I would like to sing the praises of a wonderful pro-biotic my homeopath put me on to.

It's called kefir. It's made with a kefir 'grain' which is a little white clump of stuff that looks like a mini-cauliflower. You put the grain into milk and leave it on the shelf for a couple of days, whereupon, miraculously it turns into yoghurt-like curd.

You eat it, and it's full of good microbes which do really really good things for your gut!

I make plain kefir and mix it into my daily yoghurt, as well as strawberry flavoured kefir for my daughter. I also disguise a spoonful of it in my baby's jar of mushy food every day.

It's great for people with irritable bowel or digestive problems. I won't go into the details of how it has helped me because they aren't fit for publication, but suffice to say I won't go without it now.

The amazing thing is that with time and use, the grains actually grow. I've been able to break bits off and share them with friends. Kefir's taking off in Mittagong... if you want some, let me know!

Here's a site with more details about it. They claim, and I believe it, that,

"The effects of Kefir have been the secret of the people of Caucasus for a long time. From their early youth, they drink Kefir instead of water and eat Kefir thickened in place of dessert. Their life expectancy is between 110 to 150 years (the latter not being a rare occurrence). They do not have cancer, tuberculosis or digestive disorders."