When I first read the book [Body Ecology Diet book], I had no idea how I would make these changes when my son was such a picky eater, but to my surprise, just as Donna said during our consult, that the coco kefir would change his taste buds! And that’s exactly what happened.He soon started asking me for broccoli for snack! I couldn’t believe it!He stopped craving sugar.And most importantly, his autism symptoms started to go away! His speech was clear. And he was using more language. He understood more words. And most importantly, his temper tantrums were becoming shorter and shorter. I couldn’t believe it!He is thriving eating different foods – eating healthy food!

I also started the BED, and to my amazement, my tummy got flat and I lost 12 pounds. I also suffered from recurrent yeast infections and had one right when I started BED. And after a week on fermented foods and coco kefir, it cleared up on its own with no anti-fungal medications.

I love her book, we love the recipes and most of all we love what it’s done for our son. She truly gave us our son back! I’m so grateful we found out about Donna Gates and The Body Ecology Diet.

-Karol Encinas

My Donna,I can never express the deep gratitude, love and admiration we feel for you. You walked with me through countless IVF and difficult moments of life, always by my side, so committed, so present, so wise, so medical, spiritual and intuitive, always.Each round of IVF, I would not follow your vision of what to do…it would not take. And if Matt and I stuck to your advice, we could get pregnant.How can I thank you for 5 magical, healthy, angelical creatures?Thank you for being such a creature of god with so much light and love and intelligence.

Thanks for being such a Healer.

– Matt and Agustina Groening

At the age of 34, I was truly living in the body of a 100-year old woman. I found out that my bones were deteriorating and I was almost in full-blown osteoporosis. I was exhausted all the time, had issues with irritable bowel, anxiety, depression, pain in my shoulders, back, neck and horrific headaches. I discovered that I had celiac disease.Unfortunately the gluten-free diet did not cure all of my problems. Shortly after the gluten-free diet, I started reacting to corn products. I eliminated corn and gluten from my diet for the next 10 years. My pain progressed to all of my joints and muscles. I started becoming short of breath with minimal exertion. I couldn’t do normal activities and was on my way of being disabled.I went to a muscle specialist who diagnosed me with myofascial pain syndrome. I did not respond well to the treatment he prescribed and he basically told me I needed mental help and there is nothing more he can do for me. I was very devastated and felt as though I had nowhere to turn.I saw a neurologist and was prescribed a variety of medications that masked some of the symptoms but did not cure them. No one from Western medicine was willing to find the root cause of my problem.To make a long story short, I went to see a naturopathic doctor about 2 years ago. She did find that I was full of candida and prescribed a low-carb diet for me to follow. I had some relief of the pain and the shortness of breath dissipated. As soon as I would try to increase my carbs, the candida would come back with a vengeance.Being a single mother and on a tight budget, I couldn’t afford to continue seeing her, so I ventured out on my own and started researching things on the Internet. That’s when I ran across Donna’s website, and a strong force pulled me to it.I had heard the term leaky gut in the past but never knew much about it. I ordered Donna’s book and knew this was the path I needed to take. I started the diet December 26th 2017. Within a week, my pain had completely disappeared.

I started feeling like a normal person again.

Two months later, I had blood work done for my vitamin B level, vitamin D level and calcium level. For the last 12 years these levels have been abnormal or on the very low end of normal. It was amazing, because in 2 months, my vitamin B level was triple high, my calcium level was finally within normal limits, and my vitamin D level increased.

I also had a bone density test done and miraculously I am finally out of osteopenia! My bones are coming back to normal. I have energy like I have never had before.

I have no one to thank but Donna! She is truly brilliant and I am so grateful that she has shared her story, knowledge and experience. I can play basketball with my son, go for long walks and do work around the house without pain. I love making the cultured veggies and the taste is delicious! My puppy loves them too!

Food combining has eliminated my acid reflux, gas and bloating. My bowels are moving normally. My brain fog is gone. I am calm and depression free. I am a brand new person! People in my life who have seen me at my worst have remarked how healthy and good I look.

I have been telling everybody about this diet and how it’s transformed my life. I know this sounds a little weird, but I have taken a screenshot of Donna’s picture and asked people to guess how old she is. They guess between 30 and 50 and when I tell them she’s in her early 70’s, they cannot believe it. They are amazed at how well the Body Ecology Diet works.

