“If you are not your own doctor, you are a fool.” – Hippocrates

I cannot stress the importance of being your own doctor for your healing process. On my journey, I seen many health professionals (western, eastern, and integrative) and some of the information has been conflicting, or just plain wrong. Not that it’s their fault. Many doctor’s are focused in one area of expertise and used to treating a specific type of illness or injury, but many of us don’t fall into to a nice neat category. The same goes for diet, we all have different nutritional needs and those needs should be addressed. Assuming one diet is better than another could be dangerous.

“You should never assume. You know what happens when you assume. You make an ass out of you and me because that’s how it’s spelled.” – Ellen DeGeneres

Furthermore, if you are knowledgeable about your disease you will have better communication with your doctor and get more out of the appointment, as oppose to wasting your time and money. That’s why I’ve put together a YouTube channel for our blog with some of my favorite Lectures so you can begin your own YouTube Education.

I thought I would update you on how I am doing with my newish kefir. Although I don’t have a comparison, I feel like my kefir is really starting to work out well. It’s much tastier than when I first starting culturing it. When I go to strain it now, the fermented milk is much thicker with a jello-like solidity. Although it’s hard to measure, I believe the bacteria are getting larger as well. Now my kefir is a little thicker and resembles a drinkable yogurt.

I still don’t like it plain, it tastes a little too cheesy and savory for me to drink it,  so I add 7-10 drops of SweetLeaf liquid stevia in vanilla creme. This makes it taste like vanilla yogurt, and the stevia doesn’t feed the bad bacteria in my gut. Getting rid of the bad bacteria and replacing it with good bacteria is the main reason I drink kefir, so adding sugar even from healthy sources would be counter productive. Sometimes, I add in a some cinnamon as well, which tastes like a drinkable vanilla cinnamon cheesecake. Yummm.

Probiotic Cinnamon Cheesecake Smoothie

2 cups of kefir, preferably made from kefir grains and raw, grass-fed whole milk
7 – 10 drops of SweetLeaf liquid stevia in vanilla creme
1/4 tsp of cinnamon, saigon cinnamon is my favorite

Combine kefir, stevia, and cinnamon, then stir. I use this recipe when I am craving dessert. Reducing sugar is hard, and this recipe helps me get rid of cravings.

For a healthy outing, Shameer and I went for a walk in Santa Monica. It was a little chilly, but plenty of people were still out even with less than perfect weather. Finding a place to eat that is healthy can be a little tricky, so we headed off the main path by the beach and went to One Life Natural Food Market. I got a 32 ounce green juice for only $8.95, which I think is a really great price for all that nutrition. In my juice was lemon, parsley, spinach, and cucumber. If anyone is in the area, I highly recommend checking out this small health food store. Thanks Salma for introducing me to this place.