Kefir Kommunity

 During the “Models and Mortals" episode of Sex and the City, Season One, our favorite foursome debates the physical merits of models:

CHARLOTTE: "You know, no matter how good I feel about myself, if I see Christy Turlington, I just wanna give up. "


Few things in life horrify us more than the thought of striking Wheel pose, sans clothes, in a 105-degree room full of other sweaty, naked yogis. Yet Naked Yoga classes have been popping up all over in recent years.

What is bad breath?

No one is immune to garlic breath, but chronic halitosis is nothing to laugh at. Besides causing embarrassment and negatively impacting your professional and social life, bad breath is often a signal that all is not right with the body. Besides food (the breakdown of food particles in and around your teeth can cause a foul odor, as can leftover bits of pungent foods, like onions, coffee, tuna and spices), other causes of chronic bad breath include:

Dental problems If you don't brush and floss daily, food particles will remain in your mouth, where they collect bacteria. Those bacteria can emit chemicals like hydrogen sulfide — the same compound that gives rotten eggs their characteristic smell. Next, a colorless, sticky film of bacteria called plaque forms on teeth; if it’s not brushed away, it can irritate gums and cause tooth decay. Eventually, plaque-filled pockets can form between your teeth and gums worsening the problem…and your breath.

Dry mouth Many common medications, such as antihistamines and antidepressants, can cause dry mouth. Without adequate saliva to wash away bacteria, bad breath bugs multiply and take over. (Need proof that a dry mouth is a smelly mouth? Think of morning breath.) Antacids can lead to stinky breath in a different way: Without sufficient stomach acid, food ferments in the stomach and the decaying odor escapes through the mouth.

Other diseases About 1 in 10 bad breath cases result from an illness, such as cancer, uncontrolled diabetes, kidney or liver failure, chronic acid reflux or a metabolic disorder.

Smoking In addition to causing cancer and premature aging of the skin, smoking dries out your mouth and leaves an unpleasant oral odor. Tobacco users are also more likely to have periodontal disease, itself a source of bad breath.

What are the symptoms?

Remember, bad breath following a grande coffee is much different than the sort of chronic bad breath that repels people and causes them to offer you mints at every turn. If you suspect you may have bad breath, make an appointment with your dentist and share your concerns – he or she can check for gum disease, cavities, abscesses or decay. It can be hard to tell whether you have bad breath, so you may need to employ an honest (and close!) friend to give you the real truth.

What can you do?

Clearly, hygiene is of utmost importance when it comes to preventing bad breath. Remember to brushing your teeth and tongue after eating, floss daily and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. You may want to purchase a tongue scraper to reduce odors that originate from the tongue. Decrease alcohol and coffee intake and avoid other food and beverages that can lead to bad breath. Replace your toothbrush every three to four months and see your dentist twice a year, to have your teeth or dentures examined and cleaned.

If your bad breath is due to plaque, your dentist may recommend a mouth rinse that eradicates the odor-causing bacteria. Research shows that those containing the ingredients cetylpyridinium chloride or chlorhexidine can prevent production of odors that cause bad breath. Other active ingredients, such as chlorinedioxide and zinc, are good at neutralizing odor-causing bacterial byproducts. Your dentist may also recommend a toothpaste that contains an antibacterial agent to kill the bacteria that cause plaque buildup.

If your dentists suspects the bad breath is being caused by a GI problem, diabetes, cancer or another illness, he will refer you to the appropriate physician for follow-up.

One surprising possible bad breath beater: Green tea! A 2008 study in the Journal of Nutritional Sciences and Vitaminology found that green tea’s polyphenols are stealth odor-fighters, inhibiting volatile sulfur compounds in the mouth.

How can kefir help?

According to American Dietetic Association spokesperson Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD , kefir can help alleviate bad breath. That’s because kefir contains multiple strains of “good bacteria,” aka probiotics, which balance and reduce overgrowth of odor-causing bacteria. You don’t swish it like mouthwash – just drink a cup a day. Gerbstadt suggests sticking with plain kefir (like Lifeway nonfat Plain). As the sugar in the flavored varieties will be partially digested in the mouth, feeding odor-causing bacteria

Sources: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bad-breath/DS00025

http://www.ergo-log.com/teabreath.html

 We hope everyone had a lovely, relaxing Labor Day weekend. Though we’re sad to see the summer come to an end, as we look back on the past few months, we’re pleasantly surprised to see how much excitement has taken way here at Lifeway. Check it out:

We debuted two fabulous new products -- BioKefir Shots and Helios Goat Milk Kefir. 

The Mambo Sprouts "Go Mambo!" team just completed week two of their Rocky Mountain tour. Their mobile sampling station cruises around and introduces folks to healthy, natural and organic products. The tour is currently in Colorado and we strongly encourage our friends to stop by the Mambo Sprouts website and see when the fun is coming to their area!

Itchin’ for a new snack? Your taste buds are in luck: Foodchannel.com just released its 2010 Top Ten Snack Trends list. Oh, and what a surprise…probiotics are on the list!

We love the summertime for lots of reasons: Pool parties, fireworks, the ice cream man…and farmer’s markets. It’s always fun to wake up on a Saturday morning and mosey over to the local jam, where farmers from near and (not-too) far congregate to sell their delicious goods. You can literally feel the love and attention paid to every strawberry, every beet, every dozen eggs.

But did you know there are lots of health benefits to shopping at the farmer’s market? Here’s a bunch:


1. The produce is picked at its peak of freshness. Worried you won’t b able to finish a big bag of apples or basket of tomatoes? You can freeze them -- freezing preserves all of the vitamins and nutrients while preventing waste.

2. Besides being incredibly fresh, the fruits and vegetables available are all in season, which means they’ll be at their best color, smell and texture. Have you ever smelled a tomato fresh of the vine? Heaven!

3. By buying local, you’re helping the environment because your food doesn’t have to be shipped on gas-guzzling airplanes and trucks. Before reaching your table, the average food item in American travels a whopping 1,300 miles

4. The person selling your food likely has lots of fantastic ideas for cooking that pork loin or rhubarb. Ask him or her for tips - they’ll be happy to share!

5. Just walking around a farmer’s market gives you a little dose of exercise, and the sunshine is critical for your daily Vitamin D needs.

6. Quite often, produce, dairy and meats sold at the farmer’s market are organic and pesticide- or hormone-free.

6. Towards the end of many farmer’s markets, you can bargain!

On Saturdays, you can find Lifeway kefir at the Morton Grove Farmers' Market between 7:30am and 12:30pm @ 8930 Waukegan Road in Morton Grove. www.mgfarmersmarket.com