Hello again, did you get a chance to try my Green Juice. If you did, I hope you liked it. I have been having green smoothies for a few years now so I may be accustomed to that chlorophyll rich taste, but the juice actually tastes better then the smoothie, and the smoothie is pretty darn good. I’ll get a smoothie recipe wrote up in the next day or two, it is another family favorite that I am not all that precise with the ingredients about, but I’ll write up something a bit better then, a bit of this, a dash of that, so stay tuned. Okay, well let’s get to Kefir.  Kefir will take up this blog and the next one will be The Liver Cleanse. It will have to be a part 2 thing cause it was a bit of a process on the first round.

Let’s learn about Kefir. I found Kefir in the store a couple of times and kind of passed it by because once I found out it was fermented milk or yogurt my taste buds refused any thought process my brain was trying to have about it’s potential, (boy were they wrong). Anywhooo, first of all let’s get some information out there about kefir. Kefir is a very rich probiotic, which is a milk that has been fermented to grow good bacteria strains that our body needs throughout our lifecycle. We seem to deplete the good bacteria that we need by using antibiotics, (which are necessary at times), hand sanitizers, (which once again have their attributes), and antibacterial soaps to kill the bad stuff. But, what ends up happening, is all of these things plus junk foods, medications, illnesses, diarrhea, alcohol consumption, stress and many more end up taking the good bacteria as well. Most often it leaves us with an imbalance of bad bacteria to good bacteria. These bad strains can do quite a lot of damage on our systems and can grow quite strong inside our bodies needing us to replace our good armies pronto, to get that good ratio back instore.

When our bodies are deficient in good bacteria we end up with bloating, irritable bowel syndrome, leaky gut, constipation, poor absorption of nutrients from our foods, increased allergies, increased bad candida growth, basically anything from head to toe that can go wrong is due to a deficiency. Our organs become so overwhelmed with fighting the bad bacteria that they cannot do their jobs in making the hormones enzymes and chemicals we need to function and we become very tired and ill. To replace the good strains we need to either take a probiotic that you purchase cold (refer to previous blogs), or by the intake of fermented foods that replenish our body with the strains that we need to change the path that our bodies are heading down. Our bodies normally have trillions of good bacteria growing inside of them, so don’t be thrown off with the amounts of taking 10, 20, 30 billion live active cells daily, because our bodies are home to many more then just that. Damage from being deficient in good bacteria can be reversed and it tastes good. Bonus!!

Kefir is made with using cow, goat or sheeps milk which is left to ferment, therefore, growing good bacteria cultures. Any Kefir with 5 or more cultures are a good start. I take one with 10 active cultures. Some names of the good bacteria you may find in these products are:

Streptococcus Thermophilus

Lactobacillus Delbrueckii Subsp. Bulgaricus

Lactobacillus Casei

Lactobacillus Acidophilus

Bifidobacterium Lactis

Lactobacillus Rhamnosus

Lactococcus Lactis Susp. Cremoris

Lactococcus Lactis Susp. Lactis Biovar Diacetylactis

Leuconostoc Mesenteroides Ssp. Cremoris

Lactobacillus Delbrueckii Subsp. Lactis

Otherwise known as alphabet soup…lol

If you are able to make fermented foods at home they are always the best, if done under careful watch such as kefir, kombucha, pickles, sauerkraut, miso, tempeh, kimchi and many others. These fermented foods have been made for hundreds of years known for their “good feeling” quality, helping the body to repair itself. I have never made a fermented food at home and I am just starting to learn information on these healthy super foods that contribute to our intestinal flora. What I do know is they work. I had first started with a probiotic capsule, that I had explained about in prior blogs, then found a fermented milk on my grocers shelf. Truth be told, I walked past it many times before actually purchasing it, and I even purchased a blueberry fermented milk and then let it go past its due date in the fridge before I worked up the courage to even think about trying it. Knowing how well the probiotic at night was working for me I thought, “Char this is silly just give it a try”. So I found a mango, fermented milk, brought it home, placed it in the fridge until it got good and cold. That afternoon I worked up the courage to pour it into a glass, and to my surprise when I opened the container there was no smell, like I thought something fermented would be… myth one diffused, it didn’t look lumpy or gross…myth two diffused, and when I tasted it myth three was diffused immediately as well. It tasted like a drinkable yogurt with a tang to it almost like a sherbet yum! It was really nice. I liked it.

Now that I made it past the first try, I instantly started to think how else I could incorporate this delicious fermented milk into my diet. First thought was to put it in my kale smoothie. I could decrease the soy milk and put half of this delightful tasting yogurt like consistency into my smoothie. What a genius decision. It really added a nice flavor and a bit of a tang to my smoothie. I start with my baby kale/baby spinach mixture added in an avocado, mango, orange, a couple pitted prunes, sometimes a handful of blueberries, a couple tablespoons of plain greek yogurt,(another probiotic), half soy milk and now half mango probiotic fermented milk. Blend it all to a smooth consistency and I have enough to do me for about 3 days. Like I said, I will get a better recipe drawn up for you so can give it a try. Some may add a scoop of protein powder or chia seeds for omega 3, which work well in this powerhouse smoothie too. Or you can just drink a small glass of fermented milk all on its own.

Keep an eye out for added sugars. No matter how they label the sugar whether it be cane sugar, agave, fruit sugar, stevia etc, it is sugar… sugar is sugar!  Stay away from man made sugars: sorbitol, aspartame, splenda etc, your body ends up craving a higher amount of sweetness and your body processes it the same way, it stores it as fat, right where you don’t want it. Hint…4g of sugar is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of sugar, keep that little conversion in your back pocket.

So this was my introduction to kefir and I truly like it. It definitely has helped with my whole digestive system. I feel like I have more energy and my insides are just happier with me. So now that I am taking care of my digestive system, my liver, brain and sinuses can start to recover, as well as receive and make the vital chemicals I need to function daily. With my daily supplements, my hydration routine, added superfoods and juices I can say my quality of living has improved greatly. I do suffer from migraines, there is no doubt there, but if I can decrease the severity with nutrition instead of more chemicals I feel I am on the right path. Oh darn it, I just realized I should have took a picture of the mango kefir smoothie we just made to go with our lunch… drat!! It was tooooo good, and didn’t last long enough for me to think to take a picture, duh. Even my husband, daughter and puppy like it, smoothies for the 4 of us, yummy!

It was just Mango Kefir Fermented Milk with frozen mango, blended up to a smooth tasty side drink.  My family doesn’t even realize how good it is for them because it tastes so good. That’s a win, win!

So next time we meet, I will continue to tell you about my experience with the Liver Cleanse and how it decreased my Western Meds again. See you soon.

P.S. The Kefir in the picture above does have 28g of sugar per 1 cup of kefir.  So far this is the only one I can find where I live, but I am keeping my eye our for other brands.  (Do people still P.S.?  If not, sorry can’t help it, I’m still old school).

Have A Great Migraine Free Day!