Frequently Asked Questions

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Your body is home to trillions of micro-organisms. These microscopic friends help your body stay healthy and fit, and a large chunk of them—400 diverse bacterial species—exist in your gut alone. These are the good bacteria that ensure your digestive system stays happy and healthy. The junk food we eat today and the chemicals we pump into our body tend to destroy a large portion of this bacterial population, leaving our digestive system weak and our overall health compromised. But you can repopulate your gut flora with these friendly bacteria by taking probiotics. And rather than simply pop a pill, you can opt for the natural way—drinking kefir and eating kimchi and other fermented foods that brim with probiotics.

While both are fermented drinks containing probiotics, these two beverages have their own individual benefits. The microbes in kombucha specialise in detoxifying and alkalising the body, making it a great digestive aid. The other notable difference is the flavor: when kombucha ferments, it produces acetic acid giving it a distinct tart taste similar to apple cider vinegar. Also, Kombucha is most often a caffeinated drink since it is made from tea. Kefir produces mainly lactic acid bacteria aka ‘beneficial bacteria’, which help soothe and heal the villi (gut lining). This fermented beverage is great as a wide-spectrum probiotic due to the many strains of active bacteria produced during fermentation. Water kefir has a mild flavour as it produces less acetic acid than kombucha. If you're trying to cut down on caffeinated or sugar-laden drinks and have been lacking a carbonated beverage to fill the void, water kefir is a great alternative—and it's a functional health booster too! One drink is not better than the other necessarily, and the two work well hand in hand. Drink both if you can :)

Drinking a little kefir first thing in the morning helps establish a nice solid foundation for your stomach and sets your gut up for a great day! While we’re sleeping, our bodies undergo repair and detoxification. So sipping a second helping before bed lets the gut microbiome replenish after all the environmental and mental stress our body has gone through during the day. There really isn’t a set rule on when you can drink kefir! However, we believe that balance is the key to good health. So as much as we love our kefir, it shouldn't be taken as a substitute to water. We recommend a course of 2-4 ounces in the morning and 2-4 ounces in the evening for the first two weeks to really give kefir a chance at healing your gut flora. Otherwise, it can be enjoyed like any other refreshing, bubbly beverage—only healthier!

Like all fermented foods and beverages, water kefir does contain very small traces of alcohol. But the traces are so small that our water kefir is recognised as a non-alcoholic beverage. Our water kefir is a refreshing healthful tonic for kids and adults alike, and you’ll find it in stores sitting merrily between sparkling water and sauerkraut.

The first thing you need to know is that, while some fermented foods can be considered pickles, not all pickles are created through fermentation. Pickling is a more general term, referring to various ways of preserving foods in an acidic medium. In many cases, that acidic medium is vinegar. When most people refer to pickles, they mean cucumbers that have been prepared in vinegar.

So what are fermented foods, then? Fermentation is considered a pickling method, but it is a specific one; in this case, the acidic medium is created through lactic acid fermentation. During fermentation, the starches and sugars in the food are converted into lactic acid by the bacteria lactobacilli. The lactic acid production is what gives fermented foods their unique sour smell and flavor. The fermentation process is also what makes them such nutritive probiotic super foods.

“Pickling often refers to a quick [preservation] process using sugar, aromatics, and vinegar,” explains Michael Makuch, Associate Professor and Director of the Ecolab Center for Culinary Science at Johnson & Wales University. Fermentation, however, is an anaerobic process that occurs naturally when microbes break down sugars in food, resulting in the production of lactic acid. “There’s a lot of confusion,” Makuch concedes. “Fermented foods may end up pickled, but pickles aren’t necessarily fermented. As soon as you heat-treat a pickle, you kill the microbes.” And without those industrious little organisms, fermentation won’t occur.

Yes. Cool temperatures stall the fermentation process, while keeping it alive. That being said, they are quite tolerant to temperature changes.  Just don’t leave them out on the counter uncovered for extended periods of time. With our kimchi, krauts and pickles, push the vegetables down in the brine with a clean utensil to preserve the flavor.

The amount of salt in each serving is small. Salt is a necessary ingredient in the fermentation process, preserving the food for the first few days while the good bacteria get to work.  We only use high quality Hawaiian sea salt, which is actually very nourishing for the body packed with over 80 minerals that our body needs to function properly. For more information about the health benefits of salt, check out some of the new information being published about the positive side of the salt debate.