A Solution to our Problem?

After going off and doing more research on theories behind causes of gastrointestinal disorders, there is a positive amount of feedback about post remission treatment (where doctors treat the inflammation in the intestines) of patients with the consumption of functional foods such as probiotics. There seems to be a common belief between a lot of the research done on gastrointestinal problems that the microbial ecosystem diversity in our intestines plays a huge role in our health. The ratio of good to bad bacteria is disrupted when symptoms of IBD or IBS occur and the healthy microbial flora need to be replenished.

Some people believe that an over sensitive reaction to certain bad bacteria in the gut is what is causing the immune system to attack so excessively but this is just a theory and more research would be needed to prove it, but if true, probiotics may be a good preventative measure to stop these symptoms of IBD (Diarrhoea, fatigue, anaemia, cramps/abdominal pain, weight loss, loss of appetite etc.) flaring up and be a more effective form of treatment than with antibiotics which may be lowering the good bacteria levels in gut simultaneously allowing room for bad bacteria to thrive (Healthline, 2014) .

One source of probiotics and other beneficial microbes that has been hailed as a miracle source for gut health that seems to keep popping up is Kefir. The kefir is full of healthy probiotics, yeasts, enzymes, amino acids, vitamins and minerals which actively help cleanse the digestive system of toxins and restore healthy balance to ecosystem in the gut. It is regularly consumed as a dairy product such as kefir milk but the grains can be used to ferment water which is a great option for our dairy free probiotic drink.

We discussed this as an option for the product and agreed it was a good idea to go with for our concept as it has been given positive feedback by people suffering with gastrointestinal disorders, as well as being beneficial to consume for people without these disorders just to improve health. We believe there is a market for a kefir water product for this reason and that it is not well known about enough by the population according to our own personal survey done less than 20% of people had heard of kefir but did not really know much about it.

Next we will have to look into the barriers and obtactles of producing the product and the feasibilty of scaling up production. To get a better idea of how the process works I have decided to ferment some kefir water myself at home to get a better understanding of how it might work.