This Fermented Milk is A Probiotic Powerhouse Even Better Than Cottage Cheese and Yogurt

It may taste like cottage cheese or plain yogurt, but amasi is actually a fermented milk drink with a huge variety of the good bacteria for your intestines. Amasi is a common African word for fermented milk and this drink has been loved for centuries.

Renowned for keeping Masai warriors in Northern Tanzania and Kenya strong and alive, amasi has a wide variety of microorganisms and highly bioavailable nutrients. The bioavailability of a food is the speed at which the food is broken down and turned into beneficial nutrients.

Strong, Ancient Cultures

The healthy strains of bacterial cultures in amasi helped ancient African culture survive and thrive. Because the probiotics were so easily received by the body, the gut-health of these ancient cultures was considerably better than once believed.

We assume that without refrigeration thing’s would go bad – but culturing foods was the answer to several health problems. Besides, when foods ferment or culture, like kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchee, pickles, or in this case, milk, their shelf life is vastly improved.

Long-Lasting Life

Having a longer shelf for foods is important in Africa. For the most part, their diets consisted of raw foods, certainly organic, and the cultures needed as much sustenance and vitality from these foods as possible. Fermented foods, however, give a megadose of nutrients and bacteria that help digest the rest of the foods the Masai ate.

Amasi is an abundant source of lactic acid-based bacteria. Because their diets were high in protein (for increased power and long-lasting energy) the Masai needed the essential enzymes to break down and use these proteins. Fermenting foods gives them the power to help you metabolize the important proteins with less energy.

In 2004 a Kenyan student at the University of Wisconsin named Richard Mokua studied amasi, a favorite cultural food from his childhood. When he was young Richard observed those who drank amasi were much less susceptible to diarrhea, and he was able to prove in his Master’s thesis that amasi killed E Coli very quickly.

Mokua added E Coli to commercial milk, commercial yogurt, and amasi from Kenya. The yogurt, with active bacteria strains, was able to slightly reduce E Coli; the milk actually made the E Coli grow stronger. Amasi was the only one able to dominate the E Coli bacteria and almost completely remove it. The big difference between yogurt and amasi? Lactic acid bacteria.

Be Pro-Probiotic

Cultures all across Africa consume amasi, but each version is slightly different. Raw milk from grass-fed cows is know to help your body support more beneficial microorganisms than any other fermented food.

Probiotic enriched foods, particularly fermented beverages like amasi, help your body absorb vitamins and minerals. Specifically folic acid, niacin, zinc, vitamins K, B6 and B12. All of these nutrients help to lower inflammation, which can be create chronic health concerns. Fermented foods also improve digestion and give your immune system a boost.

Most Beneficial Drink

The pasteurization process of store bought milk destroys any of the beneficial organisms that lived in the raw milk, and ruins the amino acids making milk a more menacing inflammatory. Raw milk from cows that eat a 100% grass and green food diet is super beneficial however. This milk contains Beta casein A2, an amino acid chain that helps the body, as opposed to Beta casein A1 – in commercial milk – that is a dangerous inflammatory.

Amasi might not be good on cereal, but why are you eating cereal anyway? Unless it is 100% bran or wheat, and you’re using raw, organic milk, you’re basically eating a bowl of refined sugar. Your body will have a very difficult time processing that.

Start Your Day Right

If you start your day with amasi, however, the foods you eat during the day will be broken down much easier so your body can enjoy the benefits of the vitamins and nutrients in the fresh foods you’re choosing. So why not pick up some amasi today?

The shipping from Kenya might be a little expensive, but your guts will thank you.