From HerbMentor.com, this is Herb Mentor Radio.
You are listening to Herb Mentor Radio on HerbMentor.com. This is John Gallagher. My guest today is Maria Atwood. Maria is a certified natural health professional and has produced a DVD called Cook Your Way to Wellness. It's a demonstration for making nourishing foods inspired by Sally Fallon's nourishing traditions.
Sally has said that Maria's DVD is a great companion to her book and perfect for beginners new to the nourishing tradition principles. Her web site is traditional cook dot com. Welcome, Maria.
Hi. How are you, John? Thank you for having me.
Oh, it's I'm excited to have you here today. And and I just wanna thank Tina Sams, an awesome presence from the Essential Herbal Magazine on HerbMentor.com for sending me your way.
So I loved your DVD demonstrations of kefir, fermented vegetables, whey, beet kvass, kombucha, bone broth, butter, grains, nuts, jerky.
All wonderful and simple demonstrations. Now, now here's the thing, like, if this was my first time hearing about this way of cooking, this way of eating, and for many it will since we mostly get an herbal audience on HerbMentor.com. But what happens when people get here is that all the the, that all this healthy stuff that goes along, it goes along with the same principles of herbal nourishment that we advocate on HerbMentor.com.
And this nourishing base is why you see a lot of folk herbalists these days wielding their copies of Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. And that's how I found out about it too. Getting into herbalism from the nourishing, nourishing herb side of things and people are like, You've got to read this. So, so Maria, I just want to start with, where where does this kind of eating, this kind of diet come from? What are the origins?
Well, John, I I think the origins are just ancestral.
You know that our ancestors, of course, ate lacto fermented foods and nourishing foods, you know, from time immemorial. And somewhere along the line, I think we just lost our way.
And, who knows for how destiny works, but, Sally Fallon, of course, is the president of the Weston A. Price Foundation. Mhmm. And she had a lot of trouble, trying to publish her book, Nourishing Traditions. And so eventually, she published it herself.
And in that book, she tells about how doctor Weston Price, traveled to many, many countries, looking at different cultures and eventually came up with, the entire, whole idea of having, lacto fermented foods and other nourishing foods.
Doctor Royal Lee also was, who, in who came up with a standard process supplement also worked with, doctor Price. So that's basically how it came about being. But, lacto fermented foods and, so that's basically how it came about being. But, lacto fermented foods and, nourishing foods like raw butter, raw milk, all of these things, grass fed beef, come all the way back. And each one of us has our ancestors, that, in fact, cooked this way and thought nothing of it. Now we see that it's a whole new idea to us because we we're so processed, eating so much processed food.
So it's like, we're Homo sapien one point o, and we should be eating what Homo sapien one point o ate.
And and it's Well, yeah.
I mean, those those those are the things that, should bring us a whole way around. And so we we just need to recognize that, this is not new information, but I think that, Sally Fallon has done, the world, a favor beyond even recognition because, Weston a Price, Foundation is now national and international.
And people like me and others are living extraordinarily healthy lives, because of this, beautiful, teaching. And so, hopefully, today, I can share some of those wonderful gems about lacto fermented foods and, encourage others to get going.
Now now can can can we can you share with folks who might be, you know, listening to this, and hearing the name Weston Price for the first time? Who who was Weston Price?
He was a dentist. And, Weston a Price, of course, there's tons of information, and and books that he's written. But, he traveled the world over, and he studied the foods that helped our ancestors live long and healthy lives.
He took hundreds of pictures of these cultures and sent home food samples and made some of the most profound discoveries about human health.
And he found that when these tribes moved to the western model of eating, they developed TB, tooth decay, and just numerous other modern day diseases.
But if you really wanna get a deep understanding of the work of doctor Weston Price, you'll wanna read a book called Nutrition and Physical Degeneration.
Mhmm. And, doctor Price's dying words, as we often hear were you teach, you teach, you teach. And so many of us, like myself, who are chapter leaders, for the Weston a Price Foundation, I run the Eastern Plains of Colorado, Weston a Price, chapter.
And, that is what we try to do. We try to teach and teach and teach.
Okay. And and and, the Western Price Foundation, is that, what's their website? Western price dot org?
So it's, w w w weston a price dot org.
Okay.
And And Sally, Sally, uh-huh, Sally Sawan is the president of that, of the organization.
So I think what what often helps folks connect with, why they might want to do this is hearing hearing stories. So what's your story?
You know, obviously you, well you you weren't eating like this, all your life. Right?
So No.
Uh-huh.
So what's what's your story?
What what got you into this?
Well, I I think that I have my my story very briefly is just simply that at one time, in my in my in my very, very young youth, I was just barely, somewhere between nineteen and twenty. And after a very, very serious illness, that nearly took my mother's life Mhmm. I began on a quest to find better health Mhmm. You know, just while we were still here.
And I felt that, yeah, we will all day all of us will one day die, and and some sickness, I think, is just part of the human experience. But, and I'm no exception to the rule, John, but, I I too have been subject to mother nature's wrath, but but especially when I've gone against her laws. And, during that time of my mother's illness, I, began to really look and ended up in a very, disappointing vegetarian diet. Now, during that time, I I ate a lot of grains.
I ate a lot of And and take your time with this story too because this is important, and we have all the time in the world here.
We have no time limit. So go ahead. Tell tell us what I wanna hear this.
Okay. Well, remember that you can read the entire story on my on my on my website.
We get we get you that.
But we got you here. I wanna hear your voice here. Tell tell me your story. So tell us about the vegetarian. You're a vegetarian.
Why didn't that work for you?
Well, you know, it my and I was and the interesting part about this whole thing, my story, is because I was reared with a mother that used large fresh buttermilk, but she, you know, unfortunately, ended up and fell prey to the advertising, ease of, you know, microwave foods and oils that were quick and easy. And so I began to do serious nutritional study after her terrible operation.
And the diet I chose was almost strictly vegene. And it conditioned me to think that animals were not for human consumption and that saturated fats were the main cause of heart disease and numerous other such warnings.
And I know that now that those are just myths.
But the diet permitted me to have no milk, no dairy, no butter, no fish.
And I drank a lot of soy milk during that time, which we now know is absolutely dangerous, to to be drinking, soy or eating any kind of soy without being fermented first.
Alright.
So I I just ate that until I I reached about oh, I don't know. It was in my late maybe my late forties or so that I began feeling tired, and I my joints were creaking and I, you know, that just was the norm for me. And it just wasn't what I had expected out of this wonderful turn of events where I, you know, quit eating processed foods and stuff and was I thought living a very healthy diet.
So I began to add supplements to my diet, trying to make things work for me, and it just it just never happened. I just kept getting worse and worse.
And, you know, every it seems like every life has a a a turning point, something that rivets us to a new direction.
And for me, it was a very, very serious fall that I took at work, and I broke my shoulder in four different places.
And this fall left me progressively in a worsened state. I had tremendously aching stiff muscles, body pain. But then I began to lose ground immune system wise. I began to have frequent colds, digestive problems, and I developed a very serious asthma condition.
And needless to say, I felt fatigued. And, since I'd always been such a health advocate, I I was frankly ashamed to even admit that to to my family that I was so ill.
