Cauliflower? Nope, kefir grains – ie. little balls of bacterial joy
Hi Tracy,
After reading your book I got myself some kefir grains & I must say digestion is great! How often to you have kefir? Every day or other? I’m deciding wether I have it everyday & if I dont, what do I do with the kefir grains? Do I keep in the fridge & how long can I leave them b4 they go bad?
Thanks Tracy.
Hi there!
I used to have kefir every day when I made the video about it… if you don’t want to make it every day, you just have to make sure that the kefir grains have something to eat… so keep them in the fridge in a bit of milk and they will stay good for a long time. The cold temperature in the fridge will slow fermentation right down.
I can’t remember what happened to my kefir grains exactly… I didn’t do this, or just left them too long without milk, and they died I guess :/ I definitely should have looked after them better.
Then I moved to Australia and I haven’t had any kefir in a long time, but I can tell my digestion could totally use it!! I keep learning more and more about kefir and just how AMAZING it is… like 20 times more powerful than any store bought probiotic pill. And SO much cheaper. I think I may order some more grains and be more vigilant about keeping them alive.
Also if you make some kefir and don’t want to use it right away, or you want to make larger batches of kefir so you don’t have to make it every day, once it’s fermented just move the whole thing with the kefir grains into the fridge, and since fermentation is so slow in there, you can use it at your leisure and then make a new batch. Apparently even a tablespoon per day is akin to huge benefits!
Hi Tracy!
I found your website today and I have really enjoyed reading everything and im excited to get started on changing my diet and trying new things.
I had a question that I have not really been able to find anything about on the website yet and i wanted to know your take on it. I have a pretty bad case of Eczema on my face as well as acne. Having both of these prevents me from being able to treat either one with any type of medicine and I really just dont like medicine anyways!
I recently have been reading about “Alkaline Water”. I have read great things about it but it seems a little too good to be true for me. The machines are quite pricy running around $2,000 dollars generally. I know things work differently for everyone but whats your take on this so called “Magic Water”?
Thanks a ton!!! =]
Hi there!
Well, I hadn’t really read anything about it and you just brought it to my attention now…. so I looked it up, and it sounds like the benefit is that it will neutralize acids in the body and keep your body at a more neutral PH. That sounds legit and that it could definitely be beneficial.
However, I’m all about doing things on a budget and in a reasonable way…. and a holistic way. The problem is that many people will pay a lot of money for something like this, and expect it to work miracles, but if they don’t change their diet or lifestyle otherwise, it’s likely not to really do much in the long run. It’s the same thing with random health supplements and what not (ie. buying some supplement that sounds like it’s AMAZING, but relying solely on that for results. Usually ends in disappointment. Or it works for a while and just stops working.)
I’m not saying that is your intention! I’m just saying that you should improve your lifestyle first without spending a lot of money on anything fancy in particular, and then if you finding that you feel really good and are going to stick with healthy living for life, and if you really really really want this machine and you really think it would be a great thing to supplement your healthy lifestyle with, then do it.
For example, I really, really want to have a Vitamix high speed blender. Yes, this is a $500 blender… do I need it? No. I’ve done just fine so far without one. Do I want it? Yes, because I think it would make life a little easier, last me for years and years, and give me more creativity in the kitchen. Plus I’ve proved to myself that I actually really do use my regular blender and that it’s not just a fad… so I think that I could give myself permission to have a Vitamix now.
I’m just saying….. don’t get wrapped up in any miracle. You know what they say… if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You don’t need miracles, you just need to take action and improve your lifestyle at the basic level before you go spending $2000 on anything.
Hi Tracy,
I bought your book and i’m pretty excited about it. But i have one doubt and i really need your opinion. I have moderate acne and i’m in a birth control pill for 3 years now.
I know that your advise is to quit the pill but the problem is that its a very strong pill and for what i research when someone tries to quit that pill a severe acne may appear. So i thought that maybe its better if i start with your tips in diet and exercise and then soon as i feel better, i can quit the pill and maybe the results wouldn’t be that bad. What do you think about that? It exists some kind of supplement that also could help me to not suffer the severe consequences of living the pill?
