missmary

Allia- The whole30 is good for getting your period back. Nourishing yourself thoroughly and completely is good for getting your period back. That does not mean it will be magically synced up and perfect. Lots of people go through a transition where it might come early or late but continuing to eat this way usually helps rather than hurting. One thing that can hurt is when people go too low carb. That's one reason why we remind people to each at least a "fist-size" portion of starchy veggies every single day. If you are really worried, have more: more starchy veggies, more fat and more protein.

The primary mistakes I have seen are people trying to reduce sugar too much or to use sugar substitutes (like stevia or coconut sugar). The scoby needs sugar to feed off and to keep everything in balance. When things do get off balance you are likely to get mold, which could be harmful. If you see mold, toss the whole lot and start again with a new scoby. Luckily, mold is pretty easy to detect. If something is furry or powdery, there is a good likelyhood it is mold. Slimy brown globs are normal yeast and nothing to worry about.

why the darkest sugar? Dark colored sugar tends to be high in molasses, which is high in mineral content. Such mineral content is fantastic for water keifer, but too many minerals will yield yeasty kombucha--maybe not on the first batch, but after a while. Kombucha does best on organic cane sugar. Also, in case you were wondering, alternative sugars don't work for kombucha either, at least for long term, so no coconut sugar, honey, maple syrup or stevia. There is a culture that grows on honey (Jun tea), but you need a Jun scoby for that one.

This morning: cold roasted chicken thigh, red and yellow bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots. mayo with hot sauce, black coffee. Followed this with a hard boiled egg (they were cooking when I took this picture--normally I have some on hand).

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I use whole fruit, but way more than a spoonful: I put a full bag of frozen tart cherries (or cranberries or peaches, but usually the tart cherries) and let it go 5-7 days. I get good flavor that way. I have not had luck with sliced or grated ginger, but moderate success when adding ginger juice FWIW.

Nope. You can have a full dozen every day if you want or more, although I would recommend varying your protein sources. Dietary intake of cholesterol has very little impact on blood levels of cholesterol, but it is possible to develop sensitivities to foods like eggs if you eat too much too often to the exclusion of other foods.

The issue with flavored teas like your vanilla bean, is that the oils might damage the scoby or go rancid. This probably wouldn't happen on the first batch, but over time it might. So, depending on your taste for adventure, you could do some batches with the flavored one, maybe alternating with something plain? Do make certain the tea is really tea and not an herbal concoction--green, white, black, etc. are needed to feed the scoby. Personally I stick to plain teas for the first ferment and add flavoring in the second (my scoby is healthy and robust and multiplying) but someday I might pull an extra one and test out a batch with flavored tea.

yup. If you have enough eggs you are covered for both protein and fat. That said, the fat in the template is really a minimum. It's fine to have additional fat with eggs if you want it.

The meal template gives you slightly vague information on purpose. Do your best to estimate the palm-size and thumb-sizes. Make sure you have at least 1 cup of veggies, but more like 3 is better, especially if they are salad greens. After that, try to use your own hunger to guide you. If you are hungry between these meals you need more of something, likely more protein or fat but more vegetables is rarely a bad thing. good luck!

Eggs are a great healthy food, but variety is also good. I don't think it would be *unhealthy* to have 12 eggs in one day, but if you did that every single day, you would be missing out on the particular nutrients that come other protein sources. I have eggs most days, but rarely more than 4 or 5 in a single day (sometimes over several meals). This leaves room for fish and beef and lamb and turkey and chicken and shellfish and pork

I don't know if 100% cotton matters, since it doesn't touch the tea or the scoby. I use some scraps of quilting-weight fabric that are probably mostly cotton, pretty tight weave but thin fabric. For rubber bands, the band off asparagus bunches works pretty well for me. They break after a few months and need to get replaced, but it's not a big deal. I haven't done continuous brew so I can't comment on that part. good luck!

