KOMBUCHA! Oooh-ah-ha-ha, Oooh-ah-ha-ha

Following suit with the fermented drinks, I'm moving on to kombucha in this post.  Every time I say "kombucha," I picture the scene from Finding Nemo around the aquarium volcano...

From what I've discovered, it seems more people know about kombucha than kefir.  This was not the case for me.  I heard about milk kefir first, and upon buying my milk kefir grains, I discovered there was a kombucha drink somewhere out there in the world.  I think I had possibly heard of it by glancing at the drinks in the health food store, but I had definitely never tried it.  I honestly don't know how my friend, and I started talking about kombucha one day, but I remember her saying something along the lines of, "Man, I LOVE kombucha!  It has this addicting, sour flavor, but you get used to it...and, it's expensive!"  The first kombucha I came across after talking to Kelly, I bought...and loved.

Normally, I stay away from flavored drinks because 1) I simply don't crave them, and 2) they're usually high in calorie, and I can think of many other ways I'd love to spend those calories.  At any rate, my friend started my researcher's wheels to spinning, and I discovered, like kefir, all the benefits kombucha had to offer.  Click HERE for a general kombucha overview and HERE for an addressed F.A.Q. to learn more.  I am, by no means, an expert on the nutritional profile or value of kombucha, but there's a load of information on the net regarding kombucha, so help yourself to the Google man!

Addressing my issues:
1) I don't crave flavored drinks

Kombucha isn't really like a flavored drink.  It's not very sweet, it's sour, it's carbonated, and it taste nothing like a traditional sweetened tea, juice, or soda.  A while back, I started drinking a raw apple cider drink, and kombucha tastes a lot like that.  It's pretty vinegary...but, that's also the reason people looooove it.  

2) Flavored drinks are usually high in calorie 

Kombucha is not!  You see, just like in kefir, the bacterias and yeasts feed on the sugar in the original liquid used to make the product.  By the time fermentation is done, the sugar amount is greatly reduced.  For example, a 16oz bottle of GT's Original Kombucha has 60 calories and 4g of sugar.  16oz of CocaCola, on the other hand, has 191 calories and 53 grams of sugar.  That's a great difference...I was shocked.  Plus, kombucha is filled with healthy goodness; coke is not...duh.

I was ready to start making kombucha as I also discovered this stuff was expensive at $3/bottle!  First, I needed a scoby.  In attempt to avoid having to purchase a scoby, I hit the interwebs like a desperate black-market hippie.  I asked around on natural food forums and freaked everyone out on Facebook.  Fortunately, a FB friend who knew nothing about scobies or kombucha provided me a link with how to GROW a scoby from an existing bottle of commercial raw kombucha...SCORE!  HERE'S the article.  Later, I discovered there were many different sources on how to grow a scoby, all with the same basic technique.  So, to growing a scoby I went!  Refer to the above mentioned articles for details on the process.  Here are a couple pictures of my progress in growing a scoby...

My first vessel was too large, and I knew it was going to take forever for a full scoby to form over the large surface area, so....

...I took those forming scoby bits and moved them to a smaller jar (quart size), and voila!  A fully formed scoby formed in about a week! *EXCITEMENT*

Now, that I had grown my little (3in diameter?) scoby, I was ready to try a gallon batch of kombucha!  Simply google "make kombucha," and a myriad of sites will come up.  It's a very simple process and pretty standard across the board.  Here are a few good links:

http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-make-kombucha-tea-at-home-173858
http://www.foodrenegade.com/how-to-brew-kombucha-double-fermentation-method/
http://www.culturesforhealth.com/kombucha

So, I brewed up a gallon of English Breakfast tea, added 1 cup of sugar, pour it into a gallon glass jar (seen as the "too large" vessel mentioned above), added the scoby and the kombucha liquid it was sitting in, covered it with a paper towel and rubber band, and...WAITED...very impatiently...peaking very often despite the suggestions to not...and, waited some more. 

After seven painful days of waiting, I finally reached kombucha!  Here are some pics of the growing scoby...

Scoby during batch 1

Scoby during batch 2

Scoby at end of batch 3

Yes, it is disgusting, but it's also super fun and cost-effective to make.  All three of my batches have been successful.  I start tasting it with a straw around day 5 or so, but you can also smell the distinctive vinegary kombucha essence when it's getting close to being ready.  I like to let mine ferment until it is much less sweet than when originally started, has that vinegary sour taste, AND when it has started carbonating on its own.  Once this has happened, I dispense the kombucha into bottles with juice (grape is my current fave) added in a 1:4 ration (juice being the lesser value) and cap off for a second fermentation to build carbonation (like kefir post) for 2-5 days.  FYI, I drank a bunch of clear bottled beer and bought a bottle capper!  I feel so cool...

Try it out!  It's fun!  PLEASE don't hesitate to e-mail me ("e-mail me" button on home blog page) with any questions you come across while brewing this awesome healthy drink!  I swear I don't bite ;-)

To all da ladies in da hizzy!

All you men out there, stop reading now as you'll find words coming out of your mouth like "eeew," "ick," "natny" (as Steven would say).  This post is for the ladies!  Well, actually, men can find some useful knowledge here, too ;-)

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(don't say I didn't warn ya)

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Menstrual Cycle!  Periods!  The Crimson Wave!  Tampons!  Midol!

All I have to say here is MACA!

