Not really sure what to add today. I decided not to chew the garlic. Instead I am using my garlic press to crush it really good and then I just down it like a pill. It works really nice. Today was a bit hectic life wise and so I didn't get to do much of my normal routine. I know that I have had alot of die off symptoms, and believe that when I am able to take my vitamin C it helps alot. I am taking about 1000mg 3-4 times a day now. I have been getting tired and achy quite a bit, but know it is gonna be better. I did have the best looking stool I had had in forever last night. It was the most normal looking stool I think I've ever had. It was soft, but formed. Usually, I have suffered with constipation since I can remember and hope this is a new begining.

Coconut oil is probably somewhat helpful in making my stools easier to pass. Here you can find some of the many health benefits of coconut oil. Make sure you get organic virgin coconut oil. It can be used in baking, for frying, and as an addition to smoothies or other dishes. I love it on popcorn (of course I'm not eating popcorn right now) with 1/2 coconut oil, 1/2 ghee melted and poured generously on top. It is the best!

http://products.mercola.com/coconut-oil/ There are many sources for coconut oil, so don't think you have to get if from Dr. Mercola.

I am living proof that coconut oil actually helps you lose weight. The saturated fat satisfies you and promotes brain health. Our cells need fat to function, especially our brains. Like cholesterol, fats have been given a bad name, but not all fats or cholesterol are created equal. One must be mindful when sifting through nutrition information. What is the motivation of those touting the information? Be deligent. Think historically, and think biblically. Also, think about your specific needs due to illness or disease. I am taking about 3 TBSP of coconut oil each day now in addition to using it to cook with. It is tasty and helps fight off candida. It also promotes thyroid health (of which I have suffered), immune function, metabolism and more. I hope you flee the modern deception surrounding fat and look into it for yourself. Besides, It tastes awesome!

Today was a great day. I had so much time to just think as I was volunteering at my kids school. I am developing a curriculum for homeschooled children on Health and Nutrition. It is a labor of love and something I look forward to completing. I hope to offer a class this fall and perhaps design a downloadable version for the internet. In my research for this and other research, it has become apparent to me how we have lost the wisdom of the past. We have abandoned what seemed second nature to our ancestors. Food preparation has become an industry instead of a spiritual expression, a communion with one another. God is three Persons in one God, totally interdependent and supporting of the oneness. We are created in the image of God, intended to be interdependent and submitting one to another in love and reverence. But because of the fall, because of selfishness and brokenness, we tend more toward treating others as a means to an end. When God asked Cain, "Where is your brother?", Cain's response is quite bold. He said, "Am I my brother's keeper?" God never answers his question, but I believe the answer is yes. We are all keepers of each other. We want to pretend that sin is individualistic (the way we see most things), but it never is. We do not live in a vacuum. All we do is intertwined with nature and with each other.

You might wonder what this has to do with Candida. It has a lot to do with it. Candida has many symptoms, many of which are behavioral in nature. If I do not take care of my body, I am more prone to treat others poorly. Think of how you might react toward others when you have a headache, or the flu. Also, the long term effects may cause chronic disease which would put reduce my ability to work and put undo economic stress on society. So I want to get well, not just for me, but for those around me. Not that I blame all my negative behavior on health issues, but we cannot sever the soul, mind, body connection or the person, environment, community connection.

Today was a maintenance day. I did want to mention that one thing that I have been very consistent in is getting my garlic. I am taking 3-5 cloves a day. Surprisingly, I do not smell of garlic. Except for the occasional belch that is a bit garlicky just after taking it, I notice no difference. I am very happy to be taking it because it has many good properties.

According to this site, http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/07/08/15/garlic-the-five-top-health-benefits-of-the-delicious-but-pungent-natural-miracle.htm I should be chewing my garlic before swallowing. I am not looking forward to that change. I have been crushing it with a knife and dicing it. I guess I should go one step further and try the garlic press or chew. I'm sure this would help the anticandida benefits in my mouth as well. I was particularly impressed with the benefits toward reducing cancer risk for many types of cancer. Also, I like the idea that the garlic reduces inflammation in the body. It makes sense that if it curbs Candida, it would have these benefits as well. I LOVE GARLIC. God made many healing foods.

