Even though summer is over, we are still getting some nice warm weather but not in the consistency of July and August. With the cooler weather coming on comes the season of sniffles and colds.

Auntie Kay had a cure for sniffles and colds. That was cod liver oil. I know this subject generates a general distaste for the memories of what our mothers’ best intentions for us as youngsters were, but my memories of cod liver oil are all good.

Auntie Kay, in her wisdom, would always mix the cod liver oil with fruit juice which she gleaned from her canned preserves. She always tried to make the medicine more palatable. Being a nurse had something to do with having mercy upon her patient, I always appreciated that virtue.

Cod liver oil always came as a liquid when I was a child. Someone in the marketing world anticipated my teenage rebellion to taking cod liver oil in that manner and began producing it in pill form, which suited me just fine.

When I left home to seek my fame and fortune, cod liver oil ceased to be part of my diet and never has been since. Of course there have been many other ways to combat sniffles and colds along the way. Other than making sure to eat more fruit and vegetables than meat ( Auntie Kay would be proud of that choice ), I have found another product that seems to work wonders for my constitution.

The product is called kefir. It is a soured and fermented milk product. When I worked for Palm Dairies as a door to door milk salesman back in the 1980’s, the Company produced it’s own variety of kefir. It came in flavors of strawberry, lemon, and chocolate. For me it was the best thing since sliced bread!

I vigorously promoted it, sold a great deal, and drank my share of it too. However, I was only one of 55 people delivering milk door to door. Most of the drivers wrote it off as a lost cause so within six months of it’s introduction it was withdrawn from the market.

Fast-forward to 2007, I began looking for kefir, remembering the sharp, effervescent taste of the product. It was nowhere to be found. It took a trip to Coombs Country Market on Vancouver Island, the store with the goats on the roof, there I found kefir. There was one flavor, plain. I mixed a cup of it with a tablespoon of pancake syrup and I was in dreamland.

I brought it back home knowing that I had to begin to make it myself for the product was unavailable at the chain stores. Eventually I managed to find kefir at one of the health food stores. I would buy it in plain so I could have starter and make it myself.

Although I have not made yogurt, I’m told that making kefir is similar. Kefir only takes an hour to prepare before letting it sit for 24 hours on the counter to culture. I always use starter from the last batch. I have found that making it at night seems to yield a product that is thicker than when making it during the day.

This product could be good for the bowel. I know of someone who had bowel issues and would consume a bowl of  all bran every day just to stay regular. When they drank kefir every day, it took over the job the all bran used to do.

Something else note worthy about kefir is that it is full of probiotics. It has been said that yogurt has a billion probiotics, kefir is said to have a trillion probiotics. Kefir is now available at all of the larger food stores.

I have found that kefir works for me for I seem to have fewer sniffles and colds. We all want to be healthy and stay healthy, so kefir is another tool to put into your war chest.

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