Delicious Kefir Smoothie

Many parents give their babies and children yogurt because it's a good source of calcium. But it's also a good source of beneficial intestinal bacteria, or "probiotics," which can help keep them well.

This "friendly" bacteria help to keep our digestive tract clean, improve our absorption of nutrients, decrease the risk of digestive cancer, boost our immune system, help protect us from "unfriendly" elements that can cause disease (e.g., E. coli, salmonella, Staph, Strep, yeast, fungi, viruses), reduce the risk of digestive illness such as crohn's disease and irritable bowel syndrome, and reduce gas production. That's a strong enough list to justify paying close attention to probiotics.

During vaginal birth, a baby's digestive tract is colonized by good bacteria that reside in the mother's birth canal. Breastfeeding then helps to further that colonization.

Later, a child's diet comes into play. Yogurt (not frozen yogurt!), kefir and cottage cheese are great sources of probiotics. If they won't eat these foods, you can also buy powdered probiotics to put in your child's food or drinks (such as MAXI Baby-Dophilus, which I sometimes put in my kids' drinks).

Antibiotics, taken during severe bacterial illness, kill the bad and the good bacteria. It's especially important to rebuild the good bacteria that is killed off, so push the yogurt during illness.

Kefir Smoothie
One of my new favorite ways of getting probiotics into my kids (and myself) is by making kefir smoothies. For years, I'd walked right past kefir in the health food stores, thinking it was "hippie food." After I started buying "drinkable" yogurt for my kids, I decided to take a chance on kefir. WOW! Delicious.

Here's my recipe:

Place in your food processor:
8 oz lowfat vanilla organic kefir
4 oz organic apple, cranberry or orange juice
8 oz crushed ice
1 cup of frozen or fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries)
1 small banana

Blend until smooth. If it is too thick, add more juice until it reaches your preferred consistency.

We devour these!