If you want to know something ironic, I am a Registered Nurse and have worked in Western medicine for 25 years. Never in a million years would I have guessed that a change in diet could make such a difference in my life. I am so grateful to Donna and cannot thank her enough. I feel my calling is to educate as many people as I can about the Body Ecology Diet, and hope my story inspires you to try it. Ask yourself what I did – “What do you have to lose?” 🙂

Dear Donna,I am so grateful for you for creating Body Ecology and saving my life!Since age 18, I have suffered from endometriosis. I was given the typical conventional ‘treatments’, which involved all manner of synthetic hormones to manipulate my cycle. Eventually, I had a Mirena IUD inserted because it would stop my periods completely and that was the only way to avoid the daily excruciating pain, which worsened and spread to more areas of my body with every period I had.Initially, I felt good and was happy to have found a ‘fix’. But with each passing year, I noticed that I felt ‘sicker’. Not with endometriosis symptoms as such, but I had no energy or vitality. I developed terrible acne, food intolerances, IBS and chronic constipation. My limbs felt like lead – even putting on mascara made my arms ache, and after 10 years with no periods I was waking up in the morning with my face so swollen I could hardly see my bloodshot, lifeless eyes. The sides of my breasts had started to ache and, most terrifyingly of all, I started finding huge circular black stains on my pillow when I woke up in the morning. And when I exercised my sweat was blue!!!I was gluten, dairy and sugar free, very slim and was supposedly very ‘healthy’ but I felt like I was slowly dying.I moved from England to Little Rock, Arkansas for my husband’s work and there I met an incredible alternative therapist named Trishna Craig. We had one consultation and she said, “Honey, if you don’t do the Body Ecology diet, you’re on the expressway to cancer”. She explained that my breasts ached and my face was bloated because my lymph system was so blocked up. As for the black stains on my pillow, she said it was a miracle those toxins had managed to find a way to come out as I clearly wasn’t eliminating them in the normal ways – especially having not had a period in 10 years!

I had tried every diet and treatment out there – conventional and alternative. Out of desperation, I figured one more diet couldn’t hurt. I ordered the BED book that night and threw myself wholeheartedly into the diet.

I ordered sprouting jars, BED cultures and ingredients I’d never even heard of before – Amaranth?! I also began soaking seeds and culturing vegetables like there was no tomorrow. My husband thought I was mad and was upset that we had moved to America and I basically couldn’t eat anything in the Deep South restaurants!

All the while, I was having regular colonics from Trishna, and after a month, I was starting to feel a little better so I decided to try my hand at making the young coconut kefir – which I’d previously avoided as it sounded like such hard work. Within 2 days of drinking it, I started getting mouth ulcers, my tongue swelled up, my mouth tasted of metal and the sides of my abdomen ached. I told Trishna that I must be allergic to the kefir and offered to give her the rest of my batch but she said, “You’re not allergic, you’re detoxing!” She advised me to have just a tablespoon a day initially and work my way up in order to avoid having too strong a healing crisis. Within one month of starting the kefir, the black stains on my pillowcases, which used to traumatize me every morning, had disappeared – so had my acne and the blue sweat. As time passed, my embarrassing flatulence and swollen face also subsided. My breasts no longer ached, my limbs no longer felt like dead weights, and when I woke up, my tongue was a normal color – previously it had been covered in a thick dark yellow coating!

The book advises to do stage one for three months but I did it for six as I still felt that there was work to be done. My husband and I had been married two years and were ready to start trying for children. For a decade, I had dreaded the day that I would have to have a period again because I knew the pain would be unbearable and the endometriosis would be so much worse afterwards.

Hesitantly, I had my IUD taken out and waited for all hell to break loose. To my utter surprise and amazement, my period arrived one day with no warning signs and NO PAIN! It wasn’t ludicrously heavy and debilitating, it was just a normal, regular period!

Endometriosis is one of the main causes of infertility in women, but the following month, I conceived my beautiful son, Austin.

Throughout my pregnancy, I maintained the BED principles – except food combining because when you’re pregnant you just want carbs, carbs, carbs! I started every day with Vitality Super Green, had fermented veggies with every meal and drank young coconut kefir twice a day. I had a dreamy, easy pregnancy and my son was born the picture of health. He suffered none of the colic, reflux and constipation that other babies his age were suffering from and I’m sure this was due to the rich mix of probiotics he had received from me during pregnancy and is still getting from my breast milk.

Today my son turned one. It’s been a crazy, sleepless year and I have fallen off the wagon a little in terms of my diet. I still put cultured veggies on my plate when I remember but I rarely have time to make coconut kefir and I’m so hungry from the breastfeeding that I’m eating lots of dairy. I can see that my eyes are looking a little bloodshot in the morning and I have some acne returning on my shoulders. But I have no fear because I know exactly what I need to do to remedy this and I know that after a few weeks back on BED, I will feel right as rain again.

Thank you Donna!

– Nicola Kavanagh

Meeting Donna was a true blessing. She was very knowledgeable and helped alleviate some of the side effects of my cancer therapies. I truly believe Body Ecology helped me maintain the physical and mental strength necessary while enduring the chemotherapy and radiation seven years ago.Thanks Donna!– Rich L.

