Hepatoprotective Properties of Water Kefir: A Traditional Fermented Drink and Its Potential Role

The liver is extremely vulnerable to damage because of its role in metabolism. Toxin, metabolic syndrome, alcohol, microorganisms, and autoimmune diseases can be the cause of liver damage. While different etiologies can cause liver disease, pathophysiologically, there are similarities in the role of free radicals, inflammatory mediators, and gut microbiome during the disease development. Therefore, ingredients with antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and antidysbiotic properties have the potential to act as hepatoprotectors; and water kefir is one of them. Water kefir is a traditional fermented drink made from water kefir grains, sugar, and dried fruit. Water kefir is dominated by lactic acid bacteria and yeast as a fermented beverage, and several species of this group of microorganisms have been shown as probiotics. According to researches, water kefir has strong antioxidant, antiinflammatory, and hepatoprotective effects. Even so, there are still few researches reported about water kefir as a hepatoprotective agent. Several studies, on the other hand, showed promising results. This review discusses the relationship between the pathophysiology of liver disease and the pharmacological activity of water kefir and other probiotics in general, which leads to the potential prospect of water kefir research as a hepatoprotective agent.