A yogurt story

Many years ago when I had my first baby who was born in winter, we had a wonderful first year because she was raised on mother's milk only for at least six months.   But when her first birthday rolled around and it was winter again, she developed a very hot, very uncomfortable cheek which I found out was dry eczema.   I was given an atrociously expensive cream to apply to the cheek, for three days only, because it contained cortisone.   Of course the condition disappeared as if by magic yet not two weeks later it flared up again.   I was instructed to use the cream again.   And again and again as the condition kept flaring up time after time.

I then read a book by Adelle Davis called 'Let's have healthy children' and in it she advocates giving the child real yogurt and Vitamin A.   I could not conceive of how to feed a one-year old Vitamin A but I got the real yogurt, mashed banana into it and sweetened it (bless my naive heart) with sugar.   Not only did the baby love the stuff, it cleared that eczema in three weeks flat.   

Eventually she was eating a whole lot of other foodstuffs and the yogurt was relegated to the back shelf.   The winter her second birthday rolled by the cheek was getting hot and red again so I quickly started the yogurt regime again and this time the condition disappeared forever.   So to speak, since she is now heading for her 38th birthday this year.

I didn't even know at the time what the nutritional benefit was of the yogurt, which I do now, I just knew it was the wonder-working thing that saved my child's complexion.   Today I know that naturally fermented foods are probiotic.   And probiotics are what the intestine needs in order for the body to retain 80% immune-efficiency.   That's right.   The digestive systems controls 80% of the body's immunity, which majorly impacts on the overall health of the body.   Probiotics have been cited as a hedge against immune-deficiency diseases such as Chrohn's, IBS, MS, Lupus, and a host of others.   Once the disease is present it may not be possible to cure through the ingestion of probiotic foods but it will act as a hedge in healthy individuals and also lead to improvement in the daily function of people suffering from these diseases.   Here I also wish to quote another book I read in later years, called 'The maker's diet' in which Dr Jordan Rubin describes his recovery from Chrohn's disease, which until then had been considered a terminal condition.

Because the function is so large, the healing of the intestine has been cited as a mood enhancing process which aids brain function and concentration and relief for sufferers of ADD, ADHD and even Autism.   

So what are probiotics one might enquire, and how does one acquire them in food?   Firstly, eating organically grown food fresh and raw without peeling, is a good way of ingesting the bacteria and other microbes that are compatible with those present in the digestive system, which strengthens them.   Secondly, eating and drinking naturally fermented foods such as Kombucha, natural yogurt without flavourants and preservatives added, kefir and kefir cheese, sauerkraut, riesentraube and other fresh vegetables naturally fermented, gherkins naturally fermented instead of bottled with vinegar and taste enhancers, most notably sugar, and many others which I haven't even investigated yet.  

But since this was just a yogurt story I will keep the information on the rest for another day, another blog..

Here's to gut health!