Thank you
Hi there!
Thank you for purchasing the book 🙂 I’m glad you liked it.
I would definitely advise that to get your health and lifestyle up so that when you quit, your body can weather the storm better. Also, women tend to have good success with the herb Vitex when coming off birth control pills, so you should research that and see if it might be right for you.
Click here for a video where I talk about acne when coming off the birth control pill.
And here’s a video about a girl who had ended up with acne every time she tried to quit birth control, and then she found a way to wean herself off it and successfully avoided the post BCP breakouts.
Lots of love,
Tracy xo
Kathy Martin says
November 15, 2011 at 2:17 pmMy son had a stubborn case of eczema. He has been on an extremely healthy diet since birth (as he has immune issues and simply must be careful) We tried many natural remedies for his eczema but nothing touched it until he started drinking alkaline water. I wish it would cure his autism, can’t say that happened, but the skin is now beautiful!
Tracy says
November 15, 2011 at 3:45 pmVery interesting!! Thanks for the input. … Tell me more! Did you need to buy a $2000 machine? I have to admit I definitely stole that question away from alkaline water and made it more about .. you know… stopping people from wasting their money before they are ready to commit to lifestyle changes. I’m am glad to hear though that it was successful for your son.
By the way, have you tried the GAPs diet or anything like that for his autism? I’ve been reading a lot about GAPs and other gut healing protocols lately (on Heal Thyself in particular) because I’m trying to gear myself for a digestion clean up… so I was just curious.
Autumn says
December 5, 2011 at 8:04 amSo sorry to hear that your son has autsim. I cant imagine how diffuclt its probly been for your family. PLEASE PLEASE read ” Body Ecology diet” by Donna Gates Her and a another Doctor cure with diet 100% autsim. Its called BEDROK its PROBOTIC CRAZY. Fermented Veggies you make at home. coconut WATER kefir. NO grains no Fruit no SUGAR !!! I have a 2 year old son and he loves femented veggies with scrambled eggs and coconut kefir in his BA BA with unsweetend cranberry juice and tones of STEVIA all natural sweetner. I Really hope you wont give up. PLease try and reserch this. Youtube has some interviews with Donna gates and the other Doctor who CURE Children!! The Doctor who had a son born with it.. was on a mission to heal her son and DID. SERIOUSLY check in to it. take care and dont give up. you can heal him.
Jeff says
November 16, 2011 at 1:14 amMy mom actually bought this alkaline water system for like 400 bucks. I thought she was crazy. I’ve been drinking it for the past few months, but I haven’t really “seen” any noticeable improvements in anything. Who knows, maybe I’m boosting a few years to my life! xD
I was wondering — does sleeping late and acne sort of build up? Last week, I slept later than usual every single day of the week (tests), and my skin was okay. However, I had a small cold this weekend and I broke out a bit. a. has there been a link between colds and breakouts for you? and b. does that sort of cause and effect between lack of sleep and acne result after a week or so? (not just the day after..?)
Tracy says
November 16, 2011 at 9:42 amThat’s just how it goes – for some people, that alkaline water, or supplement or whatever else, just spot on addresses whatever imbalance they had and put them over the edge into wellness. For others, it’s not your magic bullet, so it just doesn’t work.
And yeah, the effects of lack of sleep compounds on itself, so I can see why it would lead to a breakout, especially when you got a cold and your immune system was down.
Jeff says
November 16, 2011 at 9:45 ami was wondering .. how often do you catch colds? I seem to have a weak immune system, even though I feel like I’m eating right …
what other factors do you think can cause a weak immune system?
(hey, maybe a video on immunity?) 😀
Tracy says
November 16, 2011 at 9:47 amI catch colds fairly often I suppose. I just had a really bad one not long ago :/
I think immunity is HEAVILY linked to gut health.
Jeff says
November 16, 2011 at 10:00 amI seem to get colds quite often during the winter, but they aren’t bad. They usually last like … 1 day, and then they disappear. it’s really weird.
