Why I Don’t Have Fermented Food on My Blog – Part 2

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Fermented Foods like kombucha, kerif, sauerkraut, and kimchi are supposed to be great for leaky gut, but they have been a problem for me. Come find out why. Think you have a yeast allergy? You'll be interested in this post too!

So today I’m continuing the story of my looong path of trying to get fermented foods into my diet.

In Part One of Why I Don’t Have Fermented Food on My Blog, you read of my ups and downs with gut health and itching and my basically throwing in the towel numerous times as I tried to add these “health foods” to my diet–

–and failed time and time again.

I can be really stubborn.

About some things.

First of all, I’m sure any of you long-time followers are happy to see that Part Two is done already. Sometimes life and stuff gets in the way and I don’t finish my series as quickly as I would like to (like with my Could You Have Heavy Metal Poisoning and Not Know It? series that has yet to be continued.)

Sigh.

Please forgive me for being a real person who doesn’t always have her act together :-).

So let’s move on. Today’s post is another longish one. Stick with me. This is good stuff.

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Fermented Drink Trial #6
aka The Big Guns

I told you in Part One that I was given the chance of a lifetime while trying to sort out fermented foods and my health.

I got to talk with an expert in superfoods and probiotics to see what he thought about my situation.

I figured he’d be super busy and I’d get about 5-10 minutes, but I got over an hour.

And this was not just some health food guy who thinks probiotics are important.

This is the man who developed the fermented superfood powder that I’d been taking since July 2012.

His name is Czerral, and here’s just a peek at his resume:

  • in 1979 became well known for his role in bringing spirulina to the world market
  • in 1994, he introduced the first and only “Certified Organic Spirulina” to the
    Southern Hemisphere

Pretty impressive, no?

I went through the whole sad story with him–my adrenal and candida issues, and how I’d tried over and over again to add fermented foods to my diet with no luck.

His thinking?

Histamine or Die-off?

This is really interesting.

Czerral said that it was unlikely that I was reacting to the powdered superfood probiotic (or that I would react to the liquid one) because:

1.  The probiotic powder and the drink are made up of foods.

2.  They are fermented in a similar manner to how the foods are dealt with in the body, so the resulting product is predigested foods that have been acted upon by bacteria similar to how our body digests them.

3.  The probiotics are both fermented in carefully controlled environments to make sure the resulting products are pure and not contaminated with stray yeasts or bacteria.

So unless you react to the foods in the probiotics, you shouldn’t react to the probiotics.

(And even then, since the foods are predigested, people often can tolerate the foods in these products even if they are sensitive to them.)

The Plan for Introducing Fermented Foods

Czerral said I should “pound the heck out of my gut with a heavy saturation of good bacteria (yes, those were his words–I took a lot of notes :-).)

The powder I was already taking (InLiven) was good, but he recommended a liquid (Fast Tract) that has higher bacteria counts so it would have a more intensive effect on my gut.

Here are the nuts and bolts of his recommendation:

1.  Buy 4 bottles of Fast Tract (not quite the boatload I mentioned in Part One)

2.  Drink 1 bottle per week–Each bottle is supposed to last for 1 month. Talk about flooding my system, huh?

His thinking was that my gut is still really overrun with the “bad guys” and that I needed to totally overwhelm them with beneficial bacteria to get my gut back in balance.

Well, I was pretty nervous about it.

Nervous about 

  • spending the money (I’m cheap-er-frugal, remember?), and
  • about what I might experience (I’d had enough bad experiences with itching and the like. If I drink a whole bottle in a week, what might happen to me? Might I become one giant itching, flaky mess?)

I talked it over with my husband, and we decided to purchase 1 bottle for a trial run to make sure it didn’t kill me.

Really, I’m kidding, but I was worried about spending a bunch of money and not being able to use the product.

So, I bought it.

And drank it.

The Results of Intense Fermented Food Trial

I started with about 1/2 the daily dose.

I had a pretty intense reaction immediately.

Bad, bad itching in my ears.

