Fermenting with L. Gasseri; Supplies; Order

L. Gasseri BNR17

Lactobacillus gasseri BNR17 is one of the bacteria we use over at Dr. Davis's Inner Circle. It's part of the SIBO yogurt because it creates seven bacteriocins (bacteria killers); it's also been shown to reduce waist size. So instead of making more yogurt with it, I fermented it with apples, carrots and spices (recipe here). It's delicious, and it got rid of a lot of gas and bloating. My belly feels a little smaller too--always a good thing. I fermented it in my redneck yogurt maker with the heating pad set on high for three days.

The bacteria digest the carbohydrate (greatly reducing the carb count) and it gives the apples and carrots a tart taste. 

You can get L. gasseri BNR17 from Dr. Mercola's web site--it's in a product called BioThin. Once you ferment something with it, you can use the fermented food as a starter for the next batch; you don't have to keep buying supplements. 

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Supplies

Food choices are getting worse. I had to look at three brands of cream to find one without additives; I had to visit several stores to find a bag of Splenda (I can't tolerate erythritol); and Whole Foods doesn't seem to carry vanilla Paleo Pro protein powder anymore. Granted, I did find almost everything I needed--and the total bill for groceries, paper goods and a few other items came to over $200. It's the most I've ever spent on a week's worth of groceries. 

Likewise, a recent trip to the mechanic. A Toyota dealer said my car needed a new catalytic converter and a few other repairs. Catalytic converters were on back order--even at the dealership. 

I compared prices for rides while my car was in the shop--taxis were completely booked. Lyft was significantly cheaper than Uber, and the price varied with the time of day and whether you wanted a specific time. I picked midday with a broad time window for the best price.

After making one minor repair myself, taking advantage of a coupon and using a couple of gift cards...it still cost a boatload of money.  I'd have gotten a gently used car at this point, but auto prices are expected to drop by 20-30% late this year. 

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Order

Fortunately I have my garden and enough know-how to avoid being one of those people who somehow spend $50 growing one tomato plant. In fact, that was about the final cost of redoing the weedy paths between the beds: $30 for a roll of cardboard (with half the roll left over) and $20 worth of mulch. That's better than the $1,350 the lawn guy wanted to sod the paths.

My emphasis is on order. Here in the Rust Belt, that means keeping things trimmed. No Mow May may be a thing in England, but you'd need a commercial-grade lawnmower in June if you tried it here. That is, if the city didn't mow your lawn for you and charge you--high grass makes houses look abandoned and makes them prone to burglary. Your neighbor might even mow your lawn for you. Fun fact: they can legally do that (on abandoned or vacant properties) in Indiana. 

Chives, onions, lettuce, snow peas and potted evergreens. The hard-pruned boxwood is getting leaf buds. A big change from a year and a half ago. 

Wildflowers under the maple tree. The flowers are small, but they're there!

Biggs in front of the house; new hydrangeas, plants I started from seed last year, and shrubs that came with the house. 

Likewise with other areas of life--I want order. Order is easier to maintain when your health is good: low energy and roller coaster blood sugars make it hard to think clearly and have enough energy to get things done. The Crappy Childhood Fairy mentions excess sugar and carbs in her video called "What it Feels Like When You Heal and Change Your Self-Defeating Behaviors" and an article called "Food, CPTSD and Brain Fog: How to Get Clear." A food susceptibility quiz is here. (I scored seven out of ten.)

The article notes that rats born with normal susceptibility to flour and sugar converted to high susceptibility as a result of trauma. 

But back to order, The Crappy Childhood Fairy lists several changes that happen when you mentally heal from trauma: no longer seeing things in black and white and preferring reality to fantasy, among them. I lost interest in fantasy to the point that I don't even care for novels I used to love. And about the time I put a bunch of toxic relatives and coworkers in the rear-view mirror six years ago and gave myself a life upgrade in another part of the country, all those self-defeating behaviors in other people started to annoy me. A long-term friendship broke up about that time and I think I finally understand why. Like former smokers and drinkers who can't stand smokers and drinkers, I couldn't stand being around someone with some of my old bad habits. Or maybe after going to a lot of trouble and some risk to improve my life, I wasn't compatible with someone struggling with easily solved problems. That, and it was painful watching my friend's self-defeating habits. 

Not coincidentally, I think, my house and yard are a lot tidier than they were before I moved. A low-carb diet didn't solve those problems (nor my mother's hoarding disorder), but it did make it a lot easier to stay on top of cleaning and maintenance and clear out mental fog because I wasn't having roller coaster blood sugars. I used Marie Kondo's method where tidying is an event (it was a few events for me, before and after moving) and it took a lot of energy--mostly mental.

Tidying up won't solve all your problems, but it gives me a sense of accomplishment and I find it much less stressful than living in a mess. That, and I don't want to ever put someone else through what my parents put me through with their house and yard. Nobody should ever have to clear out my yard with a commercial mower or dispose of my kitchen experiments with microbes.