I wish I had had time to blog the last couple days. It seems all I can do to get all the necessary foods in. I did order some Pau d'Arco tea which is supposed to be a mild antifungal. It has a very mild licorice flavor, not unpleasant, but not satisfying like other teas. I'm trying to drink several glasses a day in addition to the garlic cloves. I can't believe I'm posting this, but I also did my first enema ever. Even though I've given them before, I've never had one myself and so it was a bit ominous. It wasn't uncomfortable at all, and I opted for only one quart instead of two and made the coffee light. Yes, a coffee enema, which I have so fondly named the "crapacchino". It helps to laugh at yourself. I thought it would keep me awake at night, but not really. I felt very light afterwards and glad that it really wasn't a big deal. I'll probably do about one per week. After a few crapacchinos, some anticandida enemas and then I'll switch to a probiotic enemas to introduce good gut flora. It may sound gross and crazy, but my gut tells me it is effective. Plus I've seen tons of testimonials (don't look at this if you have a weak stomach  http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1112129#i. He gives details of the apple cider vinegar enema. Use a raw apple cider vinegar like Braggs if you are gonna try it and dilute as he states.

Coffee enema instructions http://www.gallbladderattack.com/coffeeenemastepbystep.shtml

Why do a coffee enema http://www.gallbladderattack.com/coffeeenema.shtml

More info to come on probiotic enemas.

Ugh! Feeling a bit frustrated today. I had to abandon the Raw Milk Diet and not only that, but all of my raw milk products which I love to make. I obviously still have yeast (candida) issues, which I was hoping I had taken care of. Unfortunately, I didn't do an anticandida diet long enough and with strict enforcement enough to really kill the candida off. You never kill it completely, but it needs to be under control before indulging in such things as fruit, milk, and other foods that have sugar in them naturally. So where did I decide to turn for more info? I found a website with great info and it even has some homemade supplements you can take in order to combat the yeast beast. http://www.healingnaturallybybee.com/index.php Contains a great deal of information, most of which I knew already, but some new stuff as well. I have already started because most of the knowledge is not new since I did something similar for about 4 weeks before. I now know that I need to hit it harder and longer for my relief from infestation. Soooo Gross. So my Raw Milk Blog Has turned into an anticandida blog for those still interested.

The reason I know that I still have issues with Candida is the symptoms that I was having from drinking the Raw milk. Some of them could be considered detox symptoms, but with the completely coated white tongue, I knew that it was once again Candida. So what did I do. I already eat an almost exclusively organic diet so I simply started by eliminating all foods with sugar, including my beloved milk. That means no fruit, except lemons and limes (and those in moderation). All starchy vegetables, grains, and molds or fungi. I will eat no milk products for a total of three months minimum. I don't want to do this, but I have to. I also started immediately with a few things that I hadn't done the last time. One was to take my krill and cod liver oil like I was on the milk diet, but in addition, I am taking a crushed clove of garlic 3-5 times a day to kill the candida off. I am also eating coconut oil as a supplement in addition to cooking with it.  To combat the die off reaction, I will take some Vitamin C in high doses and do some other recomendations like, enemas. This should help my constipation as well.

The rest of my family will be joining me on this endevor as they most likely have issues still. My husband never did the previous diet, so this is totally new for him, but he is on board. God give us the strength, wisdom and resolve to complete this task. Help us to be st