Then–nothing. No other itching or side effects.

The bad itching happened once or twice over the next few days, immediately after taking the probiotic drink. But after about 2 weeks, the ear itching is almost gone. And they aren’t really peeling much anymore either.

I kept upping the dose a little and eventually got brave and just downed the daily dose plus a little.

And I’m taking the full dose of the fermented superfood powdered probiotic on alternating days, with no bad effects.

And–I’m having a few swigs of water kefir (homemade) now and then.

Hmmmmm.

I’m thinking that the candida bugs are on their way out and that if I give them “The Big Guns” (the 4 bottles) I just might have a renewed gut.

I’m getting pretty excited about this.

What’s Next?

Flooding My Gut with Probiotics & An Opportunity for You

Now that I’ve seen that I am tolerating these fermented food probiotics, I am going to order those 4 bottles (not a boatload, but a small bucket’s-worth) and start “pounding the heck” out of my bad bacteria with a flood of the good guys.

And I have more planned in the way of fermenting.

I am starting some home ferments and will be doing more. And I will be sharing with you as I learn.

But what’s next for you is a great deal and a great opportunity.

I arranged for you to be able to hear from and ask questions of Czerral in a live teleseminar.

Czerral was the maker of InLiven and Fast Tract, two food-based probiotics from Miessence, a company that I have been learning more about for awhile now (InLiven is the superfood probiotic and Fast Tract is their liquid “Big Guns” that I am going to be flooding my gut with. Lookout, bad guys, here it comes!)

I interviewed Czerral about

  • what probiotics are
  • why we need them
  • when to take them (time of day/with food or without)
  • genetically modified probiotics (for real.  GMOs are everywhere)
  • and more

and was a great Q&A time with this superfood probiotic expert who helped me sooo much.

So it you too are “itching” to talk to someone about your gut health and probiotic questions, now is your chance.

Just click here to sign up to hear the recording.

FOR MORE ON FERMENTED FOODS AND PROBIOTICS:

Click here for part one of Why I Don’t Have Fermented Food on My Blog.
Click here for part threeWhy I WILL Have Fermented Food on My Blog

Details About the The Teleseminar on Fermented Foods

1.  The teleseminar lasted about 1 hour – about 45 minutes for the interview and 15 minutes for Q&A–give or take.

2.  Czerral and I were joined by Lacey of KV Organics. She’s a gem of a gal and she and I have talked about probiotics and InLiven for about a year now. She’s helping me out because I had never handled a webinar and she’s been sooo helpful to me in this whole journey, so we decided to work on this together.

When you sign up for the teleseminar, you’ll be getting communications from her because I am just swamped and Lacey has offered to handle the webinar registration and everything to take a load off of my plate.  What a blessing. Just so you know, you’ll be getting communications from her, as opposed to from me :-).

3.  If you are interested in taking a closer look at the products that I am taking, you can check out this link to all of Miessence’s superfoods.

(Disclaimer: I signed up as a rep with Miessence so that I could get a discount and that link is to my store.  The products are very high quality and they are not cheap, so I wanted to get them for a more reasonable price so it would work for my family’s budget.  And you also get 20% off any future order as long as you order once per year.)

Getting to pick Czerral’s brain about this was super fascinating.

I really encourage all of you to sign up. I feel like I am on the cusp of some more deep healing, and I am extremely passionate about sharing what I learn with you all.

I’ve got a lot of learning to do, but one step at a time, right?

More later about how my new journey is going…..And I am putting my whole family on InLiven, so you’ll get to see how that is all going.

**The source of the top photo is Michaela of Vicariously Vintage. She’s another gem, and you can see she’s a real pro at fermenting. **

So—what do you think?
Feel free to ask questions about fermented products or my progress in the comments below.

Remember: I am not a doctor and can’t medically advise. You should talk to a medical professional before making any changes to your exercise or health protocol. Please read my disclaimer here.