exciting! here are my thoughts: Yes! The first ferment needs to breathe, so replace the lid with cloth+rubber band asap. I think cherry vanilla twinnings is black tea+flavoring, not pure herbal, which is good. Kombucha needs real tea to work (it might be ok for one batch but the scoby will die eventually without real tea). Black tea, green tea, oolong, something like that would be good. It can have flavor like the cherry vanilla or earl grey or whatever, but the scoby will be happier and healthier if you don't include flavoring in the first ferment. save flavors for the second ferment when the mother isn't in the brew--otherwise you might have a slow growing sluggish scoby or get mold or who knows what. The mother and baby can be anywhere--especially if you have been moving the container around. I think it is best if the baby can form a kind of seal on the top of the liquid, but don't freak if it doesn't work out that way. I've found timing to be pretty forgiving, but then again, I like mine really sour. I've never taken PH measurements, so I haven't a clue about that. Good luck!

um, just in case people are confused reading this: if you didn't get fermentation you would not get the health benefits of kombucha or the flavor (AND it might get moldy). I suspect your batch fermented just fine... Kombucha doesn't need to have bubbles to be "correct" or truly fermented. Although adding sweeter juice or fruit might help you get more bubbles, bubbles can also be encouraged by tightly sealing bottles (less space at the top, more air tight*), shaking bottles daily, etc. *caution: these same steps also increase risk of explosions and broken bottles.

There actually was an issue with this in the US for a while, as one brand (GTs) was fermenting so much post-bottling that it became alcoholic! I find my homebrew keeps pretty much indefinitely once refrigerated. Left sitting out it will become too sour to drink after a while but I have not found that to be true in the fridge.

Never use honey in Kombucha. It will kill a scoby. scobys like sugar. Sorry I didn't notice that conversation elsewhere in this thread...only 60 pages/1195 posts. I should have caught it.

Oh MrsStick! You are in for a treat. I have done water kefir, and I stopped.The grains were always wanting to be fed, but I didn't like the water kefir that much so I couldn't finish it before the next batch, so it multiplied. It was madness. Kombucha is equally easy, really, and more forgiving on the timing. Admittedly, I do like it pretty unsweet. But I've found I can leave the first ferment for a week or two or three weeks if I get busy and it really doesn't hurt it. If it gets too sour, I'm generous with fruit juice on the second ferment. I've even been too lazy to bottle it after the second ferment and left it out on the counter all week (taking some off each day as I wanted it) and it was fine! It formed a new scoby on top of the fruit, but otherwise fine. Kombucha is a "relax and be patient" sort of endeavor. It's only hard if either of those things are hard for you

Apple cider vinegar (the live culture kind) is what you want, not distilled white vinegar, and not too much of that. I think you are ok with what you have...wait and see if a baby scoby grows (a thin film will form on the top of the liquid), then you will know it is working.

This is important information! I thought you were keeping it there indefinitely, just topping it off with more tea. I wouldn't keep it any longer than 2 weeks, but 2 weeks might be ok.

I would not do this. Kombucha is a culture that keeps tea too acidic to grow mold and bacteria. Sweet tea concentrate kept separate from the Kombucha scoby would not have this advantage and it would spoil.

I assume you mean water kefir? They are similar. Kombucha is a bit stronger, ie. less sweet, more probiotics and enzymes, a little easier/more predictable to brew, but the general intent and effect is the same.

Here is Chris Kressor's take, and I would consider him a highly credible source. He does state that folate prevents neural tube defects, and lists a few sources (natural and supplments) for folate. http://chriskresser.com/folate-vs-folic-acid

lol! YES, you need good strong tea in there too. I do well with 2 heaping Tablespoons of loose-leaf Oolong per batch.

If you have a healthy looking scoby (whitish and thick, like a rubbery disk) I wouldn't bother to make a new one. I find the recipes often have way more sugar than needed. The sweeter the tea the longer it takes to eat it all up! FWIW I use one cup of sugar in about two-1/2 gallons of strong tea. I let it brew for at least a couple weeks, more like a month in the winter. If your scoby doesn't seem healthy. though, go ahead and start a new one. easy peasy. I've had great luck using the GTs plain for this.

Yes. I usually use a combination of fruit and fruit juice. Just be aware of how much juice you add: you want a juice-flavored "mostly kombucha", not kombucha-flavored "mostly juice".