   Wow, still lovin the milk! Stinkin again though. I cannot belive how I am emiting a steady stream of stink. Not completely overwhelming, but definitely not appealing. I hope it is gonna stop soon. Between the completely white tongue and the smell, I must admit I am feeling a bit self conscious. Oh well, here's hoping it will pass. And speaking of passing, I finally had a BM last night after writing my blog, but again it wasn't easy. So I added even more prunes to my diet today. Ugh. I hope I have a breakthrough. I was expecting things to be worse before they get better, so I am not supprised by my little irritations. 
    Today I thought I'd discuss eggs. Food has become demonized in our culture, and there is so much conflicting information. Eggs are good for you, if they are really eggs. Real Eggs are ones from chickens that are living a chicken life. Not cooped up chickens inside, crowded, disease ridden chickens like the ones above. I'm talking roaming the pasture pecking at the ground chickens. Chickens living the way God intended. Instead of reinventing the wheel, visit the following link to explain further. It is no wonder that the information we receive is so confusing, are they comparing apples to apples or eggs to eggs?  http://www.nakedfoodcooking.com/truth-isfree-range-eggs-healthier-store-bought-eggs/ 

After doing some additional research concerning lactose and candida, I'm pretty sure I still have major candida issues. There is no doubt in my mind that my tongue turning almost completely white and the trouble I'm having with body odor are related to candida overgrowth.

    I gotta say I feel pretty yucky today. I have had a headache most of the day. I have aches and pains as well. I had to take a break from drinking the milk for a couple hours when I went to the bookstore with my family, but other than that was able to get all my milk in throughout the day. I must admit, I haven't been watching the clock much. I just keep sipping my milk on and off all day and refill my glass periodically. I have been getting the full 5 quarts for the past 2 days. No bowel movement today. This concerns me. I haven't had the urge, and have been eating prunes regularly, but nothing. I will be going to bed early today and did manage a 1 hr. nap this afternoon. 
    Ironically after my post last night I had two people mention the ridiculous high fructose corn syrup campaign. Sad thing is that it will probably work. They will fool people into believing their lies and people will continue to have health problems as a result. I remember when grain fed beef was touted as better. Another campaign to 'validate' an industrilization of our food. The truth is that cows were never ment to eat grain and the animals become sick and those who eat them become sick as well.
This excerpt was taken from http://www.askahealer.com/grain-fed-beef.htm
Nutritional Differences between grainfed beef and grassfed beef:

Grain fed beef typically has more Omega-6, compared to the Omega-3 in the same meat.

As mentioned earlier, when these two fatty acids is out of nutritional balance in a food that is consumed, it is not healthy for the body. This is a major difference between these two types of beef and tips the scale for health in the direction of grass fed.

Grain fed beef typically has a lot more saturated fat than grass fed beef.

Saturated fat is, of course, a known factor in heart disease development. Reducing saturated fat in the diet is a good thing and grass fed beef can help.

Grain fed beef has less CLA, or Conjugated Linoleic Acid.

CLA has been shown to reduce body fat, help with weight loss, increase metabolic rate, help to lower insulin resistance and cholesterol, among other health benefits.

Grass fed beef excels nutritionally in vitamin A, E and Beta Cartotene, over grain fed beef.

Grass fed beef is nutritionally superior to grain fed, for these reasons and more.

Read more for additional info at the website above.
Raw Milk is said to contain at least 5 times the CLA as conventional milk. Yum, I'm drinking up!

    A great day for milk fasting. I was able to get alot done, but still managed to rest for about 2 hrs. I started my day by sleeping in while my husband cooked pastured local bacon and free range local eggs with potatoes for the kids and himself. When I got up, I started right away on my milk consumption. I'm pretty sure I got the full amount in this time. Sooo greatful to have a supportive husband who has come to understand food the way I have.
    Physically the rest has made me feel pretty good, I didn't seem to have any body odor today so I think that I may be over that. I did notice that my tongue is completely coated white. It looks so strange I'll try to get a picture and post later, but I need to finish this so the kids can have there fun night sleeping in the living room. (they do this every Sat.) I also wanted to mention that I had a really hard stool that was difficult to pass and the latter half of the stool was easier to pass and extremely pale. More yellow. I'm not supprised by this. Looks like I have passed the pre-milk stool and should be able to expect these stools from now on. Due to the difficulty passing the stool I made sure to eat a few extra prunes. I don't want to over due it, but I also wanna make sure I don't have constipation. I have eaten about 6 prunes throughout the day. They are the tastiest prunes I've ever had. I ordered them specifically for this fast from my food coop. They are organic and very soft and sweet. 