Gut health? What do you mean? I used to take probiotics everyday but I’ve tapered off because I’ve been going to the restroom everyday. is there something i’m not realizing with my gut health..?
Tracy says
November 16, 2011 at 10:05 amPerhaps! Have you bought my book Jeff? I can’t remember.. I explain it in there!
Shannon says
November 24, 2011 at 3:02 pmI used to catch every cold that was going around but once I started seeing my naturopath I started eating healthier and she put me on a good vitamin D supplement and now I barely ever get colds. I used to get sick and be out for a week. Now if I get sick I sleep for a day and thats it. Apparently alot of people are lacking vit D.
Jeff says
November 24, 2011 at 3:07 pmhow much do you take? I’ve recently started to up my dose from 2000 iu to 4000 iu (i use carlson drops)
Jeff says
November 16, 2011 at 10:19 amhahahahaa i like your clever marketing tactics xD
as a matter of fact, i have NOT bought it. I was waiting for the new one — it’s out now, right? I’ve been really busy with school and haven’t had time to read anything other than textbooks…. 😛
Tracy says
November 16, 2011 at 10:22 amahaha… sneaky aren’t I. (Yes the new book is out)
No, I actually tried to start explaining it, and then I was just like…. ah…. this is just too much info for this comment! And gave up. haha
Jeff says
November 16, 2011 at 11:39 amHaha, okay. I’ll probably get it over winter break or something to read.
Have you heard of milk thistle tea? I’m starting to drink it — supposedly cleanses the liver and detoxifies. We’ll see how it goes!
Tracy says
November 16, 2011 at 9:41 pmYep mik thistle is great 🙂 Definitely helpful
Konica says
November 17, 2011 at 7:31 amHey Tracy!!
Do you think weather can help with acne…I am currently living in NZ( which is quite cold) but soon am moving to Brisbane ( which am very excited about:))
I have noticed in warmer temperatures my skin tends to behave for some odd reason, it’s not a huge improvement but it helps.
What do you think?
Tracy says
November 17, 2011 at 10:55 amHi Konica! Yes I think weather and humidity and that kind of thing does affect skin for better or worse depending on what your skin likes.
I think mine likes warmer temperatures too, but some people’s skin absolutely doesn’t. So yeah! If yours likes it than hopefully Brissy will agree with you!
Carly says
December 10, 2011 at 2:51 amHi Tracy,
I have a sort of kefir question. If you have some already made, and when it’s like 3/4 empty you add more regular milk to it, will the bacteria repopulate the whole thing?
I just bought some cultured coconut milk for the first time (which I assume is similar) and it’s great, but it’s expensive, and I heard it’s hard to get kefir grains to take to coconut milk. I’m wondering if I drink half of it and then refill it with regular coconut milk again, will it work? I don’t know if you’ve tried anything like that but I thought I’d check 🙂
Tracy says
December 10, 2011 at 8:11 amHi Carly!
Yes you can make kefir this way – in fact, that is often how people do it… you buy a starter culture or some store bought kefir and make a batch and then just use some of that to keep the following batches fermenting. However, the downside to this is that the kefir’s not as powerful. I’ve learned that kefir grains have a lot more bacteria and make the drink a lot more powerful than doing it from a starter culture.
However… I don’t have any experience with kefir grains and coconut milk specifically! So I don’t know how challenging it is to get them to take to it!
Tamar says
January 6, 2012 at 9:06 amHey Tracy,
I know this is an old post but I hope you get this. I’ve recently read a lot about kefir, it seems to keep popping up, but can you buy kefir grains or a starter at a regular health food store like Henry’s or something? ‘Cause I can only find them online.
Anyways, much appreciated.
Happy New Year!! By the way.
Tracy says
January 6, 2012 at 9:20 amHi Tamar,
Yeah unfortunately you can’t get them at stores, it either has to be online or if you’re lucky to find someone in your area who is willing to give/sell you some (which people are very willing to give them away, because they multiply!)
