Donna Schwenk’s youngest daughter Holly, was born seven-and-a-half weeks premature via emergency C-section. Her family was overjoyed, but because Holly was born so early, her immune system wasn’t fully developed. “She got colds, the flu, she wasn’t gaining weight,” Schwenk remembers. “I knew I had to do something to help our preemie.”
After conducting some research, Holly’s mom decided to try Lifeway kefir. When she was 10 months old, she had her first taste, “and she quickly became the healthiest person in our entire family. She gained four pounds in a month, started sleeping through the night, and there was this color in her cheeks that I’d never seen before.” Inspired, the rest of the Schwenk family from Kansas City, MO, started drinking kefir, including Donna, who struggled with diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as her two older children, then ages 14 and 16. Within a month, Donna’ blood pressure and blood sugar had normalized
Today, the little girl who doctors said would likely always struggle with illness, is a thriving teenager who hasn’t been back to the doctor except for well-child visits. Donna no longer has diabetes. She makes her own kefir from scratch as well as stocking the fridge with Lifeway products, and blogs at Cultured Food Life. “This strange drink called kefir had changed us so dramatically,” she says. Cheers to that!