Friday, December 4, 2009

Probiotic sounds sooo much better than antibiotic...


I have been a fan of Lacto-fermented food my whole life, in fact craved them, during all my pregnancies. What are "lacto-fermented foods", you ask? It is not the same as spoiled, as those foods that are properly lacto-fermented won't make you sick. The most popular lacto-fermented foods are yogurt, pickles (though not the kind you find on the food shelves these days), and sauerkraut. Lesser known, though gaining in popularity, are Chutneys, Kefir, and Kimchi. Virtually obsolete are the watermelon relishes, pickled beets, and pickled onion of yore.




What is so great about them is that they are CHOCKED full of healthy probiotics that keep your intestinal flora in balance, why this is important is that they compete with unhealthy bacteria for resources and when continually replenished can keep them in check, such as Candida and Strep B. They are also great because the "Probees" also predigest the foods they are fermenting, making them easily assimilated by the gut and keep the gut from becoming inflamed. When these probees colonize the gut in optimal numbers they can also do part of the hard work digesting foods to keep your gut from becoming overworked and irritated causing things such as IBS. It is thought that many digestive diseases of today (most especially auto-immune diseases such as Celiac's, Crohn's, and colitis), that weren't oft seen hundreds of years ago, are caused by the poor diet that modern man has adopted that precludes lacto-fermented foods among others. One of the largest problem with today's refined foods is pasteurization. While touted as one of the breakthroughs of the 20th century, it isn't necessarily a good thing. Pasteurization not only kills bad bacteria, but also GOOD bacteria necessary for proper digestion--these Lactobacillus are our Symbionts, and we have evolved over thousands of years with them in our bellies. Pasteurization kills many of the enzymes necessary for proper digestion as well. How to Prevent this? Make your own!




It is extremely simple to make your own lacto-fermented foods. While some recipes-largely those involving fruit- encourage you to add whey, you could also substitute Lactobacillus capsules (open and empty them into the mix)-or if you have plain yogurt-before you stir pour the clear watery stuff off the top into your mix-that is whey. Most of the time you just need a jar, your vegetable, whatever spices your require, a large amount of salt, and purified water. I HIGHLY encourage those that attempt this to use organic vegetables as the pesticides used on conventionally grown produce can and will interfere with proper fermentation, the same reason you want to use purified water. Here is a great link and 'how-to' on fermented foods.




If you want to attempt to make yogurt you will need unpasteurized or 'Raw milk' or find a yogurt making "packet" -which is really just the good bacteria that pasteurization burned off. While this may seem scary to some, those that have issues digesting standard milk from the store actually have an easier time digesting Raw milk due to the unadulterated enzymes within. While Raw milk cannot be store bought usually, you can pick it up from co-ops, farmer's markets, and directly from the farm. Here is a helpful link for those interested in finding Raw milk in their area.




My favorite fermented food, introduced to me by my half-Korean husband, is Kimchi. While the term Kimchi is often used to encompass all Korean fermented foods eaten at a typical Korean meal (technically referred to as 'banshan') the most significant is that of Napa Cabbage or Bok Choy.


Kimchi also has the most widespread health benefits I've seen yet from the already healthy status of fermented foods. It has Garlic and onions which fight infections, lower cholesterol, promote B-12 absorption, and regulate blood sugar. The hot peppers are noted for anti-inflammatory activity and cabbage has noted anti-ulcer activity, is high in Vitamin C, and as a whole it acts as a natural detox for your intestines clearing away unhealthy bacteria colonies and stagnation and promoting better nutrient absorption. It can fight obesity as the lactic acid produced by the probiotics promotes proper and quicker digestion which leads to shorter duration in the intestines. That isn't all! Kimchi is reported to prevent cancers of the digestive tract as well as keep skin healthy and young. For those interested in Kimchi (one of the easiest to make) here is a great resource on the nutritional profile and a recipe as well. There is much more than twice the probiotic content of yogurt to this edible delight that was rated as one of the top 5 healthiest foods by Health magazine (as well as 2 other fermented foods..huh?!). You should try it for yourself :)

Thanks to Nagyman @ Wikipedia for the pic :)

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