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96 Comments

  1. Your blog is the first thing I have ever read that sounded close to my experience. I’m currently doing a detox to heal my gut and some of the foods that are allowed make me miserable. Kombucha makes me itch everywhere, not be able to sleep, makes my hair dry out and fall out, makes one of my eyes hard to turn back and forth and makes my joints hurt. EVERYTIME I try to take probiotics I get horribly constipated and bloated and have hot flashes. I’m currently laying in bed itching. My scalp itchy, my neck itches, my back… everything basically. If I so much as have a sip of wine my hands and feet swell and itch. I’m finally making the connection that it has to do with fermented foods. If I have Apple cider vinegar I get a bit itchy. It sucks because supposedly these foods are sooooo healthy but I feel like I’m dying if I have them. I haven’t noticed much of a reaction to yogurt surprisingly. I have noticed reactions to random foods like anything higher in sugars, dried fruits and beets make me itch like crazy. I do have a gluten intolerance but nothing else came up on my sensitivity test. I don’t know what to do because I’m afraid Candida is going to take over my body. I’ve noticed the itching doesn’t subside until that food is out of my system so basically once I poop it out, it’s gone. Foods high in fiber cause me to itch. I feel like I have to eat almost nothing to keep the misery away.

    1. I didn’t charge you either :). It’s your choice if you want to purchase or not. The teleseminar is free and loaded with tons of information and I can verify from much personal experience that the probiotic superfood is a very superior product. Thanks. You Tube has ads too and people recommending products….

  2. Looks like you’re a shill for your probiotic supplier…
    87+$ for ~3 cups of “Fast-Track” probiotic liquid???
    WOW! That should be considered price gouging!!!

    1. Hi there. No I am never a “shill” for anyone. In fact, I dump money making products off of my blog when I find they are low standard or have ethics issues that are a problem and I will do it again. This is a high quality probiotic that I use occasionally and am actually using it right now. If you listen to the teleseminar on it you can see the research that went into it. You can also get 10-40% off by simply being a customer, plus there is the option for frequent buyer points. Yes it’s pricey but it’s a good product. Most people take the InLiven. Hope that helps. Oh, and you take less than 1/8 cup each day.

  3. Hi Adrienne! I know this is an old post but as I was reading it I couldn’t help but wonder if you had had an issue with nasal/sinus probiotics, hence the ear-itching. I never realized this until my brother (a macrobiotic chef, and nutrition counselor) was telling me that in addition to necessary probiotics in the gut, we also have them in our nasal passages, and can be deficient there as well- just a thought. It is hard to find anything about it through research, but he would occasionally “flush” his sinuses with a probiotic/water mix and he swears it helped his vision a ton! Just interesting.

    In regards to the thyroid issues that i saw you posted in some more recent comment responses, I would highly recommend looking into good fats and nourishing traditions. I believe the gaps diet is okay for a short period, but lacks sustainability for the long run. I was having hypothyroid symptoms and as I’ve included more good fats, and added some fermented cod liver oils, farm eggs, bone broth and just eating cleaner all around, the past year has shown huge improvement for me. But I must say that the biggest factor was underlying stress and fear of things happening in our world. I’ve experienced tremendous healing and a renewal of strength just by taking the time to ask God to help me. I know not everyone believes in that, but I just can’t leave that part out because it’s made the biggest difference by a landslide. I think we can dwell on so many things and slowly drag ourselves down with stress related to wellness which is kind of ironic, lol, but I did it!

    I hope you are we healing and finding peace and real wellness!

    1. Hi Audry – I did try some in my ears at one point, but not consistently. I haven’t done an update here, but I thought there was candida and chocolate involved, and then wondered about other foods, namely carrots and garlic. My ears actually got horribly bad and that is why I started digging. I have photos that don’t look as bad as they were but I will share later. In any case, I tried every cream I could find that was pretty natural and still was suffering. Finally I went off carrots and used the Neal’s Yard Remedies Wild Rose Beauty Balm and now my ears are perfect. And I’m eating chocolate and more carbs than usual.