But, something at that time, and who knows for what reason again, but, something really remarkable happened. And I was, communicating with Jen all the fall that I took at work, and I broke my shoulder in four different places.
And this fall left me progressively in a worsened state. I had tremendously aching stiff muscles, body pain, but then I began to lose ground immune system wise. I began to have frequent colds, digestive problems, and I developed a very serious asthma condition.
And needless to say, I felt fatigued. And, since I'd always been such a health advocate, I I was frankly ashamed to even admit that to to my family that I was so ill.
But, something at that time and who knows for what reason again, but, something really remarkable happened. And I was, communicating with Jen Albrighton, who is the chapter leader of, of the, Weston a Price, chapter leader in Denver. Mhmm. And she mentioned to me about a Sally Fallon seminar.
Well, I didn't know who Sally Fallon was.
But sitting in her seminar and listening to her talk about raw food and seeing her vibrant face and looking around me and seeing all these other people who are eating just a great deal of, meat with lots of saturated fat and eating the chicken skin and making, broth out of bones and eating the marrow and eating full bodied cream that was raw and butter, I could not believe the beauty in these people's faces. Mhmm. So I I just made the turn that day. And a few months after I started cooking, from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook, you know, my energy level skyrocketed and my rather low spirits began to disappear and Mhmm.
My anxieties lessened. And interestingly, the pain in in my, joints began to feel a lot better. And so I suddenly said, this is real food. This is the way we were supposed to eat.
And my mother had done this, but she had left it. So I grew up, primarily on a processed diet.
So at this point, I, I began to cook and to learn how to make kefir, and it took me endless amounts of time of trying to read books and trying to go on sites to figure out what was happening. And I'm more visual than I than I'm a reader. I Yeah.
Me too. Differently. Me too. I love it.
Yeah. And so I I I just I after about, a year and a half, I I suddenly said, we need a DVD. I the new people that are coming on and people like me who are chapter leaders need to train other people. Well, we could spend monumental amounts of time doing this kind of work and having to carry around heavy heavy, jars of all kinds of stuff. So I decided that a little DVD was needed.
And I, had the good fortune of having a close friend, coworker of mine who, in fact, videotaped that. Mhmm. And then I wrote the backup booklets because there's always things that people need to learn. Mhmm. And so that's actually my my story, not an not a tremendously exciting one. But I can tell you that, the chant is still out in the, normal community that, we shouldn't eat this way. And the scientific evidence on the Weston a Price Foundation website is overwhelming.
You can learn and you can know that, very very few of us, really have the the knowledge of how to stay well balanced with a vegetarian or or even worse, a vegan diet, And we see that every day.
In my case, I can only tell you that, you know, my life as far as health goes, is just tremendously different than it was when I started this.
And I and I, will reiterate, you know, at reinforce too that on the, the, the, the, the, the, the westonaprice dot org site, there are articles you can read if someone is listening to this going, yeah but everyone in my health food stores says that soy milk is that which you should drink. That there are whole articles, scientifically backed articles on that site in relation vegetarian diets and whatnot. Right? I mean, they're all there.
Well, yeah.
I mean I mean, you know So you can you can read all this.
Sorry. But do you know that, on the soy, the soy part of this, whole thing is that soy isoflavonoids are phyto endocrine disruptors. Disruptors. Mhmm. And at dietary levels, they can prevent ovulation, and they can stimulate the growth of cancer cells.
And eating as little as thirty milligrams of isofluronate from about thirty grams soy protein per day can result in hypothyroidism and with symptoms of lethargy, constipation, weight gain, fatigue. Now this is not, Maria Atwood talking. This information is on the Weston a Price Foundation website. All you need to do is go to their search and put, soy hazards or just the word soy.
And soy foods also contain, trypsin inhibitors that inhibit protein digestion and they affect pancreatic function. Mhmm. And they also increase the body's requirement for vitamin, d, needed for strong bone bones and normal growth. So mega doses of phytoestrogens in soy formulas, especially soy formulas, have been implicated in the current trend towards, increasing premature sexual development in girls and delayed or retarded development, in boys.
Mhmm. And, again, please feel free, your listeners, or anyone to to go there and to study that and be able to, talk to the issue of soy. This is not a good food.
And although, things like tofu and, things that are fermented, not tofu. Tomari.
Is a is a is a good food because it has been fermented. But, you know, I it's it's a it's a myth that Asians, eat a lot of a lot of soy, especially, fermented soy.
Not even they eat the amount of, fermented soy products that Americans are now consuming and continuing to think it's healthy. So, this this is just, not a good, a good thing to, encourage people to do. But, of course, I'm not the expert, but Western a Price is, and they offer, you all the proof that you could possibly want. Mhmm. And what's more natural than milk?
Yes. Well, yeah. Well, the soy the soy lobbying, is way has way more money than the dairy lobby.
Oh, yes. And and, you know, as far as I'm concerned, I after I realized about soy, I said, you know, soybean water is not milk.
Yeah. Exactly.
That was no. That was my my realization, if you will. I had a moment because I drank a lot of soy, and I think that maybe at that time is, is part of it part of the tremendous problems that I was having with thyroid and issues like that was because I didn't know any better.
So so, again, going back over and over again to the idea that one person can move, you know, mountains, I I can tell you that Sally Fallon has done that for us, and I for one will be forever grateful.
My my son calls it calls it to my nine year old said recently says something about soy milk and then I went and I got a a soybean, and I went up. I said, soy milk? That pill of I said, show me where the breasts are on this soybean.
And he's like, okay, dad. Good point. So, so, so lacto so lacto fermented foods. What do you mean by lacto fermented? How and how is this good for our health?
Well, first of all, let me let me briefly just define lacto fermented foods.
Because as I found, it's a new term for many people and a major reason that I made the DVD, Cook Your Way to Wellness, and wrote the free booklet.
I for I'm one of those that had never heard of the words, lactic, lactic acid before reading Sally Fallon's, cookbook, Nourishing Traditions and then joined a local chapter of the Weston A. Price Foundation.
Now for a quick overview overview, let me just have you understand that, there are natural bacterias in, that produce lactic acid.
And, these are destroyed with pasteurized and cooked foods.
But nevertheless, they're essential to maintain our healthy intestinal flora and to control acidity. Mhmm. Now these fermented wonder foods actually change the properties of food, food, and it makes them more digestible and in helping us to digest dead foods, better.
And now I'm talk and I'm not talking about pickles, foods that have been pickled with vinegar. That is not affirmative food, by the way. Although a lot of people think it is. Mhmm.
But, lack of fermentation also prevents against infections and fungi in the gut. And, there's a super great book titled Making Sauerkraut. It's by, it's written by Klaus Kaufman and Annalise Schonick, and it makes these great points. And let me just, let me just review a few of them.
First of all, it prevents decay not only in food but in the bowel. Think of that just for a minute. Preventing decay. How many of us I think must be rotting from the inside out if you'll excuse the expression.
Mhmm.
And lactic food stimulates the peristaltic movement of the intestines. And, that's so important because, I mean, medications and for, constipation are a major, major, major purchase in the United States and all over the all over the world, probably. Mhmm. But lactic acid acid does stimulate the peristaltic movement.
It also assists in in the circulation of the blood.
