I know, I know, it sounds like I’m saying ‘I’m too cool for green veges!’.
Who would not need fermented foods?!
Well trust me, I have tried. I have done fermenting courses and made my own kombucha, sauerkraut, ginger bug, milk kefir, coconut water kefir, coconut milk kefir, apple cider vinegar drinks and coconut yoghurt.
The thing is, I am VERY in tune with my body and I keep seeking answers (just a small drive I have!).
It became really obvious there was a problem when I made and guzzled down kombucha, as I thought it was a holy food for me. Or anyone for that matter. All because of how it is plugged. And I’m not saying that’s a bad thing as I know it DOES help many people!
But low and behold, I got sinusitis, thrush and a fungal toenail infection. And a super ‘candida’ type brainfog.
I just couldn’t believe it would be the kombucha, so I kept at it. And my symptoms stayed.
So I checked in with our chiro/kinesiologist who muscle tested me. No go. My body was weak to the kombucha, in whatever way that meant. My body didn’t like it.
After muscle testing my sons and myself for 18months regularly (like sometimes fortnightly), I got to be very trusting of kinesiology. It guided us to be SPECIFIC on how each of our own individual bodies handle different foods.
NOT just what is a guideline by someone else. Even if that is half the world touting fermented foods!
I cut back and it certainly improved my symptoms, like that!
But part of me couldn’t believe it. As the masses were still touting fermented foods. So I tried kefir in all forms, and in the end thought I’d just stick with sauerkraut. Surely it HAD to be good for me.
Before I knew it, our herbalist who also tested our family energetically for food sensitivities alerted me to the fermented foods being weakening for me.
She found I needed a good probiotic. At this point, I knew I had to get honest with myself. I was seeing these wonderful health professionals for a reason.
And hey, it saved a LOT of time without hand fermenting my foods.
So I got onto a good probiotic. And as you might have read on a previous post, the ‘die-off’ symptoms of the bad guys dying were obvious. The ‘good bugs’ were finally helping me!!!
Fast forward until just recently, AGAIN fermented foods came knocking. Hearing people talk about them, I asked our intuitive homeopath, ‘should I have fermented foods?’. Which at this stage was completely undermining my own intuition which just KNEW I couldn’t handle them.
She said ‘no’. For some people, she had found, fermented foods just create a SUPERBUG.
And so my dear friends, I encourage you to get honest with yourself. Do the fermented foods definitely help you? Do you still have signs of candida overgrowth or any bugs, despite the fermented foods…?
Eg. flaky scalp or skin on face or any skin issues, thrush, tinea on feet, brainfog/memory troubles/lack of focus, sinusitis, digestive issues, fatigue, toenail fungus, irritability/mood swings, UTIs, sugar/carb cravings….
EEK!
Just like with ANY information we are given, there are always exceptions to the rule and since we are all bio-individual, we need to question everything for ourselves!
And our children..!
And by all means, please don’t let me put you off fermented foods if they are doing wonders for you. Trust yourself.
In clear heads and zest for life
Heidi
Hey Heidi! I totally hear you with kombucha… I also had huge issues with water kefir. I had a stage in my life where I was vomitting for hours for no reason – it would just come on and I would have to be put on a drip. Nobody could find the reason. … I really stuffed my gut up with the water kefir… fast forward a couple of years I started drinking kombucha… I started having digestive issues and bloating with it. So now I only have a little bit of kraut here and there + a small shot of of kvass each day (beetroot drink ferment) which is brilliant for me and my biome. Anytime I have a tummy ache or even a interstitial cystitis reaction, I have a bit of kvass and it’s pretty much gone the next day…. Every biome is different, plus I think people are eating too much of the fermented foods. They were only meant to be a small serve next with your meal – not guzzling bottles kombucha like juice…
Hi Karla! And wow hooray I’m not the only one! So interesting with the water kefir…
Heidi this is amazing!!! I need to get us tested asap for it. I love kombucha and fermented veggies but I do trust the process you went through and how giving it up helped some of the symptoms you’ve listed there!
Glad it was of interest Stina 🙂 Let us know how you go. It’s always good to have more ‘experiences’ to add to the collective!
I got into Kombucha a year ago, and was determined to go caffeine free. I got there in the end, and it was ok, but it didn’t feel right because of the sugar, despite fermenting it to the point of not being sweet. Then I discovered Jun made with honey and I started making both. A kineseologist tested me. A big no to Kombucha, a big yes to Jun. So i’ve cut out Kombucha and drink Jun when I need it. Muscle testing is the best! And I agree, fermented foods isn’t for everyone despite the hype.
OH so interesting Yolanda! Jun made with honey – I will have to look into it! So great to hear your experience. And yes go the muscle testing!!
Jun is still a form of Kombucha, but it’s scoby is different as it only likes Green Tea and raw honey, nothing eslse, and generally speaking the recipe is 1 litre water, 2 organic green tea bags, and 100g of raw honey. Takes around 2-3 days for the scoby to eat the honey, so it doesn’t ferment as long as regular kombucha. Not sure about the probiotic difference, but my body seems to like it and that’s all that matters. It’s my only source of probiotics from food, I’ve gone dairy free (and don’t like coconut yoghurt). Might be good to note for some of your clients who can’t handle sugar but are ok with honey. 🙂