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A glass of plain kefir

Kefir, 2–3.9% fat

Checked by us One serving: 193 g (about 188 mL) · 122 kcal

Lots of riboflavin and calcium.

Nothing to watch.

Good for

How we counted this

What one serving (193 g) gives you.

Your body needs enough of each of these. Past enough, more doesn’t help. Amounts are what the food databases list, not what your body absorbs, unless a row says it was measured.

The words: “A lot” means one serving gives 20% or more of Health Canada’s daily amount, “Some” 10% to 19%, “A little” 2% to 9%, “Almost none” under 2%. Strongest word first; within a word, protein and fibre lead, then the biggest share.

A milligram (mg) is a thousandth of a gram, and a microgram (µg) a thousandth of a milligram: 1,000 µg make 1 mg.

15 more nutrients below “a lot”

Missing from our databases for this food, so left out, not counted as zero: fibre, vitamin K1, niacin, choline and omega-3: EPA + DHA.

Watch out

How we counted this

Nothing here reaches a limit at ordinary amounts.

Worth knowing

No limit applies, so none is rated.

  • Sugar

    7.6 g of sugar in a 193 g serving, natural and added together.

    Learn more

    Shown, not rated. The food tables we read give total sugar, and few give added sugar, so the site can’t yet tell sugar added in making a food from the sugar in fruit or milk.

Also measured in it

Figures from the dataset. None has a limit to be rated against, so none is a verdict.

  • Lactose: 3.8 g per 100 g, so about 7.3 g in a 193 g serving. · Canadian Nutrient File 2026 · grade B

Better options

How we counted this

“Better” here always means better at something the row names: more of one nutrient, more nutrients per serving, or the goal you pick. It never means better in every way.

Every amount below is for the same weight, 193 g, the size of one serving of this food, so a swap compares like with like. A serving of another food can be bigger or smaller.

Compared with the other dairy foods we’ve checked.

A food is listed only if it gives clearly more: at least a fifth more than this food, and at least 10% of the daily amount more.

More of what it’s good for

More riboflavin

Amounts as listed, not adjusted for how much gets in.

For calcium: Parmesan would lead, in the same 193 g, but is left out (portions too different to compare by weight).

More nutrients per serving, counted together

The other dairy foods we’ve checked with more nutrients per serving than this one, counting at most 100 kcal. One score ranks them all, so the same few often lead.

  • Skim milk
    • More vitamin B12 (0.97 µg vs 0.39 µg)
    • More vitamin D (2.32 µg vs 0.19 µg)
  • Kefir, low-fat
    • More vitamin A (330 µg vs 69.5 µg)
    • More vitamin D (1.93 µg vs 0.19 µg)
  • Milk, 2%
    • More vitamin B12 (1.02 µg vs 0.39 µg)
    • More vitamin D (2.32 µg vs 0.19 µg)

Where the calcium card measured that less calcium gets in than from milk, calcium counts for less; everything else is as listed.

Your goal

Your goal changes only this list, not what the food gives you or what to watch.

Losing weight: fewer calories, and more nutrients, protein and fibre for each calorie.

  • Skim milk
    • 66 kcal in 193 g (this food: 122)
    • More vitamin B12 (0.97 µg vs 0.39 µg)
    • More vitamin D (2.32 µg vs 0.19 µg)
  • Greek yogurt, plain, nonfat
    • More vitamin B12 (1.45 µg vs 0.39 µg)
    • More selenium (18.7 µg vs 2.22 µg)
    • More protein (19.7 g vs 6.76 g)
  • Kefir, low-fat
    • 83 kcal in 193 g (this food: 122)
    • More vitamin A (330 µg vs 69.5 µg)
    • More vitamin D (1.93 µg vs 0.19 µg)
Why some foods aren’t suggested

Left out: Parmesan (portions too different to compare by weight).

Bring a tracker export or describe your usual week. The same rules check all of it.

The numbers

Open every value

Name in the database: Kefir, 2-3.9% M.F.

How the serving was set: 3/4 cup (188 mL) = 193.1 g (Health Canada TRA row D.12; grams derived from FDC 170904's cup weight, a low-fat kefir: density of the fuller-fat product not checked)

Listed nutrients, per 100 g

For each nutrient, the value this page uses is marked “used”. A row marked “second database” is another database’s figure for a matching food, kept so you can see how far databases disagree (they can differ in the samples analysed, lab methods and rounding). Its own cells are worked out from it, but none of the page’s words or scores are.