    Today it was particularly difficult to get my milk in the evening at work. I am trying to make up for it now that my work load has lifted (for the moment). I don't feel any better today than yesterday, but I seem to smell better. I also put on some essential oils after my shower today so that helps. Fixing food for the kids was very hard. They had organic sausage links for breakfast today and it hardly seems fair that I cannot eat what I cook. I am hoping that the strict milk consumption will get a bit easier as I get into it. It is a simple commitment that doesn' t require alot of thought or planning so I'm pretty sure I can do it. 
    Each day of the fast, I plan to talk a bit about health and food. Since it is a Raw milk fast, I will start with some of the Raw milk info that I have come across lately. One particular article seems timely for me http://www.realmilk.com/rawvpasteur.html. I had been looking at different sources for information regarding Raw milk. I remember learning as a child that pasteurization helped prevent tuberculosis. But when I read the book Milk diet as a remedy for chronic disease, Porter discussed using Raw milk as a cure for TB. How could it be both the cause and the cure? So remembering that so much of the information we get from media and governmental sources are not particularly accurate. I thought it could very well have been a tactic to get public support for pasteurization.  The article above confirms my suspicion. Another example of this tactic in modern day is corn syrup. The industry is spending enormous amounts of money on advertising watch this add http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEbRxTOyGf0 in contrast watch the rebutal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYiEFu54o1E. Notice, they don't lie in their add, they just imply that there product is safe when there are major consequences. On their website, they say that high fructose corn syrup is part of a healthy diet. Wow corn syrup healthy? Sometimes if you hear a lie often enough, you start to believe it. We must be deligent and question information we thought to be true. Does it make sense? Does it allign with history? And Does it make sense in the light of God's word? In a culture that has been educated by the government, informed by the media, and replaced God with science, it is more important than ever to have discernment.

Why the Fast?

A Raw Milk Fast consists of Consuming nothing except raw unalduterated milk from grass fed cows. The idea comes from a book written by Charles Sanford Porter in the early 1900s. A copy can be found at the following site and is available in multiple formats for free http://www.archive.org/details/milkdietasremedy00portiala.  What intrigued me the most about this is that he was using if for multiple ailments. Two of particular interest are mercury poisioning and rheumatiod artheritis. Since reading so many benefits of raw milk and reading this Dr.s account, I thought I'd be a fool not to give it a try. I have changed my family's diet drastically over the course of the past two years in order to effectively treat my son with Autism. He has improved drastically, but I believe he still has some mercury toxicity that if removed could greatly increase his progress. Since I am an RN, I decided to use myself as the guinea pig prior to treating him with it. He is still doing a GAPs type diet and only has fermented milk products at this point so he wouldn't even be ready, but  by the time I'm done he could be.

A brief preparation:

I spent the past couple of days eating light. Made sure I had some prunes and dates in case I get bound up prior to starting this morning. I cannot follow all the suggestions as I am a mom of two little ones, a college student, work full time, and have a life to live. What I have resolved to do is the following. Whenever possible drink the milk as suggested, every half hour during the waking hours. I will also consume nothing else, except the 'laxative' fruits when needed. I will also continue my cod liver oil which I try to take everyday. In all my goal is to consume 5 qts of milk per day. And of course I will take a full day of rest one day per week. I will also try to rest for a period each day. Today I was only able to rest for about 1/2 an hour. I do not know if this will be as effective for me as we live in very different times from when the book was written, but I am optomistic that I will see some benefits. I resolve to give it at least a three week trial. After the better part of one day, I find that I have some aches and pains that I haven't experienced before and some that are familiar. In addition, I have a headache and foul body odor, which I usually only experience after eating non-organic food and/or sugar. I cannot attribute it to anything other that perhaps I am already detoxing?