Holy crap, I am so excited about this super food!  Maca, Lepidium meyenii, is an annual plant which produces a radish-like root. The root of maca is typically dried and stored, and will easily keep for seven years. The plant is cultivated in the Junin plateau of Peru's Central Highlands, and was highly revered by the Inca.  Maca has been shown to:

• increase energy, endurance, and stamina
• improve sexual function in both men and women
• enhance fertility in people and animals
• reduce hormonal dysfunction during menopause and andropause
• regulate hormonal imbalances
• aid in alleviating depression
• reduce anxiety and stress
• have beneficial action on the circulatory system; speeds wound healing, and reduces anemia
• enhance memory, learning, and mental ability
• act as an alternative to anabolic steriods; helps to build muscle

In a nutshell, maca helps to regulate hormone producing glands, but maca is not a hormone, itself.  Hormones have a HUGE affect on our bodies and minds!  As many of you know, I'm pretty much obsessed with hormones and how they affect me.  I believe the endocrine system is way too often overlooked.  I have dealt with anxiety/depression my whole life, and believe it to be caused by hormonal imbalances.  With that being said, I was quite interested to see what maca could offer me.  I'm not going to lie, I've had a hard time believing in homeopathic/natural remedies to mental health issues.  Basically, I just think mental health is too fragile to screw around with.  When one comes to the point of recognizing they need help, that usually means they need it now and fast.


On another note, I have stopped taking hormonal birth control.  After years of debating whether hormonal birth control is right for me, I have come to the conclusion it is not.  Basically, my decision came down to the sheer fact that I think it's the most unnatural thing to trick your body into thinking it's pregnant for years on end.  As for me, hormonal birth control made me stale to the world.  Yes, I was not crying due to hormonal waves...but I was never smiling, either.  I remember in high school I used to have a couple friends who could make me laugh to tears!  Now, I can honestly say I haven't laughed to tears, or just simply genuinely laughed, in years.  That's sad, right?  So I asked myself, is it "worth it" to live in a sedentary emotional state just so you can be more sedentary in your sexual contraceptive responsibility?  For me, no.  Why take hormonal birth control when it makes the thought of sex seem appalling?  Isn't that sorta counteractive?  Why take hormonal birth control when there's a chance it may cause irreversible damage to your reproductive system?  Is it worth living in an emotionally "dead" trance for the ease of popping a "no pregnancy here!" pill when there are other effective non-hormonal ways of being sexually responsible?


So now you're asking yourself, "Where the hell is she going with all this?!  Maca's not birth control...."  Here's the deal, the only plus for being on birth control for me was lighter, less painful, periods with no flair-up acne.  Pain?  Cake-walk.  Acne?  Now you got me.  My one true vanity I have no problem admitting to is my facial complexion.  In my opinion, there's nothing more detrimental to your self-esteem than acne.  When I'm off birth control, I do get hormonal acne.  The thought of possible acne flair-ups worries the hell out of me.  Pathetic, I know.


Since starting this raw diet experiment, I have learned about about "super foods."  Maca especially stood out for me because of its properties as a hormonal stabalizer.  Hmmmmm....me and hormonal imbalances don't mix well.  I need some stabilization, fo sho!  Out of all the superfoods out there, I thought I'd start with Maca first since it supposedly addresses my only real "problem area" I was immediately concerned with.  So, I got online, ordered me up some maca, and starting taking it daily.


Last week was to be my first period off birth control.  I was expecting the worst.  I had already been telling Steven how much pain I was going to be in, how ugly my zit pitted face would be, and how I'd probably bleed heavy for 9 days straight (as was the trend pre-birth control years ago).  Well, all I have to say is THANK YOU GOD FOR MACA!  Holy zit-pitless face, cramp-free, short period yawowza!  This first non-birth control period was awesome (that is if a period can be awesome).  I had some first day cramping, but nothing unbearable, no major PMS before hand, no freak-out "I hate myself"'s, no zit break-outs, and the whole thing lasted roughly three days....THREE DAYS!  The whole time I was so confused as to why this period was so easy, not even thinking about the maca addition because I honestly didn't have that much faith in it.  Day three, I stated putting two and two together, and came up with maca.  Granted, I am curious to see how next month's period on maca will be since I will have been off hormonal b.c. for two months at that point.  I'm still not sure my hormones are totally adjusted to pre-b.c. "normalacy" just yet, as I've only been off birth control for a month; but, if I get this same effect from Maca the second time around, I'm claiming myself a total believer.


As for the other attributes of maca, well...I'm not so sure, yet, as I was only focusing on my menstrual cycle (makes me sound more professional when you call it that).  Also, I doubt I'll get into real depth about libido and fertility since my mother can read this (gross!); you can e-mail me for my opinion on maca's affect on those, if you wish.  All I know is I feel the best I have in a long time, both emotionally and physically.  I've had nothing to complain about since this food experiment in regards to how I feel.  If it's the maca, the lack of animal products, the greens, the live foods, the running...I don't know!  


You can buy maca at Matt Monarch's store here , or to be specific, this is the maca I'm using right now.  It seems most maca is sold in the loose powder form, but I went for the vcap version as I heard maca's flavor was one to be acquired.  I knew I could swallow anything down in pill form, so I went for that.  Many people add the loose powder to smoothies, or in their nut mylks.  According to Karen Knowler...

Maca is a food it should be taken in decent sized quantities – in this case less is NOT more! To be consistent with Peruvian use the ideal “dosage” is 3000 – 5000 mg per day – but more is no bad idea. A tablespoon blended into a smoothie is the quickest and easiest way to get a good amount of maca into your daily diet. As it is a food and not a medicine, you cannot overdose. (Toxicity studies have been carried out in the US and have showed absolutely no toxicity and no adverse pharmalogic effects). Maca has a malty taste to it which is fairly strong, for this reason it is best taken in a capsule or taken as part of a drink or mixed into your food rather than taken alone.

'Till next time!
CC Bloom