Lisa McMahon

You realize that a water sample is only a one-point-in-time sample and in no way guarantees that your water will be potable in the future. Contamination can come from a multitude of sources and you are taking a chance with it if you think you can trust it forever. Your filter isn't foolproof either. You could install a UV light system after your filter, or perhaps a H2O2 system, which would kill germs.  Then you could use it for any needs.

also, to all the folks who say your body has adapted to the bugs in your water, that's fine but consider your guests. consider the baby that has a weak immune system or elderly.  It's a risk.

also, urine could be infected with bacteria, for those who think it's sterile... if you have a UTI, or when it passes... you are not sterile on the outside.


however, on the topic of your dishes...you need enough of a virus or bacteria or whatever to cause an illness. it's not likely that enough of the containgion would be still ON the plate to make someone sick. that is, if it's smooth, sealed china.  (not scratched plastic, porous clay etc.)

Some germs (bacteria or viruses) can live for weeks, and on a hard surface they tend to live longer than a soft one like fabric when dried out. ironic I know. So, two weeks or more for hepatitis and a few others.

here's some info from the web about how long things can live on a surface:

Most gram-positive bacteria, such as Enterococcus spp. (including VRE), Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA), or Streptococcus pyogenes, survive for months on dry surfaces. Many gram-negative species, such as Acinetobacter spp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella spp., Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marcescens, or Shigella spp., can also survive for months. A few others, such as Bordetella pertussis, Haemophilus influenzae, Proteus vulgaris, or Vibrio cholerae, however, persist only for days. Mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and spore-forming bacteria, including Clostridium difficile, can also survive for months on surfaces. Candida albicans as the most important nosocomial fungal pathogen can survive up to 4 months on surfaces. Persistence of other yeasts, such as Torulopsis glabrata, was described to be similar (5 months) or shorter (Candida parapsilosis, 14 days). Most viruses from the respiratory tract, such as corona, coxsackie, influenza, SARS or rhino virus, can persist on surfaces for a few days. Viruses from the gastrointestinal tract, such as astrovirus, HAV, polio- or rota virus, persist for approximately 2 months. Blood-borne viruses, such as HBV or HIV, can persist for more than one week. Herpes viruses, such as CMV or HSV type 1 and 2, have been shown to persist from only a few hours up to 7 days.

 

Ok, this is a complicated topic and I think you're a little overwhelmed with cross-information.

I'm NOT a doc, of course, but I have read and studied quite a bit on this. I will suggest some of your own research IMMEDIATELY that you can read and learn what I believe is more of the truth than what you are hearing now.  And I'll offer some of my own advice, take it at whatever value you wish:

don't kill your h-pylori.   They are protective of cancer. They do cause some inflammation, which right now is NOT your friend. However, ACID is your friend. You need acid to keep down the bad bugs, however in the meantime you must heal because you don't want the acid causing more problems.

listen to, or read this book, and the first parts of the book specifically address h-pylori. You might not get all your answers, but you will NOT fear them any longer.
https://www.amazon.com/Missing-Microbes-Overuse-Antibiotics-Fueling/dp/0805098100

also, heal your gut. here's a website with good info, but in the meantime I use and recommend taking enzymes with every single meal, and once your gut is healing up nicely, take acids.  don't think i'm nuts, please. bone broths are amazing for healing, along with some supplements like l-glutamine, gelatin and others.

please read this article, long but critical to your health.
https://chriskresser.com/what-everybody-ought-to-know-but-doesnt-about-heartburn-gerd/

and third, I would seek out the assistance of a doctor that is skilled in these natural healing, bacteria preserving methods of curing your illness.

low carb diets would be good, but go slow and don't stress over it because that would be worse.  also, eating a few different things will change your gut bacteria population, but not in a negative way (drugs would be negative to the gut bugs) but really you're not going to do harm with most foods you would eat. even eating some yogurt is not a massive overall gut bacteria change, the ones you were born with (h-pylori, your FRIEND) and others are still there. after listening to that book above, it has changed a lot of what I think about our bacteria and even scares me to think that we should literally consider antibiotics a LAST resort to any treatment, life or death stuff.
send me an email if you wish to chat more.  lyantach at gmail.com

I was out walking the dog and was just looking for a snack or tasty morsel and came across some grape vines with berries. Why not give it a taste. They were nice and purple and looked a little sparse but still looked like grapes. They tasted horrible, bitter and pasty dry on the tongue. So, I spit them out. Then I dug a little deeper into the fenceline.... The grape leaves were covering a virginia creeper vine. I was eating creeper berries, not grapes. I am glad they didn't taste good! LOL, they aren't deadly but certainly not good for you.