And it has this is one of the points that I loved about it when I read this book, and it says that they have a harmonizing effect on the stomach.
And it strengthens the acidity of the gastric juice when production lags.
And it reduces the acidity when the production is up. I mean, think about the miracle. We are taking massive amounts of antacids trying to cure the the, our acid, supposedly GERD problem. Mhmm.
And here is a simple natural, god given substance that, does just that for us. It it it, you know, strengthens the acidity when the gastric juices need it and reduces it when there's too much acid. So, I mean, perfect antacid. Right?
Yes.
And then, last but not least, on the lactic acid, it it it it encourages the function of the pancreas, which is, you know, the pancreas is responsible for for making those, probiotics, you know, when we're not doing anything. And we I think we tire it out. But, when lactic acid, like I said, encourages the function of the pancreas, which in turn stimulates the secretions of the digestive organs.
And it is of special importance to people with diabetes. Mhmm. So with our now sad diet in which practically every food we eat is processed, cooked, microwaved, pasteurized. It's it's basically rendered dead.
And, so Yeah.
And that's why we when we say SAD diet, we mean standard American diet. SAD.
Right? Yeah. SAD. Standard American diet where there are no fresh, fresh herbs. There's no there are no there's no raw milk. There I mean, it's just strictly, you know, you, put it in that horrible microwave.
And even if you don't even if you don't microwave, which I I I am deeply opposed to Me too.
I don't have one.
No. I haven't had one for years.
Never had one. So in my opinion, you know, you know, people just are much better trained than I, but, but if we eat lacto fermented foods, it's a missing link. It's the missing link in our diet. Mhmm. And it's, the answer to your question about why are lacto fermented foods good for yourself and how they healthy for us. I mean, hopefully, I've explained that in such a way that it's not too complex Mhmm.
For people to really grasp how important this, this portion of their diet should be. And lacto fermented food should be eaten at every meal.
Exactly.
So At every single meal, they should you should have either kefir, yogurt, you know, beet kvass, fermented veggies.
So many beverages are just wonderful that are fermented.
Now let's get into that then. So we have talked about Weston Price. We've talked about nourishing traditions and how, what fermented foods are and how they're good for us and about a couple of the things that, the myths out there like soy and all.
Now I'm I'm listening to this. Alright. You've convinced me, Maria. I'm gonna take a look at this book. I'm interested.
I need my first step. What's the first thing that you would tell someone that they could make?
Well, first of all, I would tell them to to, of course, go to my website and buy the book you're Of course.
Of course. Of course. But but if you're if you're if you're, like, talking to someone and and you're consulting as you do with people and they don't have the book yet or or this, and they said, oh, that's interesting. Just before I don't know if I wanna buy this book, but tell me what's one thing I could make, that I can do in my kitchen? What's what's the first step?
Well, I think that for beginners, and and it was for me. I the more I read about Kiefer, the more I began to want to drink that drink. I mean, I had I had seen I I already had the book, but that was the one drink that the more I read about both on the Internet and on, and saw other people, Kiefer just really fascinated me. And come to find out, it's really one of the most powerful lacto fermented foods. Now it tastes just a bit sour, much more sour, I think, than yogurt.
But it has similar similar bacterial good bacterial properties, like yogurt. So just so that people understand that kefir is a fermented food, but it's a lot more potent than yogurt. Now it's usually made with raw milk and what we call a culture or kefir grains.
And kefir grains are just small, tapioca like looking, little things that we call grains, I think, just for the ease of trying to describe it. But it is the culture that makes milk become kefir or lacto fermented.
Mhmm.
And, explaining how the cultures came about and what they are actually composed of, etcetera, would just take way way too much time today. But, essentially, the Kefa Grain, which grow, grew out of the raw milk products, as our ancestors traveled, you know, in, through their countries and had no refrigeration.
Mhmm. And they have had these for centuries, and they simply pass these kefir grains down.
And these beautiful little gems of, back good Wow.
Now one of the more interesting aspects of Kiefer is the sign is that science, as I understand from some of the material out there, has had they have not even been able to identify all the bacterial strain Wow. In real Kiefer. Now that that's huge because, because we then know that it's it's the power of this food is beyond our comprehension for all intents and purposes, as far as, you know, knowing every little bit about it and how it's created.
But, and, also, let's remember that RealKeeper, is not what you buy at your local health food store and is not what I'm describing here Right.
Or what I would show you in my DVD. At the health food store, those those kefirs, they they have fillers and sugars and massive amounts of carbohydrates and, things that are not not good for you. So if you really want the the finest beverage, that there is to start out with, I would start with kefir and follow that up quickly with the Kvothe.
What a great way to get these probiotics as as they say. And some peeps for some people, that's a new term, probiotic. And what we mean is that we're creating life instead of being antibiotic. Right?
Yes. Exactly. And and, and people who, say, well, you know, I don't need to do that. I I can just take a bottle of probiotic.
Right? Well, you know, the probiotic market today does just simply, in my opinion, does not have the same, strength, of, that that the keeper does. Otherwise, you know, we, you know, the the information that science has not discovered all the strings wouldn't be out there. But also the expense, it's extremely expensive.
And as far as I'm concerned, not nearly as much fun as sitting down to a wonderful dinner with your small glass of kefir there or waking up in the morning and making a smoothie with, Alright. You know, whatever fruits you want and, kefir along with it.
You know what's really interesting about this is we're making kefir yogurt. You know, we're using cultures. We call them cultures.
And as you said before that people handed them down, you know, handed down their culture.
And in our in our, you know, in our modern world where cultures just seem to have been blown apart, it's almost as if culture's starting to assemble again. Like, there are we have a now we have these cultures of people using these cultures.
Well, you know, John, something interesting that just came to my mind as you were saying that is that, you know, another fascinating book that I recently read is, it's called Truly Cultured, and it's the author is Nancy Bentley.
And if you wanna read a a fascinating book on cultures and culture, the foods, actually, the cultured foods.
And, this book is I I highly recommend that, people get a copy of it and and read it, read Nancy Bentley's book, Truly Cultured.
Oh, that's a great idea. Now, how does Wei fit into this? Does Wei fit into Kiefer? Or is that does that come from something else?
Well, the way that I that I do whey and the reason and then what I use it for, of course, is to produce other lacto fermented Okay.
Okay.
My drain my I you actually in the DVD, you can see where I actually, use a colander. And, of course, the explanation is also in the nourishing traditions book. But I use a colander, and I drain my kefir. Okay.
Now once I drain the kefir, then I'm able to, also, go through another little draining process. And from that, I get kefir cheese, which stays on the top. And the whey, which is a very clear liquid, you know, is on the is on the bottom. Mhmm.
Now that's the way I produce my whey, and it's very strong, and it's very good.
Now there are other ways. A piece some people drain their yogurt, and they get whey that way. Mhmm. Or you've heard of curds and whey. You take raw milk and you virtually let it sit in on a counter for days at a time, and pretty soon it separates. That's a way also. So I think there's a a number of various ways, but my my preferred way is to drain my kefir and and get my way that way.
No way. No.
That's the way. But you could almost take another whole whole, interview here with, with Wade because it's it's also a very powerful digestive aid in itself.
Oh, gosh.