By the fall of 2003 our beautiful vaccine-injured son, Colin, had made many gains though his home based learning program (The Son-Rise® Program, www.son-rise.org.). We felt that he was really ready for a half day Montessori kindergarten.Having never been to any school, to our delight Colin got off to a great start. Reportedly, he was the most attentive child during circle time! We were unprepared for what happened next.By the third week of school Colin succumbed to a host of previously un-encountered childhood diseases: roseola, croup, diarrhea, strange viral rashes, and the first ear infection of his life. His happy demeanor changed, and he became irritable and withdrawn. By December we had to pull him out of school.Despite being at home, where his immune system would have a fighting chance to defeat these invaders, Colin’s diarrhea persisted month after month. It worsened, until I finally agree in May of 2004 to put Colin on a strong course of Vancomycin. Although Colin’s bowel symptoms improved while on the antibiotic, they came back triple strength when we finished the drug.Although Colin was in great distress, I decided to attend the Autism One Conference in Chicago in May of 2004, hoping to find some help for him. There I attended a talk on The Body Ecology Diet, and learned that in July 2004, Donna Gates was having a retreat in Illinois for those who wanted to learn the principles taught in the book, The Body Ecology Diet (Recovering Your Health and Rebuilding Your Immunity), could help recover children with Autism. Incredibly, not only was Donna Gates welcoming our children to the week-long retreat, she was agreeing to feed them a kid friendly version of the promising diet!

By the time we got to the retreat Colin was in great physical and emotional distress. Except for the brief time on the antibiotic, Colin had not had a formed stool in nine months! Every time this sweet child ate his little abdomen swelled up with gas, giving him a pregnant look. Soon after loud bowel sounds would emanate from his swollen belly. Desperate for relief Colin would lay down on the floor or ground and beg us to press our heads into his belly to distract himself from the pain. Anxious and pale, Colin weighed only 46 pounds, and had slipped from the 75th percentile, to the 10th percentile on the growth charts.

While at the retreat, to our amazement, Colin soon began to eat the special food prepared for us. Although he didn’t eat the cultured veggies, he quite willingly drank the Young Coconut Kefir (fermented young coconut water), followed the food combining rules, and even ate some sea veggies (dulse flakes and arame).

Within 48 hours at the retreat, Colin was out of pain and the loud bowel sounds, gas and bloating were gone! That night I literally cried tears of joy because Colin made an actual stool! His recovery at the retreat was a miracle!

Going to the Body Ecology Diet retreat was the turning point in Colin’s life. In the two years prior to the retreat he had gained only one pound! In the seven months since the retreat Colin has gained 9 pounds, and is now at the 50th percentile and gaining on the growth charts! Because of this diet Colin is a very happy and energetic child, who enjoys gymnastics, karate, sledding and long nature walks. Although there have been a few bumps in the road with respect to his bowels, his symptoms predating the Body Ecology Diet have never returned!

Colin’s progress didn’t stop there. His Son-Rise Program® teacher recently viewed a video of Colin and I working together and enthusiastically stated that Colin is more grounded, more responsive, and there is a definite improvement in his spontaneous eye contact. My husband and I and the Son-Rise Program® volunteers that work with Colin in his playroom have tracked verbal improvements as well. Colin spontaneously asking and answering more questions and is increasingly making appropriate commentary!
– Colleen

I am a second generation child born with candida. My son is third or possibly fourth as we can only wonder if my great-grandmother was healthy when my grandmother was born. My beautiful grandmother was born in a tiny town in Manitoba, Canada during the depression. She was fortunate to have a father with a job as a station master and an uncle with a farm, but meat and vegetables were less abundant during those years. By her teens, her mother was bedridden with rheumatoid arthritis and my grandmother would come home from school every day at lunchtime to bake a cake for her family to eat. Flour and sugar had not been rationed despite Canada being at war and cake was something she could make. Unfortunately, her mother’s health did not improve and the family moved to a small town near Vancouver, BC. My grandmother went into nursing and continued to be a compassionate caregiver for people struggling with mental and physical health. However, her own health became a lifelong battle and like her mother, she struggled with pain and disease.My mother was born a year before my grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Remarkably, my grandmother underwent intensive radiation treatment and survived. However, my mother was described as a ‘sickly child’. She suffered from allergies, eczema, and spent numerous days in bed. The family had a modern 50s diet with lots of processed and convenience foods. My mother and her sisters had many forms of environmental and emotional stress in their childhood along with a poor diet.I was born a ‘healthy’ baby girl despite having a staph infection. As young as they were, my parents had a small farm and were raising their own food. They grew a huge garden, had dairy goats, chickens, and meat rabbits. My early diet was healthy, real food. My mom was doing better, but suffered with respiratory and skin allergies. My baby brother did too. My parents decided to leave the wet and moldy West Coast and move to a drier climate in the interior of British Columbia.I was lucky to have such nutritious food during my childhood. My family stuck tight to our whole foods principles, but hindsight is 20/20 and there were so many ‘tweaks’ that could have made things better. My mother made sauerkraut, but would often freeze or cook the finished product (yikes!). We ate lots of homemade wheat bread and baked goods. Dairy was rarely fermented. We had honey, brown sugar and molasses. As we entered our teens, my brother and I were healthy eaters, but I adopted a vegetarian diet high in soy and he began to enjoy processed fast foods. Along with those choices came health issues that we work hard to reverse to this day.

