It All Began with a Jar of

Coconut Oil and a can of Coconut Flour, same company.

A few years ago I subscribed to Mike Adams, The Health Ranger's newsletter "Natural News". There are times he is a little too
"anti" for me. To his credit I have learned a lot from the newsletter and share a lot of his thoughts on vaccinations, prevention via probiotics and vitamins and whole foods. I also got totally turned on by the coconut oil and coconut flour information since the granddaughter has shown some sensitivity to gluten and dairy.

I have been a yogurt eater and found the value of making my own with store bought yogurt with live cultures as my starter. I treasure my second hand store $2.00 Salton 1 qt. yogurt maker, especially when I looked it up to see what it would take to replace it. Amazon had one and it was 179.99!! I need to work on my 'attachment' to the "Salton yogi". It has helped me to be mindful of caring for this little warmer. I have found others, and will be buying the 2 qt. Yogourmet in the near future. I just checked and it is still $50, the Salton is down to $150...oh yay.

My mother was a firm believer in raw milk from our cows, eggs and fresh chickens from the neighbor (we didn't know there were nice chickens, so didn't keep them often,) pastured beef, the other neighbor's pork...you get the idea. Her veggies from the garden were extraordinary. She froze rather than canned. Simple blanching and freezing did preserve more nutrients. She ground grains to make the bread we ate. The term "homemaker" was taken seriously by her. I am forever grateful to have her as the provider of my food for my youth. I have not been kind to myself as far as tobacco abuse and, for a time, alcohol abuse. I took short cuts and dieted using Atkins throughout my life, yet I retain health in many ways.

Several years ago I was a physical, emotional and pharmaceutical mess. I was treating my depression with paxil, zoloft, lexapro (not good for me at all) and xanax for the anxiety. I put over 1200 miles on the state car every two weeks, and sat in front of the computer when I wasn't driving. I ate Town Pump fast food and yoplait. Add to that menopause, metabolic syndrome symptoms, financial and marital problems and a mess was an understatement!

I lost a lot of weight without trying. It was great at first! I could get into clothes I hadn't worn for years, but the weight kept coming off until I was wearing a size 4. I had been in 16+ to 18+ for 7 years before, so this was getting worrisome. I began to incorporate better eating habits, lean proteins and veggies, started making my own yogurt again and quit the desk/driving job. I maintained my weight for 2 years, but went to work at an espresso shop and the hfcs in the syrups, the growth hormones in the commercial milk and the stopping of smoking started adding a ring, then a tire of fat around my abdomen.

I also suffered from IBS from the antidepressant load I had taken. I was off all medications by the time I started work at the coffee shop, except of course caffeine and refined corn sugars. I was doing somewhat better when I incorporated fresh greens in my diet. I continued making and eating the yogurt. Things were healing, but only somewhat.

I began a quest for a better probiotic and found out about the Specific Carb Diet that recommended 24 hr. yogurt. Even that didn't really even things out the way I wanted. Mind you, I was still consuming honey in rather high doses, thinking that would help the gut too. I was just feeding the bad bacteria and yeast with it, and definitely was feeding the ab fat with it! On to other sources and began research on kefir.

I found links to "Nourished Kitchen" and "Food Renegade" and eventually Giselle C's site. I made some monetary decisions regarding health and ordered the grains from Michael Patterson's website . I have been drinking the kefir for several days now. It was a rough start, but a week later the kefir has become palatable and is great mixed with mashed fruit in a smoothie. I start and end my day with some kefir. It has helped a great deal in the potty department. I have had more energy and focus too. That may be enhanced by the amino acids I am taking since reading in "The Mood Cure", but absorption of other nutrients and creating balanced flora in the gut are part of the cure too.

This is the record of my journey toward health from nature not the lab.