And the powders that are being used are definitely not the kind of Whey we're talking about here today.
That's right. That's the thing. You're seeing in the health food stores, you know, this is what's interesting. These a lot of live food terminology is becoming, buzzwords and people are trying to market them and you can't market it and it really needs to stay in the kitchen because it only really works. And that's what's beautiful about it. They can't manufacture it. It's something that has to get us back to our kitchens and create culture.
Absolutely.
I I mean, I I can't agree with you more is that, you know, there there's nothing that you can buy in a can or a bottle or whatever that isn't better made, in your own kitchen. And, it brings about the the essence of of of life. And I don't know, today, of course, the art of cooking and the art of wanting to stay in a kitchen, to a great extent has been lost. But because of this, wonderful new way to to do things and the health benefits, you're seeing I'm seeing thousands and thousands of people, once again, going back into their kitchen, throwing away their microwaves and pulling out those, beautiful, dishes that, you know, they long collected dust, and they begin to use them making real food. And I think that that, it's exciting to see it happening again.
And and And hopefully, the pendulum's swinging the other way.
And I wanna add something on here too for the, Herb Mentor folks, the Herb Mentor dot com members, is that when you're hearing what Maria is saying, what we're talking about here. Now combine that with how we talk on Erg Mentor, that's why we have a whole section on nourishing infusions. And and Maria to fill you in there, this is using the wild plants, the nourishing value of the wild plants. Now there's one more thing that I would say, Adam, what you said earlier about traditional way people ate.
Another thing that people ate for generation to generation, oh, they also had some wild foods growing around them. And they used, whether it be a dandelion leaf or maybe it be the the nettles or so so putting in your nourishing herbal infusion, this is a really strong tea that, that that that really draws out the, it's a process that draws out the vitamins and minerals, something you also can't buy in the health foods or that you only can make with herbs that you either buy bulk organic or you pick yourself, right, and you make this in your kitchen, adding wild foods to your diet. Now doing this and eating the lacto fermented foods, all of this together, now you can see where we're coming from, if you haven't already, on HerbMentor about health.
It's staying healthy and it's about healing through doing, through eating and having a good foundation. Now if you've got something going on, something acute situation, you may need to take care of that with some stronger herbs or maybe with your doctor with some medications that you're on to get through something. But, while you're doing that, you can nourish yourself. What you can do all the time, no matter what meds you're on or what condition you have, you can always nourish yourself and be, and and and regain that health foundation.
Right?
Well, and not only that, but, you know, fermented herbs, are no are no they're they're, you know, again, historical and ancestral. Oh. And I heard not just recently that there was a gentleman at one of the conferences that was making a, was making fermented, wheatgrass juice.
Interesting.
And he could not keep up his production of it. I mean, people were just and learning how to make it. So, believe me, there's there's no reason that these grains and, and and these the lacto fermentation which can take place with brining and salt, Celtic salt and good spring water can't become a part of that. So, I think that's going to be a new field of endeavor where we're going to be seeing that the the herbal community has, is going to begin to make a lot more, herbal remedies and and things of that nature, with, you know, the cultures like the gentleman I just said that's making fermented wheat photographs.
Because it's about putting it in your diet and not taking the herb as a supplement or a pill. And even, you know, even my wife, say, with the kids, for example, though she there we have videos that we made and stuff on HerbMentor that show Kimberly going through the process of making soda through the fermented process, and a fermented process. And, but now she is also doing that with other, not just the berries and all, but also herbs like dandelion flowers, hawthorn. Yeah. She's doing it with that too.
So She she probably she probably also has, if if if if if your listeners have or have not, but I bet your wife certainly has heard of the book Sacred and Herbal Beards. Oh, I have it.
Do you have it?
Oh, yeah. I've made many recipes from that. Yeah. I love the meat.
Steven Harrod, h a r r o d.
We are he's we already interviewed. Booner? Steven Booner, he's he's been interviewed on Nerdventor Radio. You can go and download it. Oh, yeah.
I I I bought his book, and and and you see, I mean, that that is entirely herbal. Yeah. And, and very much in tune with, with our philosophy at, Weston a Price. And so, I think there's there's magic in so it's the magic the magic food that that that, you know, we have forgotten, you know, because we're cooking everything and eating them in tea bags instead of, you know, growing our little gardens of beautiful herbs, and, and trying to ferment some of them or do do other things with them. I'm not as familiar with herbal cooking as I am with, with the, other things, on the Weston A Price food principles. But, certainly, there's huge amounts of room to bring those in because, they're like love and marriage.
Exactly. And, you know, and and and and just as my, you know, wife is is putting up those sodas or putting up a tincture or something to make, you know, this time of year she's been making and you have a wonderful demonstration on the DVD.
And probably one of the simplest things someone can make and someone, I think something everyone loves except for maybe little kids, is sauerkraut.
Exactly. And and so tell us, I mean, just in a nutshell how simple that is. I mean, you're just pounding cabbage and sticking salt in it. Right?
I mean That's it.
That's that's really you know, the the the funny part about it is is that I and and, again, another reason that I made the DVD is to assure people that this is simple. This is this is not, you know, this is not gonna take you, an engineering degree to be able to do this.
And but when sometimes when you read about things, they they you know, unless you know about something or have some familiarity with it, you're you're afraid to go in there and try it. I don't know why because the worst thing you can do is is ruin, you know, milk or something like that. But, it is simple. It is simple, but I think visual helps a whole lot.
It sure does. It sure does. Just that I mean, that's why I I I think you're the the fermented cooking equivalent of my webs of of my website.
I do. Because if if my if my slogan is herbal medicine made simple, yours is, cooking in fermented foods made simple. Because that's when I looked at it, I was like, this is great, you know. So sauerkraut and, of course, you know, it's gonna taste a little different than this this stuff, made with the vinegar.
But, you know, I've been eating this sauerkraut for probably six, seven years now that we've been making it every year, because it's so dang easy to make. And our and our and our local CSA, community supported agriculture, our local farm that we support, gives us a lot of cabbages this time of year. And, it is the way that I prefer to eat the cabbage. And if you're talking about earlier about putting a little condiment or a little bit in every meal that you have, every lunch or dinner, you could put a few tablespoons of sauerkraut out, and it's easy to make. It's cheap.
Oh, yeah.
It's and and, and it's really gonna taste good. It's much better than the store bought stuff.
Well and, you know, right now, there's you know, everybody is a little bit on edge because of our the economic, situation.
But just think of how wonderful it is for us that do know and hopefully, can spread the news to people that these foods are essential, especially in a time of crisis when they're when they're god willing, it'll never happen, but there could be a time when we do not have refrigeration or we do or we had a an extended period of of time when we needed to ferment foods and keep them in cool places.
These are survivalist foods. So, you know, in addition to being wonderfully healthy and good, I think we need to have that that, way of preserving. We need to know how to preserve food by fermenting them because, dried or dehydrated foods, of course, have vitamins, but they are they do not have the same content of probiotic activity. And and canning, of course, is, as far as I'm concerned, almost a processed food. Mhmm.
So the vitamins and those kinds of things may be there. But every other food except fermented food, I believe, and you correct me, John, if I'm wrong from your knowledge base, is, basically, somewhat of a pro probiotics are just not present in them.
