Lifeway Kefir – Products Worth Reviewing and Giveaway

Yogurt has always been a staple in our household. We love how it tastes, we love the variety of uses for it, and we love that it’s really good for you. But now there’s a new sheriff in town – and that sheriff is named kefir. Although kefir has been around the world for many years, it surfaced into the mainstream probiotic world not too long ago. Some people may have already heard of it and enjoy it on a regular basis, but for many, kefir is still fairly new in the United States.

Kefir (pronounced keh-fur), most popularly enjoyed in Eastern Europe, is acknowledged as one of the highest form of probiotic. It tastes similar to yogurt and is made in a similar way, but is cultured to be more effective than yogurt. Kefir is also slightly effervescent and is a bit thinner in consistency than yogurt. It’s also fairly easy to add different flavors into kefir because to me, kefir tastes slightly more sour than yogurt but it does have a rather unique taste. And of course one of my all-time favorite brand of kefir is Lifeway Kefir.

Lifeway Kefir or Lifeway Foods makes the largest selection of kefir products in the United States and their products range from organic kefir, to low carb kefir, to cheese, to organic green kefir,  and to their newest frozen kefir (which I’m most eager to try next!). They also make a product specially formulated for children called “ProBugs” which my son absolutely loves (and perhaps because the “bugs” concept is cool). Their ProBugs currently comes in four flavors – Goo-Berry Pie, Orange Creamy Crawler, Sublime Slime Lime, and Strawnana Split. See – even their ProBugs kefir has really cool names! But their biggest selection of flavors would have to be their kefir and organic kefir. Their organic kefir is certified organic and although their regular non-organic versions are not made with organic ingredients, they still use high-quality, natural ingredients – no unnecessary additives like preservatives and high fructose corn syrup. And if you want to avoid sugar all together, their Plain Kefir is unsweetened but still delicious!

Lifeway Foods has been making kefir for over 25 years and is in fact, celebrating their 25th Anniversary as we speak. Their humble beginnings started with a father and her daughter who wanted to introduce the kefir product into the United States. Knowing the health benefits of kefir, the owners also pledged to use only all-natural ingredients and formulated ProBoost, their exclusive pair of clinically proven probiotics to balance the body’s ecosystem, support digestive health and for immunity purposes. Lifeway’s kefirs can also help those with lactose intolerance as the probiotics in kefir help boost the digestion of lactose in the body. All of Lifeway Kefirs contain 10 live and active probiotic cultures which help strengthen the body’s immune system through the digestive tract. Probiotics have been known to improve the body’s digestive tract because it adds good “bacteria” into the body so that it can destroy the bad bacteria in the body. The body’s digestive tract is known to contribute to at least 70% of the body’s immune system, so it’s important to keep your digestive  tract healthy and not loaded with a bunch of junk.

Lifeway Kefir offered me several coupons to try their products and review them. I decided to try their ProBugs in Goo-Berry Pie and their Organic Kefir in Low Fat Strawberries n’ Cream and Helios Nutrition Organic Blueberry. Their Helios Nutrition’s Organic Kefir is specifically designed with FOS/inulin and is a delicious probiotic beverage beneficial to both children and adults.  The Helios Kefir is made with Helios’s 7 Exclusive Live & Active Cultures: Lactobacillus kefyr, Lactococcus lactis, Lactococcus cremoris, Lactococcus diacetylactis, Leuconostoc cremoris, Candida kefyr, and Saccharomyces unisporous.

Since I regularly eat yogurt, I wanted to see how Lifeway Kefir’s probiotic drinks can help with my body. I drank their Helios Organic Kefir and their regular Organic Kefir for a week and I indeed  felt like my stomach was acting better and took well to all of the live and active cultures in the kefirs. But perhaps because I already ate yogurt on a regular basis, my body accepted the live and active cultures well, although I honestly believe that probiotics are suppose to help you instead of hinder your body’s performance. But I suppose it works differently for everyone.

Lifeway Foods has also offered 1 LUCKY reader of Happymomblogger to try their kefir. The prize consists of a t-shirt, a lip balm, a button, a VIP coupon for ProBugs, a VIP coupon for their regular 32oz. kefir, a VIP coupon for their new frozen kefir and a VIP coupon for First Juice. A note about First Juice – Lifeway Foods acquired First Juice not too long ago and First Juice is a specially formulated juice designed for babies and toddlers who can drink juice. They are also made with certified organic ingredients and that’s really important for growing little bodies. First Juice contains less sugar than regular juice which is also much healthier for little tummies and currently their flavors include Apple & Carrot, Banana & Carrot, Blueberry & Purple Carrot, and Peach & Purple Carrot. For more info on First Juice, please visit: http://www.firstjuice.com/.  I also enjoy drinking First Juice juices because they are so delicious! And you don’t really need all that sugar in juice anyway. I even made frozen First Juice pops with their juice and it was a big hit with my son! So how do you enter to win this fabulous prize from Lifeway Foods? Read below to find out how.

Here’s how to enter in the Lifeway Foods giveaway:

MANDATORY ENTRY:

#1 entry – Become a follower of Lifeway Kefir: http://twitter.com/#!/lifeway_kefir and Tweet that you are entering the contest at Happymomblogger. (Please note, this is a change from my other first entry. All previous entries on the Facebook page will be counted.)

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES: 

#2 entry – Become a Happymomblogger follower: http://twitter.com/#!/happymomblogger and “Tweet” me @happymomblogger that you are entering the Lifeway Kefir giveaway.

#3 entry – Visit  http://www.firstjuice.com/ and http://www.lifeway.net/ and tell me what products you would like to try.

#3 entry – Subscribe to my Blog.

#4 entry – Enter in my other contests.

#5 entry – Vote for me at Top Mommy Blogs using the link provided below.

You can enter as many times as you like but you MUST enter in the Mandatory entry to qualify. The more you enter, the more chances your name will be drawn.  You can enter by telling me the 5 entries in the LEAVE A COMMENT box. Please be sure to give me your name and email address so that I may contact you if you win. Contest is open to residents of US only. 18 years and older please. Please be sure to provide a physical address and not a P.O. Box.

Contest Start Date: May 11, 2011

Contest End Date: May 25, 2011- Contest closed. Winner will be selected. Congratulations to Becky S.!

Only 1 winner will be chosen at random and I will post the winner’s name on my blog.

GOOD LUCK AND THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING!

Disclaimer: The product(s)were sent to the author for review by the manufacturer

Disclaimer: The product(s)were sent to the author for review by the manufacturer/PR. All reviews on “Happymomblogger” remain unbiased and unpaid and are the sole decision of the author. The opinions of these product(s) were not influenced in any way, shape, or form. As always, please read the ingredients carefully when trying new products. 

Please read the labels and ingredients carefully and follow all manufacturer’s instructions (if any). The products selected for the giveaway were generously donated by the companies/PR to help readers learn more about their products. The winner’s choice in using/consuming these products are entirely up to the winner and will not hold the author and her family liable nor the companies/PR liable. These products are made with non-toxic ingredients but always be safe with what you use and consume.

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