      So….this is all so interesting. I have had some small amounts of carrots since and don’t know if it has caused any issues or not — will have to do a real big trial someday. But the balm is amazing.

      I am eating good fats and actually was on the local WAPF board so I know NT pretty well. I’m so glad you are doing better and I agree that stress is terrible. I can’t believe all that is going on in the world. I just read an article stating that professors at certain schools won’t allow students to use the terms “male” and “female”. I have been spending more time with God as well.

      Thank you for sharing and hope to see you around again.

  4. That is interesting, wish I could talk to him, but alas, I found this site too late. My reaction when I take any probiotics or fermented foods is much more horrible. Itching, yes, but also flu like symptoms and deep muscle aches, migraines, panic attacks, etc. that increase until I am bedridden and completely out of it. I have been told by health practitioners this is a die off reaction and I should suffer through it, but it has gone on for weeks where it just gets worse and worse, don’t think I will live through a complete die of if that is really was is going on! Years ago used lots of ferments and felt great, go figure. I suspect in my case its a histamine intolerance issue that has been exasperated by poor digestion. On a mission now to stimulate more HCL production and bile flow to get things going properly again and when I have that straightened out try the ferments again. Scared, but also desperate to get better.

    1. Oh my goodness. That sounds horrible. Have you done a lot of reading about histamines? There are some pretty good resources out there, but they are a little tough to figure out. Thanks.

  5. Jason

    Please look into histamine intolerance/ get genetic testing for methylation pathways difficulties
    Chris Kresser has some good podcasts on this at revolution health radio. Definitely get the help of a good/ knowledgeable practitioner. You might just need to supplement with something ghat your body is missing due to a genetic predisposition. You probably don’t have to keep suffering!

    1. Thanks for that. I am working w/ a practitioner on the methylation already so great minds :). I don’t think I have histamine intolerance. I thought so but don’t any longer and the fermented foods don’t seem to be affecting my anymore – thanks!

  6. is it possible to get the teleseminar that you offered in my inbox even tho it is old now? Would appreciate!

      1. How are you doing now Feb 2015? Is your health truly better? What do you think this has helped you with and what it did not help with? It’s just really hard to know who you trust and who is just trying to make money. And one product not being any better than another. I am sure you understand the trust level.

        1. Yes, I am doing better. However, things are not over. I am not just trying to make money. Of course, I need to pay the bills and make an honest wage, but I am mostly interested in sharing what has worked for me and what hasn’t….and what others are saying that I am interested in.

          I am still battling candida, but fermented foods don’t appear to be bothering me anymore. So I think it strengthened me. Now I am dealing with thyroid issues and adrenals and am looking at a new detox regimen. My most recent practitioner wrote this post for my site. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/thyroid-disease-hypothyroid-what-causes-hypothyroidism/

          There are better and worse products. I can’t say that this one is the best out there but I can say that I am very very impressed w/ their quality control and integrity. And I still use their products. So does my family. And I do not make a ton of money from them – mainly because I am not doing much ongoing promotion. I hope that helps :).

  7. You had me at, ‘they didn’t work for me’ in Part 1 and you lost me at, ‘Buy 4 bottles of Fast Track.’

    1. Yep, she has yet to “fix” her own issues, but wants us all to jump in with both feet and $$.
      Run, this is a poorly disguised advert.
      At least she does let the criticism stay on the comments.~!!!!!! (so far!)

      1. Hi again.

        Candida is a terrible thing. Most struggle with it for years and years and it has many things connected with it potentially that it’s hard to know when someone will be able to eradicate it easily and when it will take other work like heavy metal detox etc.

        I never have poorly disguised adverts, as you say, on my blog. I recommend products that I love and remove products when there are issues w/ the company. I have lost tons of money by not recommending things that others willingly do just b/c I have found out things that upset me.

        I make almost no money from Miessence. I have been with them for years, but that is the way it is. I love their product and I stand by it regardless. There is this post that has other probiotic evaluations in it so if you don’t like this one you can see what I think about others. https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/the-straight-poop-about-probiotics/

        I can do without the nasty comments, please. Thank you.