Right. Right. No. Yes. Usually denatured of all life. Mhmm.
You know We need we should just need to have those, those, fermented foods, with our meals so that, you know, we just, they replenish the cells and feed us properly.
And there and I believe there is more to food than just, you know, the the chemical constituents in them. There's there's there needs to be a life force in the foods.
And, you know, best way I know the difference of that is when you have a meal.
You first time, first times people eat like this and start to have meals with this food, with this kind of live present, they they it feels different.
They notice a shift.
They notice Yeah.
Absolutely. You'll notice the energy.
People go, this is the best meal I ever had. You know, that kind of thing. And and and getting and getting back what you said about, you know, current economics and stuff, I just got in the mail, and you probably just got yours in the mail.
I mean, I think it was yesterday or the day before, my, Wise Traditions publication from, from the Weston Price Foundation.
Oh, gosh. This is the best publication. It's a hundred plus pages. You get it quarterly if you're you're a member of the of the Weston Price Foundation. And and did you read the article, Maria, by Anne Sargent, PhD, Healthy Eating Shouldn't Cost an Arm and a Leg?
If you haven't gotten a chance yet to read that, she starts out with, you know, people are wondering a rising costs of everything. People always answer, you know, you talk about improving their diets and they always they always say, Oh I can't afford that. And the real question should be how can you and she says, quote, how can you afford not to eat healthy with the high costs of being ill?
Exactly. Pay me now or pay me later, John.
Well, and she goes through here, and she documented in her family of six.
Okay, some have had health problems, had health problems in doctor's bills and medications. She documents what she paid in medical expenses, what she paid in food. Now, after eating this way for six months, her total medical costs were nearly, or about sixteen hundred dollars less than than they were before she started eating this way.
The dental bills, there were no cavities.
Okay? And the other thing is when you actually looked at the food cost, and this was the kicker, that when she compared her previous diet and the high, the cost of the standard American diet versus what she spent, standard American diet cost her three thousand dollars more a year than, in, than it did when she's changed to eating, more locally, organic.
Well, I think yeah. I think it's more, satiating.
Yes. And and and so there in other words, when people tell me, and and you probably get this too, but they often tell me, oh, I don't have the money for that.
You know, the arguments that I mean, it's right here in this article and it's and and I'd say the same thing. I bet you my my food bills by going to the local organic farm, by going to the farmers market, by getting our milk locally, raw milk, But, sometimes we can't get raw, because, you know, various reasons.
But we do our very best and I'd say we definitely spend probably less than we would. And and then and then the article's great too because she goes into, things like ideas, like getting to know your budget busters, like eating out for example, buying, making a budget, you know, things like that. So, hey, it might cost more if you're not paying attention, but she gives all the tips you need to pay attention, and and and gives you menu ideas and it's really great. Really great stuff.
Sounds great. Yeah.
Yeah. So so just so people are wondering, oh I don't know if it's kind of expensive to eat local. Well not really.
Not really. You're absolutely right.
So we saw how simple it was to make sauerkraut. We talked about kefir. You seem to really like beet kvass.
Tell us about beet kvass, and why is this good for us?
Well, I guess it's it's all a matter of of, of preferential taste. But, you know, I'm a I'm an avid reader. And, I I just don't scan through my book. And I when I read when I got my copy of Sally Fallon, I I matter of fact, I wrote a little review on my impressions of it in the little booklet that I that I, give free one, with the DVD.
And I mentioned in there that you should maybe sit down and curl up in a in a chair and just read it. It's that kind of book. But as I was reading this book, when I got to page six hundred and ten Mhmm. And I read the how to make beet kvass, which is so so very simple. I mean, it takes beets away and, sea salt. And it said this drink is valuable for its medicinal qualities and as I digestivate.
Beets are just loaded with nutrients. One four ounce glass morning and night is an excellent blood tonic.
It promotes regularity.
It aids digestion. It alkalizes the blood. It cleanses the liver and is a good treatment for kidney stones and other ailments.
And it can be used in place of vinegar and salads and other things. Well, you know, John, when I read that, I just I you know, there there was no no doubt in my mind that I had hit the, you know, the most powerful, tonic, on earth. Now would I like it? Well, I love it. It is my very favorite, my very favorite drink.
Wow. And, and beets, wonderful for the liver and and and all. And hey. Listen to what we're saying here. You know, cabbage, beets, these are herbs.
They are.
What's an herb? It's a plant. These are plants.
We're talking about herbs today.
And and these are and these are and and and these are plants that and you're and you're preparing them in a way that humans have been doing for generations. And I trust the wisdom of the ages, thousands of years of wisdom, more than I trust fifty to sixty years of mechanization and marketing.
Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, the the this is if if if we can if anybody, you know, truly wants, you know, to enjoy life to the fullest even if you have an illness currently or you have a disability or Mhmm. You haven't done so well. You know, that one hundred and eighty degree turn like it did for me that day can take place in anybody's life, and you can expect nothing but good things to come out of it. And it's it's not some kind of a well, you know what I love, John, also about this thing? It's not some kind of a weird, fad.
Yeah.
There's there's nothing fad about this. There's nothing, nothing at all that indicates that it's a fad diet. It is it's just finally saying the that great moment that says, oh, food. Oh, you mean real food.
You mean not like a patty, you know, that you get in a in a store that's frozen and you throw it in the microwave. I mean, a real hamburger patty made even maybe with a with a little bit of of minced, heart, which is very, very high in co q ten Mhmm. And things of that nature and herbs and fermented drinks. I mean, this truly is real food, and and, I love every moment of it.
And and and and getting some organ meats in there too, like you you said, a little bit of hard in there.
We have a local, it's like a thundering hooves dot com locally. We it's a local meet. They do a drop off or let's say we find a local farm and go in and do a share to get a bison or something like that, or I'm out here in the west where they're roaming around.
And and, but, they're often happy to give you their organ meats for literally, like, free.
Oh, yeah.
I mean, I well, I don't know anymore that I've gone through are really cheap.
You know? It's it's it's it's amazing. They're like, you want them? Sure. Have them. I was like, well, god, you're giving me free food.
That's right. It's wonderful stuff, though.
And and and and and and and with this, you know, not being of fat, there's no multilevel marketing vitamin scheme going.
No.
It's it's You know, people spend so much money on that stuff.
Bye.
It's like, oh my gosh. If you just had some beet kvass, made your own sauerkraut, made kefir, had a stinging nettle infusion, threw some dandelion leaves on your salad, you're getting multitudes more nutrition and health than than any of those pills.
Yeah. No. No. No. No vitamin supplements can compare.
No. And they can't. They're not even in the same league. And and so once again, contribute I add that to the the argument that, oh, I, you know, I was like someone said, oh, I don't can't afford to eat organic. I said, how much money do you spend on on vitamins a month?
They kinda got silent and got the point immediately.
Okay. So, Beat Kvass, an excellent once again demonstration on the DVD.
Just maybe as a before I get into some questions that some members had, we just actually put up a lesson on Urban to News, our free newsletter this week on making, bone broth.
And you even have a demonstration of bone broth on here and showing how carton?
Well, again, it's the, you know, the difference between going down making your own keeper and going down and buying the stuff and stuff. You know, you you have no idea what where you're not really getting if you notice the broth that you sometimes get from the store, it's watery.
