I don't know. I bought mine off the internet recently, and now they reproduce. I'd share with you, but I have a long list of people I intend to force them on. An interesting web site is Dom's kefir site. I can find the actual url if you'd like.

Sinking the apparent spam.

Nicole, I've only been doing Kefir smoothies for a couple of weeks, but now I don't get gas as bad as I did before, and I can 'go' more regularly, which is super good for old folks like me. I find that if I use it to replace a meal, such as breakfast or lunch, I feel fuller longer and have lost a couple of pounds without even trying. My cardiologist and I were discussing it before I started useing it to be sure there would be no adverse affects with my heart meds.. and he said it should help me lower my cholesterol too.. but if I ever need to take any antibiotics, then I have to stop doing the kefir smoothies for the duration.. He also said it just may help regulate my BP as well.. and so for me to keep a journal and let him know so he can make changes as necessary, especially if I am going to continue using the grains... I made a small drink this evening using a bit of kefir milk and honey... it was soooo good.. It's like using Activia but less costly and tastes way better imho... I keep my Kefir in a glass jar in the refrig, but then when I want Kefir milk I just take it out and add a quart or so of whole milk.. or skim milk.. but I really prefer the whole milk better.. tastes better.. and leave the jar on the counter for 18 to 24 hours.. and then strain the grains out of the milk.... but cannot use any metal strainers as it adversly affects the grains.. My friend said to wash the grains about once a month using spring water, and NOT city water. The chemicals in the city water will harm the grains.. She told me the grains will multiply so I can share them or make cheese with them.... Carol, I haven't used anything but cows milk, so I really don't know about rice or almond milk... I do know she uses coconut milk on occasion just to do something different.. so maybe they would be okay.. Carolyn

I've never had issues with pot worms. I've never seen a breakdown of what's in kefir grains, but I doubt that all that much of it is carbohydrate. Most of it is probably bacteria and yeast, especially after rinsing, which removes a lot of the polysaccharide gel.