  8. Please help. I’m so desperate.
    I have bad reaction to probiotics and fermented foods. For the past 5 years I have tried to treat my gut and CFS (with the aid of Dr’s & Naturopaths). I have tried single strain probiotics, multi-strain, fermented food powders, liquids and home fermented kefir (water & milk) and sauerkraut but am unable to tolerate them. I have been on herbal antibiotics and tried diets and supplements but my gut just gets worse and worse and less food I can tolerate. Probiotics and fermented foods (commercial and homemade) induce extreme anxiety and gut pain and worsening of all symptoms including muscle and joint pain, digestive, nervous, immune etc etc. My doctor who is a CFS specialist has never come across anyone who reacts to virtually everything and experience paradoxical effects to so many things.

    I desperately need help. Nothing I eat is digested. Water goes straight through me – the more I drink the thirstier I get, my gut and health gets worse every single day. The more I try and intervene the worse my health gets. Tests show pathogenic overgrowth in gut, gut dysbiosis. Can’t tolerate probiotics or most food, can’t tolerate gut healing supplements. The top doctors and naturopaths in my country have tried to help for the past 5 years and are all stumped – never come across any patient that reacts so badly to so many things. I have tried extremely small doses of probiotics but still cause extreme reaction. I know that improving my gut health and gut flora is a key to improving my health but I simply cant get them into my body.

    1. Hello. I am so sorry to hear this. Are you able to afford alternative care? I am working with someone whom I would love to connect you with. Let me know.

      1. Thankyou for the reply! I have been pouring every resource that I and my family have into seeing alternative medical/naturopathic doctors and following strict protocols and regular testing. Unfortunately my health has gone from bad to worse to extreme despite following strict protocols and carefully listening to my body – I am highly sensitive to everything, so I know what helps and what doesn’t. I have tried probiotics amongst many other supplements for the past 5 years and my health not only does not improve but is drastically declining. I recognise that getting good flora into my gut is one very important key to improving my health but by doing this I make my entire health worse in the short and long term. After taking probiotics I need to kill them off with herbs and alkalizing my gut with bicarb (away from food) just to get some relief from the extreme gut pain, neurological and nervous system symptoms and joint/muscle pain. I’m also aware of die off reactions but I have steadily been getting worse not better over the 5 years of solid intervention. My body simply can’t get the very things it needs. I am sorry the post is so long and probably sounds like a rant – I am just so desperate but also so scared to try anything anymore.

          1. Hello Adrienne, sorry to bother you again on yet another thread, you must be a VERY busy woman! 🙂 My wife and I both have, what im beginning to think are symptoms of an unhealthy balance of bacteria in the gut, and possibly candida overgrowth. My wife even has pain, midcenter of her stomach right under the rib cage and says at times it feel so so bloated and is very uncomfortable, there is an audible pretty intense “gurgling” after every meal. We went to a GI doc and he did a colonoscopy and endoscopy and couldnt find a thing wrong other than a few small ulcers in which he prescriped an acid reducer but the pain is still there. She started taking the prescipt acid reducer about 2 weeks ago with no relief. I would think if it was those small ulcers causing the problem that this medication would have provided some relief by now. He wants her to come back to do bloodwork and look for an infection of sorts, but im not sure he can help us with the western medicine philosophy. We have an appt with a natureopath whom also has a few MD’s in their practice this next week, hoping I can bring him proper info on us both so that we can begin heading down the right path. I was wondering if you would mind emailing me the name of the doctor whom you are working with on your path to restorative health?

            Aside from those issues, she shows signs and has been tested for adrenal fatigue, this past year has been incredibly stressful for her its no wonder why those would crash under the pressure. Also thinking her thyroid is out of whack. Between this, the gut issues, and our overall fatigue throughout the day, it has us really longing for our health back. Im hoping for answers from the naturopath practice but wondered if you also might have any info or things that I might suggest to him that we investigate?

