The Nourisher - Editor’s Blog

Week one is over. My Goddess, what an experience. I’ll fill you in on what we ate, how we felt and how we smelled.

Thursday to Sunday.

We began drinking a smoothie for breakfast made with Kefirred raw milk - we used our new kefir grains from Dom who has some awesome information and tons of experience in Kefiring. There is a Japanese word that means a passionate hobby bordering on obsession - Otaku. Dom at Dom’s Kefir insite sure does have this. If you want to know anything about Kefir, he’s your man.

Because our Kefir was still growing, we couldn’t ferment enough milk for the rest of the day so drank 300ml of real raw milk, straight from our local farmer friend, every half an hour.

We continued to eat a meal at night but by Saturday night, I wasn’t really interested in eating much at night.

Within two days we were feeling like we’d taken coffee. We were wired. Enthusiastic, jumping around, smiling etc. We were sleeping well and feeling fine. Sunday night we went to our dear friends wedding and stopped the raw milk for the afternoon and evening. We actually intended to start the cure Monday because we knew the wedding was coming up. While we both drank a couple of alcoholic drinks that night, it was very hard to put the food in our mouths. We hardly ate.

Monday Morning - The beginning.

By now we had split the Kefir into two halves, it had grown so much. So we were able to have Kefir smoothies for breakfast and lunch. We tried to continue with raw milk throughout the day in between smoothies and all evening. It was tough. Our tongues became thick with a white coating and rough, like we’d binged on sugar. By evening we were craving something to chew, something other than milk. We caved and had a small chunk of ham each. We figured it’s raw (smoked), pasture fed and additive free. It helped wash away the bitter residue on our tongues and made us feel better. Resolved to continue tomorrow, we went to bed.

Tuesday to Saturday - It’s on.

Every day we’re eating more Kefir and clabber (real raw milk left out in the pantry for the natural bacteria to ferment it) and drinking less raw sweet milk. We’re down to one or two glasses of milk still as we’re waiting for the Kefir to catch up with us. I highly recommend doing this diet with fermented milk only. I emailed Ron Schmid, author of The Untold Story of Milk last week to check on his professional opinion of the diet. He uses it often in his practise. I had some questions for him and he, thankfully, answered them. Here’s what he said.

Question: Is it necessary to take Castor Oil at the beginning? What does castor oil do? How much is a dose? I have never recommended taking castor oil.

Answer: If you mean cod liver oil, it is optional!

(I meant castor oil. I read about it in the article I quoted last week. (Notes from it in my last post about the milk diet.) I took this to mean Dr Ron doesn’t use castor oil. Thank God.)

Question: Is it necessary to have fruit for one day before starting the milk cure?

Answer: No, not at all.

(Great I don’t really like fruit. I couldn’t imagine eating only fruit all day. I have a hypoglycemic head ache by midday.)

Question: Since I am not unwell, can I continue my yoga practise and perform strong cardio vascular exercise? A month seems a long time to be without exercise.

Answer: I think you should do as much as feels good, though the people who first did this recommended rest (for ill people).

(Well, as it turns out I don’t feel like much exercise. A yoga session 2 or 3 times a week is all I’m up for. I hope this changes.)

Question: My husband wants to eat a meal in the evening and continue adding other ingredients to to morning smoothie. Will he still get the benefits of the detoxification ?

Answer: That would depend on what else he is eating, which I could not easily do by email (details are critical).

(We have had great trouble eating just Kefir. It’s not very tasty on its own so we’ve been adding fruit, strawberries, mango, paw paw, passion fruit and or banana. Sometimes we add coconut milk. So it’s not really a milk diet, more a kefir and fruit diet.)

Question: Can I use Kefir as well as raw milk?

Answer: I think fermented milks are preferable, actually.

Ron then read my last entry on the Real Raw Milk Cure and sent me an email saying, “Well, I just don’t agree with all that stuff about coming on and going off with various foods. My dietary advice is totally different. I also think you should be prepared to rest a lot if just on milk. There’s are many reasons that is called for. If not resting you’ll feel much better eating extra fat - fatty meats, butter, cream.”

