Research

Mixed

Consuming kefir significantly increases Helicobacter pylori eradication rates and reduces gastrointestinal side effects (diarrhea, abdominal pain, nausea) during standard triple antibiotic therapy for H. pylori infection.

If you are being treated for H. pylori with antibiotics, ask your doctor about adding 500mL of traditional kefir daily. One study showed this nearly doubled the success rate of clearing the infection and significantly reduced stomach pain and diarrhea caused by the drugs. Do not use heat-treated kefir, as the live microbes are required for this effect.

GoodSupportsMEDIUM confidence
The study found that the rate of H. pylori eradication was significantly higher in the kefir group (78%) compared to the control group (50%; p = 0.026). The occurrence of diarrhoea, abdominal pain and nausea were also significantly lower in the kefir group compared to control, suggesting kefir may be beneficial adjunct therapy during treatment for H. pylori infections.
Eirini Dimidi et al. · Nutrients · 2019

Why this rating

Based on a double-blind RCT (n=85) with a statistically significant p-value (0.026), though the sample size is small and limited to one study.

Source

Fermented Foods: Definitions and Characteristics, Impact on the Gut Microbiota and Effects on Gastrointestinal Health and Disease

Eirini Dimidi et al. · Nutrients · 2019

DOI 10.3390/nu11081806

narrative_reviewCited 747×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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