Fast forward to my early 30s, I became a mother after years of infertility followed by IVF treatments. My body had been through mono, anorexia, rapid weight gain, cosmetic jaw surgery, hormone therapy, and significant stress. I suffered from anemia, bloating, poor skin, menstrual issues, hair loss, insomnia, constipation, and bladder problems. I had strong craving for sweets and my cornerstone diet of healthy, farm raised food drifted away at some point in the 90s to be replaced by ‘fat-free’ choices. I shopped organic and baked from scratch, but my body was starving. In the midst of my pregnancy, my husband started having seizures and needed neurosurgery to remove a brain tumor. His childhood leukemia has come back to haunt him and we spent the next five years facing multiple cancer diagnoses and a stem cell transplant. During this time, my beloved grandmother was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. My mother and her sisters were all struggling with health problems. My brother, dad, and son had significant digestive issue, food allergies, and joint pain. At 37, I could hardly straighten my hands. One morning, I stiffly climbed out of my car facing my day ahead as a primary school teacher and realized my body was calling 911.

And so began a journey… the first thing I did with the help of my naturopath was cut out all forms of sugar. At the time, I ate very little processed starches, but I loved fruit and honey. I said goodbye and never looked back, because within a few days my pain disappeared. Our family had already eliminated gluten and dairy, so my childhood diet of farm raised veggies, meats, along with gluten-free grains filled my kitchen. I began to ferment and use probiotics, but bloating and gas caused me to pause to learn more. As health journeys are rarely taken on expressways but on winding, bumpy roads, I tried many different diets, supplements, and supports as my body slowly began to heal. The most wonderful thing was my family joined me. My parents and brother have renewed their passion for healthy, healing foods. My son and my husband have both reaped the benefits. My husband has chronic blood cancer and was not expected to live more than five years. Currently, he is exceeding all odds and doing well.

I discovered Body Ecology this Spring after listening to Donna Gates’ interview with Evan Brand on the Candida Summit. Her knowledge and wisdom came to me at a time when I was looking for direction. Learning from Donna helped me put so many pieces together (candida, SIBO, parasites, genetics, histamines, oxalates, and more). Following Body Ecology principles, I was able to introduce fermented foods to my family and our journey continues. My son at nine is starting to make his own choices about diet. As he struggles with yeast overgrowth and oxalates, BE principles are helping him heal too.

Donna – I wish I knew you when I was young. You have helped so many people and I thank you for all your wisdom you have brought to my family. I am grateful to wake up each day feeling healthier and watch my family thrive around me. Hugs!

– Malayna Gross, Eholt, BC, Canada

Thank you so much for such life changing and enhancing information, Donna. Love your Hayhouse show. Fermented foods are helping me so much, even in areas I didn’t even know I had a problem! They are helping my blood sugar issue, which was expected. But I also am now realizing I had bladder issues that are being helped.I don’t need to “go” so often now. I also don’t get sick anymore. I could go on about the positive changes. The rest of my life will have fermented foods and drinks in it because of your valuable information. The only problem is, people just don’t want to listen to me about them. I get the blank stare and subject change. Oh well! Keep up the good work!!!! There are some who are listening!– Susan

I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in 2010 and chose treatment with herbal tinctures coupled with a total revamp of my lifestyle and nutritional regime, as the prospect of filling my body with the toxic chemicals of conventional cancer treatments terrified me.The Body Ecology Diet and the support I got from Sheree Zink and Donna Gates accomplished this physical rehabilitation perfectly, along with a regular exercise regime. More importantly, I worked from the inside out to strengthen my soul and psyche with efforts to stay positive through gratitude, and through my spiritual practice of working with Light energy. With all this in place and working, my energy level went way up, my tumors began to shrink and I felt that the action of the herbal treatments was being greatly supported.I feel healthier and more vibrant than I have in decades! Body Ecology was instrumental in this process and Sheree guided me every step of the way. I have now been officially declared to be in remission by my medical practitioners as of October 31, 2012. Thank you Sheree and Body Ecology!– Marita Kubersky

Heavy since the sixth grade, Heather could no longer deny that her system was screaming for help. She began walking and turned to the book The Body Ecology Diet to learn how to make wiser food choices, like eating cultured veggies and homemade coconut kefir.

The BED diet and philosophy has transformed my life completely as I have been a longtime candida sufferer.I had a long list of symptoms, but one of the most remarkable symptom remissions was the tinnitus that I had been suffering from for a year. It vanished after a week on the diet. At my lowest point before learning about BED, I had been only able to sleep 1 hour per night for several months and this lead to a precarious emotional state and decimated energy levels. The only downside to the diet is that I am always ‘crashing the party’ at social events with my endless discussion of cultured veggies and the evils of sugar:-) Though I have found some great restaurants with BED friendly entrees, I just wish there was a restaurant in LA to have an entire menu based around BED.– Jarrad Hirschman

