What an eye-opener to find out the immune system is linked to the widespread pain of Fibromyalgia! I’ve learned our gut is the first line of defense when it comes to our immune system. Well, guess what’s in our gut? BINGO! BILLIONS of good bacteria! And they are there to keep us healthy! Our gut has also been called the “second brain” as the lining has network of neurons. I don’t want get too scientific here but it is amazing to me that our gut actually holds more serotonin (the “feel-good” neurotransmitters) than our brain does!
Fibromyalgia is a multi-faceted disease so it needs a multi-disciplinary approach. And when one has had Fibromyalgia for a VERY long time (which is usually the case), one soon figures this out! As the multitude of pain drives one to find a solution! If you’re going to have chronic pain, everyday and comes and goes (in frequency and intensity), you might as well tackle it head on. And that is exactly what I learned to do! Believe me, it is NOT EASY!
I eventually learned how to reestablish and feed my inner ecosystem by supplementing probiotics into my treatment plan back in 2008. And later, my Naturopathic Doctor confirmed it and even increased my dosage to 100 billion CFUs (colony forming unit) at one point! After more research, I later learned I can eventually transition to getting my good bacteria through cultured foods and drinks.
I have been making my own young coconut kefir for about 3 years now. And this year, I learned how to make yogurt. And to my surprise I had no idea how EASY it is to make both!
Because I want to keep this short and sweet, I will only post a sample recipe today for a dairy yogurt. I’ve used Custom Probiotics. Body Ecology’s (BE) Kefir Starter is also another excellent choice (although I have yet to make dairy yogurt with it). I’ve used BE’s starter to make young coconut kefir.
The following is a recipe by Custom Probiotics.
Dairy Yogurt Recipe:
– Half scoop of yogurt culture
– 2 to 4 quarts of organic milk.
Add half scoop ( 0.4 gm) of yogurt culture, per 2-4 quarts of milk at 100 Deg F (38 Deg C). Mix thoroughly and ferment for 9 hours or longer on your kitchen counter or pantry. Find a cool, dry place. Then refrigerate the yogurt made. Keep the yogurt culture in the refrigerator. This slows down the fementation process.
Scoop size = 0.8 gram.
I was amazed to see the milk transform from liquid into a more yogurt texture-like form! I left my first batch out longer than 9 hours as it gives you the choice to do so. The good bacteria just continues to grow and I wanted to see if it would get thicker.
And these are a few samples of what you can do with your dairy yogurt. Make Acai bowls, smoothies, yogurt parfait and more! And don’t forget, it is EXTRA delicious and nutritious topping it off with island RAW granola!
If you are not able to handle dairy at this point, an option would be to try using young coconut water to make elixirs or coconut to make dairy-free yogurt. I will be posting the recipes on these next. See you then! 😉
Credits: To my good friend, Diana Hirsch! She introduced me to both starters. And I am FOREVER grateful! 🙂
Lirio's 