[Leenie]

Hi, I had been battling with cyctic acne for almost 15 years (ovo-lacto-vegetarian for 26 yrs). Once I eliminated all sources of artificial flavors/colors/preservatives from my diet (son is sensitive) prior to beginning MB, I noticed my break outs were much less frequent and less intense. After beginning MB (about a year ago) my skin got worse for the first few months (purging all that dairy) then cleared up beautifully. I still get some occasional flares up just before my period (only symptom of PMS...thank you MB!).

Christina Pirello has a great recipe for Hato Mugi stew (from Avaline Kushi) that is great for the skin and it nourishes all the organs.

1-1 inch peice Kombu
1/2 c. dried Daikon soakd until tender
2 dried shitake mushrooms, soakd until tender
2or3 slices dried lotus root, soaked until tender
2 cups Hato Mugi (job's tears), sorted and rinsed well
1 small onion, diced
spring water
soy sauce
2 or 3 celery stalks.

Place kombu in bottom of pressure cooker. Reserving all soaking waters, place daikon, mushrooms, lotus root, hato mugi and onion on top of kombu. Measure soaking water and add more until you have 4 cups. Add to pressure cooker. Add a little soy sauce , seal, and bring up to pressure. Place over fame deflector, reduce heat, and cook 35 mins. Remove pot from heat and let it reduce pressure naturally before opening. Stir celery into cooked grain and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve hot. makes 6-8 servings.

You can get the dried ingredients on this website. I buy the Hato Mugi by the 5 lb bag. My 4 year old just loves it!

Good luck to you.
Thanks,
Leenie