Yes.
Well, how you know, I don't think you really know. You're just not getting the purity, I I I'm assuming.
Bone broth has a very unique substance in it, and it's a it's a gelatin like substance. And Mhmm. I I try to show that in the DVD, but, cooks that have been doing bone broth understand that when you cook, you know, the the bone, especially it has the marrow in it. Cocktails make great gelatin in it, and, you know, as well as marrow bones, what's called marrow bones, chicken bones, chicken feet, all of these things make this gelatin. But bone broth is is a very is very rich in minerals and a mineral that the body can absorb easily.
Mhmm. For instance, bone broth contains calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, silicone, sulfur, and mint trace minerals. And it it contains, material from the cartilage and the tendon tendons, that act like, chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine. And you know what people are paying for those bottle things.
Yeah. But, it it contains this gelatin. It's it's found to be useful in the treatment of yes, numerous diseases like TB, diabetes, muscle diseases. And, of course, this is information that I have gotten from, from the West n a Price Foundation, but I'm reiterating it here because it's so dynamic.
And now this gelatin that comes from there, attracts, and holds liquids, and it facilitates digestion.
And babies, given, this gelatin bone broth have much less, yeah, colic and and problems, you know, fewer digestive problems when it's added to their milk.
Wow.
And so, you know, it's a fish stock. Fish stock is another way to do, bone broth. And it's, according to the to to the traditional lure, it makes childbirth easy, and it cures fatigue. And and fish broth will cure almost anything. And, it is a South American proverb. It says broth and soup made with fish heads and carcasses provides iodine and thyroid strengthening substances.
So, see, it's it's essential that we learn and incorporate. I I can't tell you how many times in the past I used to buy these little, stew meat, hunks of meat, you know, and throw them in a crock pot, and then I'd add water to them. Why? I and I today, I don't do any of that. Today, I I know I when I'm gonna make soup, if it's gonna be chicken soup, I go and get my fresh chicken soup, chicken, broth, and put my vegetables in my pan, and that's what I use as a I never use water anymore.
But I all I also just take bone broth quite often for my as a dinner drink. I'll I'll warm a nice cup of bone broth with salt and pepper on it, maybe even a little garlic and sit down. It's a very, very, very good drink, isn't it?
Yeah.
In a cold winter day.
That that's my that's part of my breakfast, in the winter months every morning. I take the bone broth, just heat it up, put it in a cup instead of a coffee. Instead of coffee in my cup, I put that in the cup. I mix a little, miso from a good miso place.
Oh, yeah.
South River Isn't that amazing though?
South River Miso dot com has excellent misos. If you wanna get a microbrewed miso, they're excellent.
And what was that website?
South river meso dot com.
Yes.
They have a dandelion leek meso, probably one of their most popular.
And being loving the dandelion plant personally, I I I I stock my fridge with that in the winter, and I I just go through it.
So it's really great.
And I want to mention too that what's great about bone broth is that it's something you can do with the rest of your chicken. So, we, you know, we try to get the local farm chickens when we can with the local CSA, but they're, you know, not every time. They're not always available.
Honestly our local Costco here has organic chickens, and so when I can't get those, I get those and it could be as simple as that. And we had a good price and I, we use that.
We eat the chicken, and when we're done with the chicken, we make the broth with the carcass. So you don't, you know, it's you're gonna compost it anyway.
Well, and local farmers now are understanding that we want the they'll, often, you know, when they do these chickens and they're just selling the breast or the thighs or that. Mhmm. The backbones are very, cheap, to purchase, and you can buy those in both, freeze them, and that's a lot what I make my my bone broth out.
Oh, good tip. Uh-huh. Good tip.
That's what I do because, you know, I, because you I can end up with a lot of for instance, I'm by myself, so I don't have a huge family to take care of. Now you can overdo that because you your bone broth and suddenly you have so much chicken you don't know what to do with it. And so storage is a problem. So using the the back the chicken back so that you can now buy both from your farmer, a local farmer especially from the local farmer or from, a health food store. The chicken back are an easy way to make inexpensive bone broth. And remember, we're talking about economics, which you pointed out here. Inexpensive, highly nutrient bone broth, and, you don't need to have all of that extra chicken because you probably have it from a previous meal before.
Right. Exactly. Exactly.
So that's that's one of the ways that I do that.
Oh, that's that's that's a good tip because everyone has different buying habits based on who they're buying for. I mean Right.
I go to Costco because I got a family of four, and I usually just get what's organic and get out of there, which they to their credit, they've got more and more of.
But, but, you know, it's, I I kinda combine all the many stores together when I when I do end up at the coop too.
Let's see.
So so Maria, I just wanna get some questions here and and I think I'll just start with the question I think we just actually covered with with, someone wanted to know getting the most mineral out of the bones and I'd say that would have to be the broth. Right? What we just talked about.
And and, and and, of course, adding, just a little bit of vinegar apparently does, is able to extract more of the mineral from the bone. So, I I really encourage you to put a little bit of vinegar into your bone broth.
K. And, let's see. Another question is, Kelly has been growing beets and cabbage in her garden and wants to preserve them in a traditional way. I make beet kvass and fermented sauerkraut now as needed. Very good, Kelly.
I would like to make a big batches, many quart jars of each one at one time instead and store them at room temperature until needed. Would this be possible or would they need to be refrigerated after three days at room temperature?
So what do you have to Okay.
I I'm gonna talk to that because this is one of those that I've just done enormous amounts of trying to find out Mhmm. About this storage, business because it seems like we end up buying extra refrigerators and all that kind of stuff.
You know, making beet kvass or any of these things like this, you do need a place where it is cooler, forty degrees or forty two degrees or something like that Mhmm. To keep them for the long term.
I when I make my big kvass, I leave them three, four days, in in my little fermenting closet.
And after that, I do put them in the refrigerator, and I have had to buy an extra refrigerator for most of my ferment because they do require that. Leaving them in the in the in a lot of heat for extended periods of time, I just I just think they, you know, they can get too too hot. I think they blow up. They break. They do all kinds of weird things.
Now I've heard that in, that in Korea that people keep their kimchi, for instance, perpetually going.
But and they keep them out in a little in a little, you know, lanai, a little front porch that they have. Mhmm. But I think that for us here, we need either a root cellar.
Now in here's a tip, though, and this is what I've been doing.
I make less beet a little bit less beet kvass in the summer, and keep a lot of it in what I do keep of it in in my extra refrigerator.
In the winter's a little bit different. I don't have a a basement. I have a garage.
So I make a lot of beet kvass in the, at the end season, like, now in October. Mhmm. And what I do with that as a matter of fact, I make other fermented beverages.
And then I put them in cardboard boxes and store them in my garage, which by this time and through the spring stays at between, forty and Wow.
Forty degrees. And so that way, I have a lot of storage in my garage because I don't have a basement and I don't have a root cellar. And I have a lot of storage of fermented drinks out in the garage all winter long.
But they do have to be in a cooler environment.
Right. So sorry if you live in Florida. But, however, Kelly lives in, missus no. MS. Missus oh, she MS is Mississippi, isn't it?