NutrientPer servingPer 100 caloriesHowSourceGrade
Omega-3: ALA0.027 g0.05 g0.04 glisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Calcium113.5 mg219.17 mg180.16 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Carbohydrate4.25 g8.21 g6.75 glisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Energy63 kcal121.65 kcal–CNF Energy (kcal) usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026–
Fat3.6 g6.95 g5.71 glisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Folate14 µg27.03 µg22.22 µglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Iron0.075 mg0.14 mg0.12 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Magnesium11.5 mg22.21 mg18.25 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Phosphorus90 mg173.79 mg142.86 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Potassium152 mg293.51 mg241.27 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Protein3.5 g6.76 g5.56 glisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Riboflavin (B2)0.182 mg0.35 mg0.29 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Selenium1.15 µg2.22 µg1.83 µglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Sodium42.5 mg82.07 mg67.46 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Sugars3.92 g7.57 g6.22 glisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Thiamin (B1)0.048 mg0.09 mg0.08 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Vitamin A36 µg69.52 µg57.14 µglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Vitamin B120.2 µg0.39 µg0.32 µglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Vitamin B60.039 mg0.08 mg0.06 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Vitamin C0.3 mg0.58 mg0.48 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Vitamin D0.1 µg0.19 µg0.16 µglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Vitamin E0.09 mg0.17 mg0.14 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Water87.8 g169.54 g139.37 glisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Zinc0.42 mg0.81 mg0.67 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
NutrientPer 100 gPer servingPer 100 caloriesHowSourceGrade
Beta-carotene20.5 µg39.59 µg32.54 µglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Copper0.01 mg0.02 mg0.02 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
PUFA 18:30.027 g0.05 g0.04 glisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Lactose3.78 g7.3 g6 glisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Manganese0.009 mg0.02 mg0.01 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Niacin (B3, preformed)0.1 mg0.19 mg0.16 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Pantothenic acid (B5)0.31 mg0.6 mg0.49 mglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C
Retinol33.5 µg64.69 µg53.17 µglisted usedCanadian Nutrient File 2026 #6291C

Change the amount to rescale the first column. Nutrients a database doesn't list are missing, not zero.

Hazard rows as the dataset rates them

  • Milk allergy · Worth knowing · Person-specific: kefir is a dairy food made from milk, a Health Canada priority allergen. · Health Canada, priority allergens · A

Oxalate, phytate and gut-tolerance measurements

  • lactose: 3.78 g/100 g (Observations not recorded) g/100 g · as sold · Canadian Nutrient File 2026, 'Kefir, 2-3.9% M.F.' · grade B · Canadian Nutrient File 2026

Sources

Body map 2026-10-25.1: each nutrient’s job comes from an agency fact sheet, linked beside it under Good for.

The plain words: “a lot” means one serving (100 g when the food has no serving size) gives at least 20% of the daily amount (the reference intake), “some” at least 10%, “a little” at least 2% (the cut-offs are ours, one set for every page: 20% and 10% are borrowed from the US labelling terms “high” and “good source” and applied to Health Canada’s daily amount, whereas Health Canada’s own shopper rule says 15%; provisional: they may change in a later method version). The daily amount is Health Canada’s Dietary Reference Intake for adults 19–30; where men and women need different amounts we use the higher one (protein: 56 g for men, 46 g for women). The percentage printed under each nutrient is the printed amount as a share of that daily amount, rounded to the nearest whole number, and the word is read from that percentage, so the amount, the percentage and the word always agree. Calcium with a measured absorption is scaled by how well it gets in compared with milk.

The scale: “Nothing to watch” means a serving a day stays under the limit at ordinary amounts; “Go easy” means a serving a day can push past the limit for adults who already take in the most, or fewer than 2 servings reach it; “Limit it” means once a week or less. The dataset’s own rating is under “How we got this”. Provisional: the scale may change in a later method version.

Measured absorption under Good for: grade-A studies in adults that tested this preparation of this food, as a share of the listed amount (the share digested, for protein), quoted once each source has passed our evidence check; animal studies and other variants stay in the table above. Provisional: this screen may change in a later method version.