We’re certainly not resting and that my explain why we don’t want to exercise so much at the moment. It would also explain our distracting cravings for meat and fat.

What We Ate This Week

Kefir smoothie with fruit and coconut cream, occassionally and egg yolk also.

Sweet raw milk.

Pasture Fed Ham - by afternoon (right up until Saturday) I got so hungry for something salty to chew, I sliced a piece or two of some beautiful nitrate free, pasture fed local ham. mmmm. It had the added benefit of washing the terrible taste that drinking so much milk left in my mouth.

Saturday night, Wes couldn’t resist the meatballs and tomato sauce with organic spelt spaghetti I made for the kids and had a bowl.

Sunday was our daughter’s eighth birthday celebration. A party was arranged by her grandmother. Pizza and chocolate cake. I made an All Raw Cheesecake so I could resist the temptation of eating other foods and just had a couple of pieces of that. It’s pretty much the same as a kefir smoothie except it has gelatine and more eggs in it. Wes didn’t fair so well, he ate a piece of pizza and had to have a sleep in the afternoon. I warned him not to break a fast on that crap and I got to say “I told you so” later with only a little bit of relish. No. Really, I was sympathetic to his sore belly and sleepiness. That night I made a huge roast beef dinner and my friends, Brynn’s ‘Aunties’, brought salads and desserts. Everyone feasted, except me. I had one piece of beef with gravy, a glass of milk and another piece of cheesecake. It was tough but I was glad I avoided too much food.

How We Felt

Very mixed actually. Mostly we feel lethargic and a little vague. There is this brilliant clarity however. While we can’t quite stay in touch with conversations very well and vague out a little occasionally and we don’t really want to exercise or make love much, when we work our minds are crystal clear and we’re more ordered and effective. We both feel like we’re systematically clearing up the challenges we’ve been experiencing in our working lives until now. It’s very much like a detox without the desperate feeling one often associates with detoxification.

Friday morning, I awoke at 6 am and worked continuously to tidy and sort through the kids room as well as mine. It was like a mini spring clean and life ordering binge. I worked until midday stopping only to drink some smoothie or milk. I felt great all day.

Last Thursday to Sunday we felt like we were wired on caffiene. We had heaps of mental energy and didn’t sleep much but felt rested and awake in the morning. Since going all fluid, we’re feeling more tired in the morning and alot more hungry at night. This has slacked off for me since Saturday.

My tendons in my hips have been giving me trouble lately and since going on the diet, they’re burning whether I do yoga or not. Wes is experiencing pain in his lower back.

I had a slight headache on Monday and Tuesday. Our bowel movements are becoming more frequent and enjoyable. I did drop off from my usual two a day to one when we were just on raw milk. It’s come back to two since going all Kefir. Wes was slightly constipated before and now is having two poos a day. yay yay.

And we smell. Oh My Goddess do we smell. It’s one of the reasons we don’t feel much like making love. We tried to early on in the week and laughed so much because we both were so pongy under the arms, we couldn’t continue. Our breath is just gross and our tongues are covered in thick yellow moss. We had none before the diet began.

The good news is my skin is glorious and my breasts have filled out so much it’s miraculous. I can’t believe how nice I feel (on the outside) friends cuddle me and can’t let me go. I have put on a little weight on my belly but my breast are the big surprise. They’re very yummy.

We’re feeling very positive now. Tuesday was tough for me. I slept most of the day. Thursday was tough for Wes. He didn’t know if he could continue but by Saturday he felt fine with continuing for at least another week. He fell off the wagon on the weekend but is back on again now. I wonder how that will affect him. The articles I’ve read suggest you must start again but I haven’t told him that. It would be too disheartening.

Will update you again next week.

Intro

Week 3

About the Author...

Joanne Hay, Editor of Nourished Magazine, Chief Nourisher and Mother of three is very grateful to live in Byron Bay and be able to share all she has learned about Nourishment. She has trained as an Acupuncturist (unfinished), Kinesiologist (finished) and parent (never finished). She serves the Weston A Price Foundation as a chapter leader. She loves sauerkraut, kangaroo tail stew, home made ice cream, her husband Wes and her kids Isaiah, Brynn and Ronin (in no particular order…well maybe ice cream first).