Yes. So she is in a little warmer area, so she'll have to think about that, figure figure something out.
Yep. And and like I said, it's it's, it's to leave them out, she she might wanna do some research, with the Weston A. Price Foundation or might want to, communicate with a gentleman named Sandra Katz who wrote Wild Fermentation. Mhmm.
He's a very, very learned man, and he has enormous amounts of experience in fermenting. But, from my my knowledge base, I I have to continue to, to believe that they were kept in in sellers and, places. I've even heard recently people, making a big hole and putting in an old refrigerator down in their backyard, you know, where the the lid is not, cannot be, you know, closed up for a child or something like that. So there's some safety features there.
Mhmm. But, people are looking for ways now. So, this is a a good time for somebody to come up with a good way to keep our furnace. Cool.
That's for those of us that can't do, root sellers.
Good good point. Okay. That was great.
So let's see. In Another another topic on a question had to do with, and a couple of people were curious about this.
But Kimberly from Virginia, she joined a cow sharing program and has had raw whole milk.
But her and her spouse have put on fifteen pounds and we feel like it's due to the fat in the milk. They started skinning and using cream occasionally and using the cream occasionally for butter.
So, this and another, listener wanted to know, kind of the whole thing about weight gain in general from this perspective.
Well, you know, John, this is it's probably one of the most talked about questions that there is in weight loss. I mean, it's keyword. It's like saying free.
Right.
You know, everybody runs for it no matter what it is. I mean, if you see it, main pages. And the mantra up to this point has been, low fat.
As you know, it has been low fat.
Right.
But it hasn't worked. We're seeing more obesity and more problems than ever before.
And so what I feel about weight is, I have a a very, very close friend that we work together and occasionally even do seminars together. Her name is Blair McMorn. Mhmm. And she is, I think, either the co chapter or the chapter leader of the Denver Colorado chapter.
And she wrote to one person that asked that very question. Her name was Sally. She wrote it on a discussion group. And if you don't mind, I'm gonna read this little thing.
It's not long.
Oh, please do.
Yeah. Listen listen to her her her the because she's a very seasoned NT, cook and and eater. She says, Sally, the same is for sugar. It's grains and meat that for sugar. It's grains and meat that make the fat. It's grains.
When I eat fat, I lose fat.
I have so much energy even when I'm hungry. I feel sustained. I can wait until good food is ready, and I don't have to eat now. Mhmm.
The book Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig is an excellent starter for losing weight. Mhmm. She goes on to say, I lost thirty five pounds on NT food over several years. No sweat, no hunger, no counting calories.
Mhmm. Okay. This year, I gained five back, fell into the Christmas cookie fudge rut, and it got me hooked back on sugar and sweets, which I didn't ditch until February. Darn sugar.
And what a mental midget I was.
And while I ate all that glorious fat, my physical activity went way down at the same time.
I used to be an avid gardener. Since NT, I became an avid computer dork. And this year, I hope to get back into my gardening.
Still, some of our members have not lost weight on this diet. I don't get it. But nutrition is so complex and each body is so unique. Mhmm. I read that your iodine may go up on this higher fat diet. Pyloid must certainly be involved.
Balancing minerals, another ministry. Hormone another mystery. Hormones, again, very powerful stress.
Truly, getting away from sugar and white flour, even raffodora intake should be modest and non existent for some.
I'm just convinced myself it was poison and that the weight began to melt away. For me, it was simple. But for others, definitely not. So, here's the magic ingredient for me. Raw milk kefir, butter, coconut oil, seaweed, kale, cod liver oil, sea salt, sauerkraut, good eggs, grass fed beef. Oh, and did I mention coconut oil?
Plus a positive mental attitude about eating foods that sustain our earth, a sort of thing that you apply on a daily basis.
Mhmm.
She says, as far as detox, I yet have some slightly lousy feeling days but not bad. Deep down, I knew I was healing. It was a good lousy. Plus, it rarely lasted more than a day or two.
So you see, when you look at these people that have lost thirty five pounds and one of the two things that are that come to my mind and that goes in my case too. It was gradual. We all wanna get back to looking like Twiggy. Right?
It's it's not gonna happen.
It yeah. It's also a cultural setting. You know?
Weight loss is part of Good Health, and it's mother nature works in very she works slowly. Plant a seed and see how long it takes to grow. It isn't up in three days.
So losing weight is a gradual thing. So you first have to but the grains and the sugars, the high carbohydrates are very difficult.
Now an interesting one of the most interesting seminars that I just went to in September, which was called back to school. And it was done by Mark Anderson of Standard Process West. And he discussed in it at length, the findings of doctor, Royal Lee.
And and remember that I said that, doctor Weston a Price worked and formed him with doctor Royal Lee. Mhmm. And doctor Royally found that people, for the most part, have digest we all have some digestive issue, and he encouraged those people that had specific need to to, resolve digestive issues so that they can lose weight Mhmm. To do some food combining.
Mhmm. Now and so so but eating grains and eating too much sugar and eating bread is, you know, it's gonna put it on you.
And and there and there are so many other things too.
Like, I with Kimberly Smith, the from the Kimberly from Virginia here, she you know, I I can't tell maybe she's growing into a weight that's healthy for her, you know, versus the, you know, versus the the the stereotype of what should we that we should all be skinny, which isn't necessarily healthy.
No.
And, you know, the So I don't know.
I mean, maybe I don't know. Or maybe it's maybe people who are more more obese will find themselves lose weight. But maybe people who are on the skinnier side might find them gaining a little.
I I Well, the thing of it is with her too, if she if she, is beginning to skim her I mean, she she's looking at this from skimming the milk.
I mean, once she starts giving up fat, good fat, she's gonna be hungry.
And she's gonna replenish that hunger with probably, things that she thinks are are are more, you know, like sugars, like That's the key right there.
And so don't don't above all things, don't give up the fat. For that matter, increase your fat intake of good fat.
Oh, yeah.
And and get the book Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Sally Fallon and Mary Enig, and get on that. And then, practice that for the next year and see if if, practice that for a few months and see if, in fact, it doesn't turn around.
That that's a good point there because when you're not eating the fat, then you're looking at other areas. And that's exactly what many of the, well, maybe not all vegetarian, but definitely vegans that I, that I know eat some of the worst foods because they're eating these processed snack foods to make up for any hunger and they're expansive.
So, and not great for you. So because they're trying to, they're always hungry.
Yeah. And and, you know, Blair Blair, ends her little, advice to, Sally here. She says, excuse the cliche, but it's a very personal journey for each body.
That's right.
I I also think that a good MD or clinical nutritionist can save you time and money. And, John, that's important because sometimes we get so involved in thinking that all that we need is the right food and learning how to make all these things that we suddenly isolate ourselves from any medical treatment and any doctors. Now I personally, steer away from the allopathic, you know, type of of treatment, but there are times that I may need it. Mhmm. But this advice of if you can't lose weight and you've tried and you're really making an effort, like, you're reading, ESAT, loose fat, and you're still having trouble and stuff, then don't you think it's high time for you to get yourself to a good n d or a clinical nutritionist like she says and say, look. Do some tests on me. Find out what's going on.
Because it could be a thyroid issue or something.