I owe my life to Body Ecology. In January 2008, I almost had a stroke. Life stopped. A mum of two gorgeous little boys and wife to a dynamic husband were the perfect match to my own “pre-almost-stroke” high energy style and zest for life. Now, I couldn’t get out of bed. I slept for five days to get to work for two. Then in the space of 12 months — three sinus operations, a breast lump removal (benign – hooray!!!).My ear nose and throat specialist’s face would fall whenever I walked in. When he didn’t know what other course to take, I wound up with intravenous 24 hour drip-fed antibiotics for a month in March 2010. One test, another test, a new test, a different test, my veins were becoming almost too tough to poke those darned needles into. Until finally, the medicos said I had COPD – Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Which meant chemotherapy type drugs. Heavy duty. I could feel myself slipping away. I had cherished a dream for our family to visit Finland. I remember saying to Dean(husband), “If I’m like this now, how will I be next year? Should we go this year?” More pressing was that I couldn’t say the words then to him or barely admit it to myself that I was dying. And I knew it.Then my precious girlfriend in America, Tess, told me about Body Ecology. Getting the Body Ecology book was the key. It saved my life.So from being unable to walk to the letterbox three years ago, I’m now jogging 6 kilometres every second day. We go skiing in August. We enjoy bike rides with our boys, Rocco (8) and Duke (7)– they pedal, we run along the beach track near our home. We swim, play tennis, squash.
 Life is Beautiful.As for Dean, he’s a “Born Again B.E.D.er” too. From being the man who didn’t even believe in vitamins, minerals or supplements and all that oogie-boogie, he’s the one who stops people in supermarket queues, at bus stops, or whilst unsuspectingly waiting for trains and tells them, “Body Ecology, Body Ecology”. And to our absolute and totally skin tingling joy, he’s gotten a friend with leukemia on the plan. After four weeks, our friend looks transformed!

And we’re taking the boys to Finland…

– Long live Body Ecology! -Shez Cantlie, Australia

Donna, I have already let you know the wonderful changes Brianna has been doing since we started BED. Yes your ways off this has done all of that for us. I use to cry every night on how can I get my child to eat and what can I do.Please just some one tell me what to do! I just kept going back to your site with looking up every thing. It always ended up back to you. So I made my mind up this diet we were going to follow after reading your book. You gave me the answers. Now you gave me more hope because my child is changing for the better in every way. I made a promise if I got the help and the answers I will do what ever it takes to help any one else out. That is what I have been doing. I have already help three other people and to me that is great, because we are very new to this. Donna I will always swear by your Young Coconut Kefir that is the best stuff out there. I call it my golden ticket. I will never be able to thank you enough for all that you have done and still doing. With your ways our kids have a chance and I know my child is going to recovery from this. I feel that in my heart. I see the changes in front of my eyes. I will keep you up dated about all the other changes that I know that going come about. You will always be in are hearts THANK YOU!!– Stephanie Sheppard

My 2.5 year old son has been on scd (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) for 6 months with lots of improvement but we hit a plateau and he was never able to do nuts or goat yogurt so onto the next diet we went. When I saw the price of the coconuts I told my husband I was only going to do the yck (young coconut kefir) for 1 month and if we didn’t see huge results well then we would stop.Well it has been one month and my son has gone from using 5 word approximations to using over 50 words with 2 and 3 word combinations. He is saying his ABC’s, he knows his colors, some shapes and he is calling us mama and daddy. Can you believe it??? I have cried over and over again (happy tears) as he talks to me from the back seat. He calls me from his crib (he never said anything from his crib before). His ABA therapist is so shocked at how appropriately he is using his words and how much labeling he is doing.It took 2 weeks for his poops to firm up. We had good poops for next 2 weeks and on the last couple of days he got diarrhea again. I think it was because I added in quinoa. So I removed it and today he got another rash and his poop was much better. I see such a correlation between his behavior and his poops. When they firm up he is interactive, alert, happy and oh my god he has so much energy. When he gets diarrhea he is withdrawn, whiny, wants to stay in bed and very aloof. I’m so excited with the progress that my next step is going to try the cultured veggies.This month is the first month that I actually think that Wesley might fully recover. He socially has a way to go but I am so optimistic! Thanks for all the support.– Donna Wesley

My son was diagnosed with autism when he was 4 (he’s now 9). We did GFCF for two years with initial success and then a major regression, we then tried SCD and he was on it for almost 3 years.We saw much improvement after the initial ‘die-off’ (which was horrible and lasted about 3 months) and then he was much better, I introduced the SCD yogurt, very slowly…1/8 tsp caused intolerable ‘die-off’, then we got him up to 1 cup over several months, he was doing awesome, but then we saw him going back and forth with ‘flare-up’ and ‘die-off’ and I just knew I was missing something. I heard about BED and imidiately felt guided that it was what I was missing. He’s been on it only 2 weeks so far, thankfully I have been able to do the CV’s right away (still working on YCK, he doesn’t like the taste, so I’m getting creative) but, already I’m seeing my little boy come alive again and with very minimal ‘die-off’ and he’s getting CV’s EVERY meal! It’s like his personality is coming back, his ‘stimming’ is so much better….he was at the point where that was almost all he was doing….now he’s singing, being silly and having a sense of humor! It’s just night and day from an irritable kid to a delightful child! I’m so thankful, I’m crying right now. God bless you for this inspirational diet, what a gift you have given us!– Janeen Jensen-Burke

I use the Kefir Starter with organic coconut milk {like in a milk carton, not canned}. I used the Kefir Starter to make cultured veggies.I also started eating a LOT of very cooked cabbage alone with using the Kefir and cultured veggies.I’ve lost inches.The huge amount of bad bacteria has been leaving my head and my ears are “opening up.”Also when the pathogens started leaving my body in the “throne room” I had intense itching, because good bacteria pushes and chases the bad bacteria away. The intense itching was resolved by taking 1/2 tsp. of RAW honey which is an anti-microbial. The itching stopped almost immediately.