Tamar says
January 7, 2012 at 7:13 pmOh, that’s a bummer. :/
Noémie says
April 19, 2012 at 2:17 pmHi Tracy! I just finished read your book and it was great, I really enjoy it 🙂
I know that you wrote this post a long time ago, but I have a question about the contraceptive pill… I was on diane 35 for a really long time and now I just leaved it for a coil. A read a lot of testimonials froms girls that started to have terrible severe acne after leaving diane 35 (I think your problems started after leaving birth control to right?) Do you know if there exist some kind of food that can help regulate the hormones or something? I know you talk about Vitex in this post, but I,m not a fan of taking supplement… I prefere add things to my diet 🙂
Hope you can help me and thank you for continu posting every 2 days! It,s always super interresting and I learned loads of things on your blog!
Tracy says
April 20, 2012 at 9:00 pmHi Noemie,
I’m not really sure of anything in particular that can help you (non supplement wise), because a healthy diet and lifestyle in general works to regulate hormones on its own. But good fats – the grass fed butter, cod liver oil, healthy animal fats, omega 3s – are all really important for regulating female hormonal and reproductive health.
RB says
May 2, 2012 at 12:07 pmAlso regarding the water: If you have an Earthfare or Wholefoods near you they usually have a station with Ionized and Reverse Osmosis type waters that you could probably try out by just filling your own jugs before you spend money on a system.
Summer says
June 5, 2012 at 9:33 amHello again! =)
I actually originally asked you this question about the water and thank you so much for answering my question and giving me some input. I took into account everything you said and have definately made some life changes to my diet, but I decided to go on full force with everything, and I would go forth with trying out this water. I did a lot of research on it and i actually found a few H2O welness centers in my area that sell the water. Many of these stores for those of you that dont know, offer a deal where if you buy a water bottle (i bought one for $8 that holds half a gallon) you can go in daily and fill it for FREE!!!! =D. Buying a gallon of it usually costs around 2.00. Anyways, there are levels of the water. They have you start on level one because it can be a lot for your body to handle if you start on too high of a level of alkalinity. It will not generally HURT your body by doing this though you would not want to do it all the time because it is a MAJOR detox and you notice right away when drinking the water as you detox pretty quickly. You WILL get lightheaded and sometimes dizzy with a headache if you overdue it, and you should not detox too harshly of course. So after starting this water I started drinking AT LEAST half a gallon a day. I drink TONS of water and usually about a gallon a day and I am now drinking a combination of the level 3 and 4, which people of my size do not usually need to drink that high of level however I specifically struggle with painful cystic acne and to my amazement after drinking the water a couple of weeks i have seen an AMAZING IMPROVMENT as well with my little pesky bumps I get all over. As i stated before, i also have a mild case of eczema but i do get it pretty harshly on my face which is so aggrivating and difficult to deal with, it has MAJORLY helped with that as well. I have gone on and off with keeping up with drinking the water, and when I stray away from drinking it I do see a difference for sure! You should probably look into how to test your alkilinty, the do have little test strips they usually sell at the welness stores just to make sure your not overdoing it, but all in all im so glad I tried it. It gives me energy as well mainly because it does help keep me stay detoxed on a daily basis and it actually has seemed to have multiple benefits that I have not just read about but experienced as well. All in all, Just as I did you could search for one of these stores in your area and give it a try if you are curious! Im very please that i did. Now that i have been using the water for about a 8 months I am thinking about investing in my own machine because I feel it would be something I could use in the long run if I ever decided to travel around and didnt want to try finding the water stores everywhere I go. Good luck to anyone who chooses to give it a go, and thank you for your your reply Tracy!
Tracy says
June 7, 2012 at 8:57 amHey Summer!
That’s awesome!! I’m really happy for you that it actually worked out! I don’t think we have one of these H20 wellness centres in my town, otherwise I’d be eager to give this a try.
rihanna says
June 7, 2013 at 7:40 amCan I drink kefir while I am using birth control pills??
Tracy says
June 7, 2013 at 7:49 amYep!