Well, what a fun topic, I can't read all 8 pages, but it seems like there's plenty of fun info. For pee, I just lean on one bent leg, and stretch the other one as far away as I can so i have somewhere to aim without too much splash on the legs. The issue is, where is it going to run once it hits the ground...try to avoid it running under the foot of the leg you're leaning on. Hold the clothes to the front. No panties usually, they just stop air flow and breed germs. and when you're done, give the outside a little shake from the front/top, but don't touch the wet parts with your dirty hands. Stay away from that area. don't bother with leaves either unless you needed to go #2. That's a different story. If you're too tired to squat, for 1 or 2, find a nice small diameter tree and grab on with both hands, lean back as far as you can and give it a go.

I wish I knew about the slugs... I sheet mulched just this year to start turning a patch of weeds into a garden. I have had half my plants I stuck in there eaten already. I was going to wait a year before planting anything, but I got the bug and couldn't wait. At least I know what I'm up against...

John, here's what you said: "Yeah, that's probably not helping. I guess I would have to do an enumeration study to see how much growth of the culture is actually occurring in the milk that I've inoculated. Just to be clear, I'm inoculating pre-boiled, cooled nut milk, letting the mixture set for a day or two, and then bringing back to a low boil which, yes, would kill the inoculum but hopefully any molds that had crept in. If it indeed turns out that *not* killing the culture is both safe and even more antagonistic to the molds, then all the better...I would prefer not to do the second boil. Let me know if I've somehow misinterpreted what you said with my writing here. At any rate, it's nice to see that it's relatively easy to come up with vegan solutions to the culture of the Lactobacilli: http://functionalfoodscenter.net/files/58725630.pdf
"

Ok, so I have not had a chance to read the PDF, but yes, the issue I think is that you're killing off the bacteria which die at a relatively low temp compared to mold spores. You're providing the mold a head start and the bacteria are not there to compete. The other issue is also pH and environment. Molds need dryness to grow, and air. Lactic acid bacteria need anaerobic conditions and moisture. You can foster the growth of one or the other by changing the conditions on your food. So, consider that. Others have suggested submerging it in a brine, that could work. Or, if you salt the outside, but that would ruin the taste, I think. You would need a LOT of salt. You might wax it, if it needs to be aged more. I guess the main question I have is, why are you boiling your stuff a second time? If it's part of the recipe, then you need to preserve the food you've created just like any perishable (ie, as we stated, with salt, salt water, acid medium, no oxygen, etc.). If it's just something you're experimenting with, i would try NOT boiling it. see how that works. You might even consider culturing your OWN lactobacteria by making a sugar/nut milk mixture that sits out and cultures. You can capture natural bacteria and yeasts and they would be ones that are local and like your nut food you are giving it. Then you have an almond lacto starter to make your stuff with. I bet Sandor Katz would be interested in your experiments and if you haven't read his books, give them a whorl.

After spending years taking lysine and trying to modify my diet etc. for this very problem, and looking deeper, I have discovered that while lysine does seem to help minimally, it doesn't prevent. The virus is too strong. sunshine, stress, etc can cause it to have a hayday. prevention for me comes in the form of fixing digestion by the use of acids and enzymes. These allow the body to properly digest foods and extract the minerals from them. Taking supplements can help, but why not use all your food more appropriately? zinc is the key here, zinc is needed for your body during times of stress and it helps prevent the virus (any virus, i think) from taking hold. So, I say, this is all interesting and we all can't escape all the time from these damn viruses, but consider your digestion in the equation instead of searching for the magic bullet (mushroom, homeo, amino acids, etc.)

I am by no means a cheese expert, but I do like to ferment. I think the issue with your vegan substitution is that you're removing almost all the carbohydrates. The carbs are what the culture uses. There is very little carbs in comparison to cow/goat etc. milks. And simple sugars at that. Nut meats have more complex carbs. The culture has nothing to eat, or very little. The cultures are also specific to the food source and often changing it up will not result in the correct final product. Mold often takes a week or more to grow to the point of reproduction, usually the outward manifestation of mold that you can see (the spore producing fuzzy stuff) is not happening for quite some time. What you're seeing is quite likely bacteria going crazy. Without a photo, that's what i'm guessing, but maybe where you are, temps and climate, it's mold. To stop mold/bacteria, you must create an environment they do not like. It was already mentioned, salty, acidic, etc. However, adding lactobacteria would defeat the whole purpose of boiling/culturing your material. You're not doing yourself a favor mixing all those bacteria into the mix.

Did the concrete blocks actually grow lichens? I'm curious. They have a different pH than most rocks, although that might be preferable to some species.

I love lichens and photograph them wherever I travel. I have a few guide books on them and choose not to eat them because I feel they grow to slowly and that's not sustainable. I feel they're better left alone. I did just cut up a birch tree that was quite old and rotten and had to be removed. I saved some of the logs because they were covered in several lichen species/varieties. I am not sure what to do with the logs yet, but so far they're just sitting upright in the woods. I want to put them somewhere that they can continue to live until the bark rots away (and with birch that could be a while!)

I think this is hobble bush, according to a guide I have! The flowers were spot on, I thought it was stray hydrangea because of the flowers this spring. It is a viburnum, I think. Thanks for all the help!