I tell everyone I know about the Kefir Starter which can also be used for cultured veggies. Saves a lot of money too. I won’t use garlic again though – way too intense flavor.

Will use root veggies along with sweet potatoes, ginger, shredded cabbage and carrots, and kale.

– THANKS Donna, Mary

In December of 2012, I made a “big” decision to complete my chapter of life in the corporate world at age 40. I had spent the last 5 years of my sales career living in a space of constant anxiety and surviving on 5 plus cups of coffee a day. Shortly after I had made this decision, I was clear that I needed to detox not only my physical body, but my mind and spirit, too. It was around that time when I was referred to Sheree for her homemade cultured and fermented vegetables.Upon meeting with her, she shared with me about the Body Ecology Diet book by Donna Gates and how important probiotics are to have in your daily food intake. I was inspired by what Sheree had shared, so I went home and ordered the Body Ecology Diet book. After reading it, I was further inspired and wanted to buy all the BED products right away.I was mindful of my old “jump into the latest fad” behavior, so I waited. I was coached by a good friend to pray and meditate on making the decision, as she knew I have been a constant “dieter” for most of my life, jumping from one diet to another.I took my friends advice, and spent a month to do some soul searching. The answer was consistent over the 4 weeks, so I ordered the Vitality Super Green, Spirulina, Ancient Minerals, Ocean Plant Extracts and Digestive Aid. I must say, I feel fantastic!I feel as though my body was so nutritionally deprived after 5 years of a diet on coffee, I am now getting what I need. I have the same amount of energy that I had while on coffee, so I am not missing it a bit (I gave up drinking coffee completely in May of 2013). My mind is more clear and I have an overall sense of wellness and good health.The measurable improvements I have observed are: 1) My nails are strong and not chipping and breaking anymore. They have grown back to their beautiful length (I have not seen that in over 5 years) and they stay strong with all the cleaning, dish washing and gardening I do. That is impressive! And without the use of nail strengtheners to help. 2) My hair is overall healthier. My hair is very fine and also thin, plus I get it highlighted, so it is quite fragile.

About 4 years ago, I developed Thyroiditis, so a lot of my hair fell out. It was devastating, considering I don’t have a lot in the first place. Now that I have been on the BED products and cultured veggies for 4.5 months, I am seeing new hair growth and my hair is much shinier and happier.

I also try to follow the BED food combining recommendations the best I can, which has been helping to have a stronger digestive system. I am clear that I am no longer a lifelong “dieter” now that I have found a nutrition program that I can use for many years to come. Thank you Sheree and Donna for your wisdom and passion for strong health and wellness.

-Heidi – Livermore, CA

The BED diet has saved my life! At the age of 51, I now have a clean and clear inner eco system. The diet has been exciting and difficult at the same time. But the results are the prize. I feel and look 35, as Donna promised. I tell everybody about the book, and of course, you are going to be the best testimonial by the way you look to others. I always believed we are what we eat, but never to the degree of the principles of the BED diet, thank you Donna.

— Jill, Waukesha, WI

…The Body Ecology Diet (BED) is how I finally recovered from bulimia & binge eating – after 4 years on the path to recovery (and trying just about everything for longer than that). I am a big proponent for experimenting with things on the level of mind, body and spirit in recovery from addictions & eating disorders. The BED supports this because it honors the ability of the body to heal itself – step by step. That’s the key, it’s a process of taking actions, no matter how small, toward your health. …speaking to Donna was like someone finally understood what my intuition was telling me. …Donna is a visionary in treating the body as a system – connected inextricably with the mind.

— From TranscendBulimia.com

You are so encouraging and inspiring! I followed your diet for over a month. I have NEVER felt SO GOOD in my entire life! You being here is just what I need to keep focused and encouraged. THANK YOU! I rave about your book to everyone I know and your Vital Greens are the best supplement/food on the planet, really!

– Samantha F., Facebook Fan Page

Coming up to 2 years on the diet … No asthma, almost no food allergies ( probly none but I was anaphylactic to fish so I’m too scared to try it to see if I’m not allergic any more but people can eat fish around me now without it affecting me) no candida and I haven’t been sick since being on the diet- no more tonsillitis which is pretty good for a uni student!! 🙂 It’s been an up hill battle but I’m getting there! Thank Donna!

