking for free grains). But I can drink all the kombucha I like without any ill effects. But if I drink too much milk kefir I have 30 minutes to find a bathroom. It becomes an emergency. I learned that the hard way while out shopping.
Molly – thanks for sharing. So often we hear only the positive effects of these foods, but I think it’s good for people to realize they might have unexpected side effects.
That happens to me also when I drink milk kefir, eat cheese or anything with dairy other than ghee. Something about the solids in milk and an intolerance. It generally is a bit faster for me, however, so if I REALLY want dairy, I need to be home, and alone!!! Still, it is not pleasant.
Probably best avoided, unless you can figure out something to heal your gut so dairy is not so disruptive.
If you can find whoke milk, straight out of the cow (not pasteurized), you might find that you can drink it. Worth a try.
yea i consumed miilk kefir and had to run to the bathroom for a shit. every time, sorry for language, a plop. and it was very runny. Then i decided to covert the grains to water kefir feeding them raw sugar. And now my turd has a more sturdy form. sturdy turdy. 🙂
Glad everything worked out alright in the end. (pun intended)
I have tried the rootbeer recipe a few times and it doesn’t fizz up like my other kefir recipes. It is like drinking flat rootbeer. I am following the recipe to a “t” and even purchased the suggested rootbeer extract. My kefir and grains are healthy and otherwise produce great “homemade pop”. Has anyone had this happen and do you have any suggestions?
Thank you for such an thoughtful and informative site!
Yep – mine generally doesn’t get terribly fizzy. You could try adding some more sugar when you bottle to give the microbes more to ferment, and leaving it in a warmer location for a day or two. Sugars and temp drive the fermentation and CO2 production.
Thanks for your words of encouragement.
Thank you! Will do!
Came on here looking for a solution to the same problem! I don’t understand. No matter how much sugar I give my 2nd ferment, or how many days in warm temp I give them, it won’t fizz unless I add some ginger, or juice, or something else. Why is that?? I really want this rootbeer flavor (even flat, it’s tasty), but with fizz it would be PERFECT!
Some kefir cultures are naturally less fizzy. I’ve tried a few over the years from different sources. Some were really active with plenty of fizz, others were duds.
I've been thinking about trying switchel, too:
Switchel:
8 cups pure filtered water
1 cup raw honey
½ cup raw organic apple cider vinegar
½ cup black strap molasses
½ tsp. Ground ginger
Mmm rootbefir! I tried doing sassafrass and some other botanicals with Kombucha but didn't quite master the combo.
I find that I have to drink plenty of water with the KT or I may get a bit dehydrated. Love it on ice in the summer! I bet it would be fantastic on a snow cone =)
Thanks for stopping by, everybody.
Eleanor, I only brew for family and occasional friends, so we've got no egg allergies in the group, but now it looks like it won't be a concern either way. I knew my hard water would be good for something! It's got plenty of iron, too.
Water Kefir is on my list for this year as well Laurie. Thanks for the info on the calcium. I'd never heard of that before.
Wow- this is an incredibly helpful post! DEFINITELY getting some extract next time I go to the store. Yum!
And very interesting observation about the hard water. We have horribly hard water, too, but I've also been adding egg shells. Maybe I'll just skip that step.
That's an interesting idea. As far as the egg shell goes, better make sure that the drinker isn't allergic to eggs. Egg allergies are fairly common food allergies, and are often quite severe.
Egg allergies are an intolerance to proteins in the whites or yolks. Not shells. No one eats shells. And there are no proteins in the shell. So no worries about egg allergies
You are very mistaken Laura; Egg shells are calcite crystals embedded in a matrix of proteins and a polysaccharide complex. Where did you learn about eggs? Because I’m certain that this information is out there online for people to double-check what they’re correcting others with……FYI; It isn’t an “intolerance” to the proteins; Your body is recognising those chicken proteins located in the White, yolk, and shell as hostile, and irritating your immune system to release unnecessary histamine.
And I eat the shells; After breaking them down into their constituent parts, I add them to other dishes, thereby increasing the protein content of my fungal breakfast or bacterial lunch. ✌️????
A friend was just talking about root beer kefir and I really wanted to try it. Thanks for the recipe!
I haven't met anyone yet who wouldn't drink this. 🙂
I haven't tried kefir or kombucha. It's on my list for this year though. A root beer variety might be a nice way to ease into it.
I have noticed sudden pain in my upper abdomen when i drink coffee after drinking cold water kefir. Is there some chemical reaction happening when we drink hot fluid after taking water kefir, do the grains reacts on hot water?
Kefir grains shouldn’t react with warm water, although water that is too hot could kill them.
I haven’t heard about a reaction like yours before, but it would probably be best to not drink them one right after the other in your case.
Called sugar
Well I have a strange reaction of rash. I developed a rash over the torso and shins. And irritated skin over rest of body.
When I stop rash clears after few days .
I do love the root beer though was drinking 3 glasses day for few weeks. Now small amount gives me the rash.
J
3 glasses per day is probably too much.
Have you considered histamine intolerance? Fermented foods are high in histamines. It may be worthwhile getting yourself tested.
That’s a good thought. I hadn’t even heard of histamine intolerance when I originally wrote this post.