Loads of people have success with this, but typically you'll
find dairy kefir grains (which have some lactose in them and are best avoided if you are lactose intolerant) and water kefir grains, which can work in a sugary water drink, coconut water, or other water - based beverages and makes a light champagne - like drink.
I've personally
found dairy kefir to feel slightly acidic and inflammatory for me so I prefer to make almond milk kefir http://lindawagner.net/blog/2012/03/how-to-make-almond-milk-kefir or use probiotics.
Not exact matches
However, it is possible to
find dairy - free
kefir culture (make sure you purchase what's called water
kefir!)
We
found that it took around 7 weeks of regular fermentation in
dairy milk to fully recover milk
kefir grains so that they would reproduce after having been used to ferment coconut milk for 2 weeks.
I
found out early on my path to healing that my body doesn't do well with
dairy, so I had to go far beyond yogurt and
kefir.
Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus species can normally be
found in fermented
dairy products, such as yogurt and
kefir.
Water
kefir grains, also known as tibicos, contain a mixture of Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Pediococcus and Leuconostoc bacteria with yeasts like Saccharomyces, Candida, Kloeckera and possibly others (source); similar bacterias and yeasts are
found in
dairy kefir.
However, many people who identify as being lactose intolerant may actually be pasteurization intolerant, and may
find that Milk
Kefir doesn't cause the same sort of side effects as other
dairy products do.
Probiotic yeasts are also
found in
kefir, both
dairy and coconut water based.
Unfortanately, anybody that eats a highly vegetarian or vegan diet, or purposely avoids the fat from animal foods typically doesn't get enough vitamin K2 because K2 is almost entirely
found in certain animal foods such as the fat portion of pasture - raised
dairy (butter and cream, full - fat yogurt,
kefir, and also full - fat aged cheeses), egg yolks, or in some fermented foods like natto, which most people have never even tried.
Dairy kefir, coconut water
kefir, and
kefir cheese can all be made at home using our simple tutorial
found here.
Lactose, the sugar
found in
dairy (especially unfermented forms of
dairy such milk, as opposed to yogurt or
kefir) is a disaccharide.
If you want to include it in your diet,
find a farmer to get raw milk from, and make your own fermented
dairy products (yogurt,
kefir) so you get the benefits of the raw milk and the probiotics.