Yeah. And so I I I do advocate, working with someone if you're having, weight problems because it's very discouraging to to, that, you know, if if you're really truly exercising your hour a day and and out moving around and doing a lot of things and eating the right way, the NT way. I would also advise that you look for an MD or a clinical nutritionist that is that works with the West and A Price food principles because many of them do not. And so they take you and turn you around, and, then then you've really lost, a lot of ground.
Right. Right.
Thank you for all that.
Before I get to the last question, on the second part of someone's question, I had asked about Kombucha. Now since we didn't talk about Kombucha here, I just don't want to get into that but the, you do you do on your DVD cover Kombucha.
But I guess, well the one part that I maybe just, you know, just as an aside here, any any teas that should not be used, you know, for example, you know, probably just go with an organic black tea. Right? Or or what?
That's what I do. Yeah. And there's been a lot of talk about, well, it's got fluoride and, well, it's got this and this and that. And, you know, I just think that, like, in our discussion group, which is, we call it DNT, discussing n t dot org. Mhmm.
There's a lot of discussion about that. And I think that even Sally Fallon, has, chimed in on that. And I think she just uses black organic tea. So I've asked what I continue to use.
I'm not afraid of it. And I think that that she also says that if you're eating healthy, a lot of other healthy foods, you know, your body automatically takes care of, of, you know, eliminating some of those toxins that we're gonna be involved in just by the mere fact of breathing and eating. So keep your immune system up, but I think you're okay using black organic tea. That's what I use.
Any other specific questions, people have, they you can share that on the herb mentor dot com community forum in their traditional nutrition section.
We can have discussions there.
If if you're if questions have come up, as you're listening here or maybe we didn't get to your question. I'll end with Tina Sam's question because we started talking, mentioning Tina and and, you know, Tina wants to know, number one, what's one food Maria makes that wouldn't be without and, of course, one food that never crosses your lips, the worst of the worst. So quickly there, Maria, without getting too into what's Well, I'm not gonna be without and one that you would never cross your lips.
Well, so to make it simple, my absolute favorite is the Kvass.
Yeah.
I mentioned why I on page six ten of the nursing traditions, it's a basic recipe, and I make variations of it now. I make beet kvass now with cranberry cranberry juice. I make beet kvass with leaf greens. I make a lot of variations on that. I do plan in the future, the good lord willing, I will make another DVD cover other areas so that people want some, you know, feed feedback, anything that they would like me to do, I I would, of course, put priority on that. Mhmm. Now as far as the food that I the the food that I would not let pass my list, it's really hard to say never.
Because there's, you know, been times when circumstances did not permit me to be in a place where I could, you know, eat the wonderful NT foods that I now cook. But I can tell you that here's what I think. Restaurant food. It's by far that which gives me the most concern and and which I make every effort to avoid. Even when traveling, I prefer to stop at a grocery store and buy a fruit or little package of pigskins or something of that nature. The restaurant team today, and, of course, in my humble opinion, should be avoided at all costs because not only are the foods cooked in aluminum or low grade stainless steel, which makes them a toxic metal soup, but the oils that are used in it are those which have been proven to cause some of the greatest health issues since their introduction.
Mhmm. Now add to that the highly unsanitary conditions of most restaurants where the plates and utensils are rinsed in another toxic soup to sanitize them. Mhmm. And then I think that I think you've got my picture, but there's a few restaurants that seem to be getting it, but and are buying it. In a cool area cool enough.
Area, you're gonna find if you live in a certain area, like, you're gonna find a few that that that make efforts and know this. And there are some there's a local one around us that despise local organic meats, you know, and they try to do business.
But but, yeah, for the most part, it's just For the most part, there there, there's there's just not enough good healthy eating places, and there are hidden treasures.
And people that, really would wanna make a huge that have the money that maybe could get together and make an investment. I mean, they would make multimillions of dollars because in a very short time because people are just screaming for good healthy food and not finding it. So my worst, restaurant.
Yeah. Interesting.
Interesting. That was not what I I was gonna thought I thought maybe you're gonna say you're no or in the Halloween time of year, and I was dropping my car off yesterday at the mechanic.
And, you know, we've got this big bowl of Reese's peanut butter.
And, boy, it's like a drug. You know, your your hand just starts going over.
You pull it back, and then you go That's right.
Well, you know yeah. Because we we thought better and better. I mean, you know, all processed foods should be avoided. But I but really, truly, I think the the the worst is that we the worst thing that we do often do is, we think we're doing ourselves a favor. Oh, because we eat so much at home, you know, let's go out and have a little burrito or a little this or a little that. I'm sorry. It's just not it's just it to me, it's like a like a little like a venial sin.
And I and I should mention too that that that everyone, this is a process.
You know, I like this article in the wise traditions I mentioned earlier that that was written on that I mentioned earlier that, you know, this is a woman, her family, they follow an eighty twenty rule. You know, eighty percent is good nourishing food and twenty percent they leave to chance, which, you know, if you've got kids in the house and you're out and about it, in in other words, be forgive yourself. Don't take, you know, take your time and don't beat yourself up if you don't get everything together overnight. You know, you're just it's a process. Right?
It is. It's definitely a process. It's something that, like I said, there is a there is a pivotal moment in everybody's life, and some people have to get very, very sick to reach that. Mhmm. But once we do and we realize what a treasure real foods are, John, and herbs, especially herbs. I've got an interesting little, if you will, comment that I make on my website. It's called I Believe.
Mhmm. I would want everybody that's listening today and and just everyone to go and read that. It is sort of a a consummation of all the things that I truly believe in, and I think it's there. Mhmm. So hopefully, they'll look at that, and, it might inspire somebody to go forward and and begin to make the turnaround.
Yeah. Maria, this has probably been one of the longest urban tour videos I've ever done because I've been just having so much fun talking with you and you have so much wonderful wisdom.
You know, so I didn't even notice that I went twenty minutes over that I usually just see. But it doesn't matter. We're not on commercial ready. We can do what we want.
So I, you know have some listeners that's gonna shut us off, John.
Oh, no. I'm in This is fun. Are you kidding? No. We're we're here to make information available to people and and entertain them at the same time.
Thank you for the privilege.
So, you know, I I just once again, I I just, you know, love the simplicity in which you, lay everything out on your on your DVD.
You know, I Kimberly and I really enjoyed it, and and Kimberly is excited, for couple things on there that she didn't, never seen demonstrated. It's like a whole weekend workshop on one DVD. So, it's and I mentioned that if you go to traditional cook dot com and and if you don't own Nourishing Traditions yet, you can get it there packaged with the DVD.
Also on traditional cook dot com, Maria has other things and treasures that you may want to check out like stoneware, dehydrators, things like that if you really get into this stuff. And like you, like you're all into supporting learning herbs dot com, you know your home business and and you and you like us and what we do and you like supporting us, same same here. You know, Maria put this together on her own. She it's a whole total home handcrafted business.
It's a wonderful, wonderful job, Maria. I'm very impressed.
So, once again, cook your way to wellness on traditional cook dot com. So, Maria, thank you very much and and once there's enough lively discussion, maybe we hit on the forum and we get tons of questions.
We might have to have you back sometime.
Well no problem at all. I'd be happy to come back, John.
There's always plenty to talk about. Alright.
So thanks so much.
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