– Tiffany Jean

@BodyEcology YES!!! Your book changed my life. Thanks!!! I am in the midst of writing a post about it as we speak. Please Check My blog www.TheBalancedBelly.com

– Amy Yoggev via Twitter

I had suffered from several, intestinal and heart, diseases, for years, until, recently, when I changed my diet to ‘gluten free’ and ‘organic’. A friend introduced me to your ‘Body Ecology’ page and I, literally, took notes. I experienced positive results, almost, immediately~! The intestinal diseases, Crohn’s, IBD, Colitis, etc., had me in such pain that the mere act of walking was excruciating~! I, now, not only, have lost weight, eliminated the ‘bloat’ and other aches and pains, but, have resumed my exercise regime and am able to enjoy my life, ‘healthy’, once again~! Thanks for all your help~!

– Julie Matrow Watson

Ordered the book yesterday, and I have been suffering from disseminated candidiasis for 4 months, two of which, no one would treat me for anything but delusional parasitosis. Finally, with my last money, I ordered a stool test that showed this and other ailments, I have changed my diet, the last two months, to only greens, lean meat, eggs and avocado…which has helped dramatically. But, I am a self professed cookie monster with a sugar obsession and have a hard time coping daily. Your book was mentioned a third time and I ordered it! I am truly hopeful that this will give me some options and coping techniques that anyone suffering with my condition in this consumerist nation I live, need.

– John Wolf

At 18 months old, our beautiful son’s physical and developmental health began rapidly decreasing. He was sad and crying all the time. Luckily, we found Body Ecology and began healing by simply introducing small amounts of fermented food. Within one month, he regained eye contact, and he has not needed prescription medication since that time. As we implemented more of the steps to Body Ecology, we saw more improvement. We witness miracles every day as he uses language we were told he never would. He is a blessing and thanks to Body Ecology, we have been able to help him heal so that he can share his gifts with the world. Thank you Body Ecology, you have saved our baby’s life!

– Gina and Doug McDermott

I love the B.E.D. diet/cleanse. My girlfriend, Samantha Fox, turned me on to your book and it has CHANGED my life. I am now on the 3rd month of the Diet and have never felt so good in all my life. The manic mood swings I use to have just disappeared and my skin looks radiant (so I am told). I will stay on this or some modified version for the rest of my life. Much aloha!

– Margo O., Facebook Fan Page

My son was diagnosed with Autism over two years ago. His body had lots of the wrong bacteria and it struggled to break down proteins adequately – no more. The Kefir breaks the protein down for him and gives him the bacteria and enzymes he needs to gain nutrients from his food. His ability to think and speak has improved remarkably. He was prone to panic attacks and had a compulsive obsessive disorder – this has also greatly improved. I am so grateful to you for making this possible.

— Natasha, Sydney, NSW

The universe is a better place because of your brilliance, perseverance, and dedication. My personal thank you is immeasurable.

– Frances C., Facebook Fan Page

I have been following the website for a couple of weeks, I can’t tell you how good I feel. I think I’ve been fighting a loosing battle with yeast for years and didn’t know it!! I want to try the BED diet for my 23 yr old daughter that suffers from asthma, allergies, fibromyalgia and I truly believe ADD…so I think this will be key in her getting healthy! 🙂

– Rose Ciancia Chasey

Following your diet got rid of my intestinal candida and the intense late night itching that woke me up every evening. THANKS. I love kimchee and cultured veggies and ready to do some coco kefir.

– Roberta G., Facebook Fan Page

Yes – I have been following the BED since Jan 2011. I now have a healthier functioning digestive tract, clearer skin, and cleaner feeling gums and teeth. I had always been one of those folks who could not have a healthy BM first thing in the AM without first exercising or a large cup of coffee. Even a macrobiotic diet for 18 months helped but not morning BM. I’m proud to say BM’s are now automatic in the AM. It’s funny how parents of newborns carefully monitor their child’s BM’s as a sign of health but this seems to be less significant to folks as they get older. This should always be on ones radar. I also would develop blood blisters inside my mouth when eating corn…not happening now. My stomach is still a little sensitive at times now so I am next going to focus on gluten to see if I am sensitive to it.

– Kathy Worley

Love your kefir cultures and think it’s why I’m so much healthier now and able to maintain weight. Keep up the good fight.

– Erin F., Facebook Fan Page

I think the Body Ecology Lifestyle works so well because the food makes you feel good on the inside which shows on the outside. As you go through different stages everything just keeps looking better (skin, hair, nails). My mother used to tell people if they wanted to eat right to follow me around and eat whatever I was eating. When I get to eat quinoa, red potatoes with pumpkin seed oil and dulse, salad, and steamed veggies I get so excited! This food is soothing and strengthening at the same time. I love the fermented foods but even if you can’t eat them at the start or have to cut back on them at times there is plenty to eat. All the Body Ecology foods are delicious and healing from the inside out. One day you will look in the mirror and think hey this really works!! You will look younger and feel wonderful.

– Lisa Shappley

I am 69 and have been using probiotic foods for many years and I am in very good health. I never get flu shots or any other kind either. Diet is the best medicine.

