Black and Berry Living is starting a call to action to help save your home’s and your family’s health! We specialize in organic, small batch apple cider vinegar cleaning products, because we not only believe in the health benefits but have personally lived it. Co-founder, Cindee Black, grew up with two auto-immune diseases and learned the life changing effects of living in a healthy home and the benefits of using healthy products to nurture a healthy microbiome with probiotics. 

What is a Probiotic?

Microbes (also called microorganisms) are tiny living creatures that are so small we cannot see them with the naked eye. The most common microbe is bacteria, which is just starting to develop a good reputation. In the past decade, beneficial bacteria also known as probiotics have hit the mainstream via supplements,health foods like raw yogurt, and drinks like kombucha. Our bodies are made up of more bacteria than human cells and our environment is covered with them. We have evolved to develop a symbiotic relationship with these microbes. Unfortunately, as we have become more industrialized across the planet, we have been actively trying to remove these microbes without understanding their importance. In fact, our understanding of their importance has only just begun.

The Science

Medical communities across the globe are producing studies that speak to the power of microbes, especially focusing on probiotics. These studies have shown that the interior human microbiome is directly related to our surrounding environment. One of the leading scientists in this field, Dr. Jonathan Eisen from the University of California-Davis, has numerous  studies that focus on these microbiomes. Thirteen years ago, he launched a genomic encyclopedia of microbes that details how they interact with their surroundings and ultimately affect us. Jonathan writes a blog called "The Tree of Life" that shares many of his notable findings in fun ways that non-molecular biologists can understand. Susan Lynch, a microbiologist at the University of California-San Francisco, says, “A house with a more bacteria-rich environment is a healthier one.” She has designed many studies on infants and young children that show the lack of beneficial bacteria leads to health issues and even life-long diseases, such as asthma, allergies, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases. Scientists from Seoul National University in South Korea are working on studies showing that the bacteria in our homes is the same bacteria that is in our bodies. Meanwhile, Cambridge University is working with scientists and doctors from across the world to map the human gut and the 2,000 distinct microbes that live there. The findings say these bacteria differ depending on where the subject lives in the world, which tells us these microbes are dependent on environmental factors. Humans and bacterial microbes evolved to thrive in our particular environment and the science clearly shows it.  

The Problem

Our continued attempts to eliminate the naturally-occurring bacteria around us is detrimental to our health. We have to understand that we are connected with our environment at hands reach and spanning the globe. Everything we surround ourselves with is, for the most part, the sum of our health. Many of the products we are bringing into our home are harming the bacteria that surround us and ultimately our health. Here at Black and Berry Living, we believe in using nature to live in our modern world; to work with nature to nurture a healthy home and better way of well being. 

How to Start?

A simple way to start is by replacing synthetic cleaning and home products with healthy alternatives, reading labels and picking products with ingredients you understand. We have made our homemade apple cider vinegar cleaner recipe for over a decade and believe the quality of ingredients makes all the difference. Black and Berry Living All-Purpose Cleaner can be used for counters, floors, windows, mirrors, soap scum, dishes, laundry rinse, fabric refresher, and about any other cleaning issue you may have. It will nurture a healthy home microbiome with probiotics (actual living bacteria) in the organic raw apple cider vinegar. The infused essential oils offer extra cleaning power and a clean smell. We believe our Organic All-Purpose Cleaner is the best option on the market and hope you will, too!