            Thanks in advance,
            Josh

              1. hi,i just found this post and am wondering if ,you are saying that InLiven and Fast Tract are Free of GMO strains of Probiotics? also, how do think they compare to Bio-Kult or Keybiotics or Prescript-Assist (do you know if any of these include GMO strains?) thanks

                1. There are no GMO strains in either product. They are both certified organic and are only made from foods. I am not clear on the other brands. I had questions about some of them b/c of the notation of the strains on the packaging – they appeared to be patented which I did not think was possible if they are natural products. If you would like more info you can read this post https://wholenewmom.com/health-concerns/the-straight-poop-about-probiotics/

                  1. As I read your story and the others in the comments, I feel like I am reading my own story as well. I have been sick for so long and have been to so many doctors, and I am currently doing the GAPS diet, but so far nothing seems to help. I want to give Fast Tract a try and see if it can help me. I would also be interested to know who your doctor ( or naturopath) is as well so maybe I can get some help if you don’t mind sharing. Thanks so much for sharing your story and for your help!

    2. first of all i know how you feel. the only thing that i can say is what worked for me. this is not easy and you have to have courage. i did a raw fruits and vegetables diet. it took about 3 months then i was well. But ask a nateral or medical doctor first. this is only what worked for me. good luck!

  9. Thanks for working on it! Yes, I’m only trying to order the InLiven 3 pack and using just the greenbiz code. You know I’m actually having trouble with the site remembering me as a customer. I signed up as instructed and then when I come back and try to sign in again they say they don’t have record of me so I have to re-sign up every time I try to checkout. So maybe their site is just glitchy. I’ll check back and try again later today.

    1. Emily, I checked and emailed but it’s 4 in the morning in AU right now. Later on today, they will be available through Online Chat on the site so try again then and they should be able to help you. Are you trying only that code? The chat is in the lower right of the screen.

  10. I just tried to use your code and it says the promotion has ended. ???
    “you can use the discount code “greenbiz” through the end of May 2013 to get 20% off your order of any size”

    I’m so bummed! It’s still May so am I just entering the wrong code or something???

    1. The code is greenbiz without quotes. Did you try that? It is only good through 11:59 US PST so I need to go and change that. The promos are done on Aussie time so we need to adjust. If you have problems, let me know and I will help. There are other codes too, but not positive they will all work so pick the one you want most first. lemonmyrtle will get you BOGO free pump handsoap and greenhealth gets 30% off retail on Deep Green superfood powder.

  11. interesting ideas… Thanks for linking up to Tasteful Tuesdays :o) Can’t wait to see what you bring next week.
    oh, and I just posted looking for some help with my blog… maybe you can offer some advice?

  12. Thank you so much for sharing. My Mother is having candida die-off from drinking Kombucha. She backed off it a little but it helps her stomach so much she doesn’t want to cut it out entirely. She is taking a Yeast Fungal Detox from NSP and eating yogurt to help with the rash. When she tried to increase her intake or KT her rash flares up again. Now that you have dosed yourself with so many probiotics, are you able to drink Kombucha again? Have you tried?

    Thanks again for sharing your Journey.

    Cindy

    1. Hi. I am taking some kombucha and seem to be doing well. I just got my shipment of the bottles of the heavy duty liquid probiotic so I am going to step up the dosage tomorrow to see how I do :).

      1. Good. There is hope for my Mom. I will pass along this information. Now if I could just get her to cut down on her sugar intake!

        Thanks again.

          1. Hi, do you think there is a connection with extreme fecal body odor and fecal bad breath (strong enough to fill up a whole room in seconds)and candida? (This is where a person has excellent hygiene but still smells) There is quite a large group of people who have this condition. But doctors always overlook them and even say don’t smell when they do. The odor appears to get worse when they eat sugary foods, even bread. And a lot of the other symptoms are the same symptoms as someone with candida and in this case the strong odor. Do you think it could be the candida that has taken control of the whole body and is causing these smells to come out of the pores and mouth?