— Sharon Redding, CA

I enjoy your messages, books, information and products… my life is so much better since discovering your diet for me and my family. We are all blessed for what you do… I thoroughly enjoy every message you post, every one of them is completely valuable to me and my son and I read them all… A million thank-you’s Donna!!! A million!

– Deanna Lawrence

I really think that the BED system of healing is a diet that can become a lifestyle, not just a short term program.

— K.M.

Your book BED is one of the most in depth books that i have read in regards to diets, health and how to keep healthy… and i have read and practice many different diets. This book is definitely my guide… Thank you!

– Kamilia S., Facebook Fan Page

Thank you sooo much Donna Body Ecology saved my health 🙂

– Amy Y., Facebook Fan Page

The BED system of healing has revolutionized my life. Your book helped to diagnose my condition and with the help of my doctor, I am now 4 months into recovering my body, mind and spirit. This ‘insanity’ which has been going on for years is finally under control and I am regaining my precious health. How can I thank you enough for writing the diet bible of this century.

— N.N. Shelburne, VT

I am confident in guiding the people in my practice to the Body Ecology Diet. I see families with children on the autism spectrum, adolescents with ADD/ADHD and adults with acquired brain injury that are benefiting from the BED. Diet is key when we are trying to bring neurological order out of disorder. I am so proud to be part of this revived culture of true- value traditional food. I honor Donna for the work she has done.

– Mary Bolles, Executive Director at the Sensory Learning Institute

For the last year or so I have had a really bad problem with acne. Never did I have so many pimples in my life, not even when I was a teenager. I was even getting them on my neck and back. I couldn’t believe at 30 I looked like that. I started the diet and within two weeks all acne cleared. I no longer had the big, painful pimples. It even helped with the redness and dryness of my skin. Thanks so much!

– April Couey Li

After losing my first child to autism, I feared my second child would endure the same hard path. Body Ecology not only brought my first child back to me, and equipped me with a wealth of knowledge to have a healthy and easy delivery the second time around. Eating cultured vegetables, raw and un-denatured foods, and adopting Body Ecology principles keeps me and my whole family healthy and happy.

– D.F., Charleston, SC

I have read your book about a year ago and have been fermenting ever since and loving it! Thanks

– Carol H., Facebook Fan Page

One man’s poison is another man’s medicine! So true. That is why I love the whole BED philosophy, as it is the safest protocol out there for autism. I believe it is the safest because it is the most natural, using foods instead of large amounts of synthetic supplements/formulas, etc. Donna is truly ahead of her time and many children will benefit from the knowledge she is sharing. I really believe the BED should be tried before anything else. We have to get back to our roots I think the secret lies there.”

– Juli (Yahoo BEDROK Group)

Donna, I enjoy your contributions and all your doing to make my life better!

– Jim Krejci

I wanted to write and thank you for giving me the knowledge that has saved my life. In March 2001 I went to a holistically minded physician who was the first to tell me I had a ‘gut problem’. Klebsiella pneumonia with zero good bacteria. In April I started doing what she said and it really didn’t help. I went through her regiment for 2 months. The end of May I started the Body Ecology Diet principles. When the end of July came I was “Cured” of about 90% of all of my lifelong problems. This lasted for a 2 month period of time. The reason is my wife had to have surgery which stopped the cooking and eating correctly. Then massive stress with many other life changes occurred. I knew I had to get back to it. I let it lapse for almost 3 years before going back to it. What a waste of 3 years. I feel much better now. Not quite where I need to be due to just starting again and I haven’t fully implemented the total program. One thing I did learn is life is precious. Just because we have been use to living this way for our entire lives or a good portion of it doesn’t mean we have to do it anymore. Blessings to all on the path of health. Thank you Donna and The Body Ecology Team. It was great seeing you at the Conference in Oct.’

— Ken, Las Vegas, NV

Six months into BED, and I’d have to say my weight loss has been my biggest “beauty benefit” so far. I’ve lost a total of 40 lbs. (yes they needed to go). The last time I saw 110 lbs, was on my first drivers license. I’m wearing clothes I never dreamed I’d look good in again. I walk past a mirror and get giddy, cause I look better than I ever dreamed I would at 45 years old!

– Angela W Bohinc

Last year I was diagnosed with Asperger syndrome, and learning about nutrition and gut health has been a substantial source of encouragement and hope that I can still recover my overall health. Since changing my diet I have noticed measurable improvement in my mood, mental clarity and sense of connection with others. I feel hopeful that step by step I can fully recover my brain through nutrition, Body Ecology principles, and probiotic rich foods.

– Leigh Le Haier

Yes it has changed my life and my families. I am grateful for Donna Gates and her wisdom, I have lost 50 lbs. I have what is called a synovial cyst in my s2. So the doctors kept saying to me lose the weight, which will alleviate the pressure and take away a lot of the pain. Your diet has improved my quality of life. I compliment your diet with monthly colonics. Much love to you Donna Gates for creating such an amazing way of living.♥

– Aimee Nelson Mcdonald

I am making the shift. menopausal acne at age 45 (early menopause). it stinks. my skin has never, ever looked like this!

– Julie Nichols Forrer