Posts by Donna Schwenk

It was early 2002 and my sixteen-year-old daughter climbed out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen. “How do you feel this morning?” I asked. Her response broke me. “I never feel good any more mom. I feel bad all the time. My stomach hurts after everything I eat. . .

Every day I receive many emails from people who are new to fermenting and want to do a good job. They are afraid they are going to do it wrong, mess it up, or make themselves sick. I know from their letters how hard they are trying. […]

In 2010, I had just started my blog and Facebook page, and the second person to post on my page was a man named Chris asking me How to Make Kombucha. He was a friend of my older kids and what I didn’t know at the time was Chris had just been diagnosed with […]

The microbes that have made your body their home are quite impressive, and most people are unaware of the magnitude of microbes that reside within them. One hundred trillion microbes is a tremendous amount, and let me better explain just how much this is. . .

 Oxalates and Gut Health Oxalic acid is an organic compound found in many plants. In fact, all plants produce oxalic acid at various levels. It is their natural defense against insects and other pests. The terms “oxalic acid” and “oxalate” are used interchangeably in nutrition science. Foods like spinach, beets, chocolate, and almonds are all…

Emotions are my best friends. They help me not only understand my present state but also how my body is doing. Researchers are discovering that an imbalance in your gut can cause mental symptoms. They call the gut the second brain, and boy are they right. […]

When you and I find the courage and strength to be better in any regard we help everyone around us. This goes for every area of our lives and even what we eat – and it includes our bacteria. You have trillions of hitchhikers that live in and on you, and they play a huge role in keeping you healthy. […]

Many people wonder if probiotic pills provide the same benefit as probiotic foods since they seem to be marketed in the same way—healthy bacteria for our guts. However, probiotic foods work significantly better because of their construction […]

Female hormones are complex and beautifully made. But take those hormones and ignore them, and they will get your attention through symptoms of discomfort that can lead to disease and believe you me, they can wreak havoc on your life. There is no giant step that accomplishes this, just a lot of little steps that can make all the difference.

 Fermented Foods Stun Researchers Nothing has changed me more than cultured foods. I’ve consumed them for over twenty years and nothing is more convincing than your own life experience. I’ve done many studies on myself and my family and hands down fermented foods are here to stay in my life. They create such wellness for…

Hesperidin’s Amazing Benefits I am very fortunate to have many fruit trees on my property. I have several varieties of orange trees and I am constantly trying to find ways to use the oranges, but never did I realize how powerful oranges and their juice can actually be. Orange juice contains special compounds that have…

Your gut is your largest immune organ The Microbes That Control You The gut is your largest immune organ, with a surface area of 100-130 square feet! Inside of you are trillions of microbes that make up the body known as you. Without them, you can’t digest your food and receive the nutrients that you…

For many years, and way before I found cultured foods, we would travel to my mom’s house in Virginia for Christmas. It was a twenty-hour car ride from my home in Kansas City and we would often drive all night to get there so the kids would sleep. We would always be exhausted by the time we arrived at my mom’s home. . .

Probiotic Halloween 🎃Today is Halloween and it is always a fun time for kids and families. Let’s face it, the kids look adorable in their costumes and even I like to dress up; but it’s a sugar fest and that can present some challenges. I thought I’d give you a few tips and some fun…

I get hundreds of emails about the subject of Candida, and a lot of them are asking me why so many health care practitioners don’t recommend the consumption of fermented foods if you have Candida. […]

Berries and I have a love affair. I eat them every morning for breakfast with kefir and for snacks too. I recently began adding a red berry phenol powder to my smoothies to get even more benefits, and what a difference it has made. I have over 50 recipes in this article and even more…

Gut Health Gut health is more important than you can imagine. Having a healthy gut means your gut contains large amounts of healthy bacteria and immune cells that ward off infectious agents like bacteria, viruses, and fungi. But that’s not all!  A healthy gut also communicates with the brain through nerves and hormones, which helps…

For many years, I’d read thousands of books that I had stacked by my bed – and thank goodness for Kindle!  I read books on what foods are best for you and tried gazillions of diets and still couldn’t figure it all out. […]

Nobody really wants to talk about constipation and diarrhea, but it’s something everybody deals with at some time in their life. I’ve had so many people find help with these ailments that despite most people not wanting to talk about elimination, it’s something that can be your best teacher if you know what to look…

The Call  Finding My Way To Cultured Foods  You have to fight through some bad days to find the best days of your life I have always had a sense of urgency about my life. I never knew why this was, and when I was a young woman with small children my friend said to…

Flashing back to 2001 and my first few months of making kefir, my husband was really leery of it. “Milk sitting on a counter for 24 hours . . . are you sure about this?” he said. He always tries my crazy creations, but it takes him a little bit to wrap his head around it and this one was no exception. […]

A lot of suffering in this world comes from the fear of discomfort. In my own personal life, pain has come to teach me things and get me to change. […]

It’s pretty crazy these days listening to all the talk about health care and what to do about it. It’s causing a lot of fear and one I am well acquainted with. Do you ever wonder why your life takes certain paths and contains certain challenges? I do, and I was contemplating that this week as I listened to people debating on TV about health care. […]

How did I get here? I was a new mother at 41 years old, falling apart, and paralyzed with fear. I was sick with diabetes and suffered from high blood pressure. I also had a brand new premature baby girl in my lap. I knew that I was in trouble and I desperately needed help. I begged for help. […]

It’s summertime!! And all kinds of things can happen in the summertime that otherwise might seem impossible. Let me explain a few things that happen in the summertime that can help you be healthier, heal from all manner of diseases, and support good health! […]

Most of you don’t know what processes are actually happening inside of you every day. There are microorganisms everywhere and you can’t see them, but they are inhabiting you and everything else. […]

I’m constantly learning new things about the benefits of bacteria. It’s been almost two decades of eating fermented foods and the new discoveries have never stopped. […]

Do you believe that healing requires a miracle, or do you believe that our trillions of cells govern themselves and create the bodies that we have? So how does the eye know how to focus or the muscle know how much energy it will need during your walk today? […]

It was the summer of 2003. A friend came into my kitchen and asked what was on my counters. I excitedly told her about my beloved cultures and I watched her face change expressions. “These jars have been brewing for days on your counters?” […]

It’s March 18th, 2020, and the novel coronavirus has everybody staying home and worried about the future. This day also happens to be my 60th birthday so I’m making my own healthy birthday cake and baking a loaf of sourdough bread. […]

I had just started my blog in April of 2010 and was afraid that nobody would be interested in cultured foods. I decided to do it anyway. I believe we are all guided to do things but it comes in whispers, not loud sounding trumpets. One such whisper came from my daughter Maci. She told me I needed a Facebook page to help people find my blog and then quickly made me one before I could protest. […]