Lacto-Fermented Foods

Cultured and fermented foods such as beet kvass, clabber milk, kimchi, sauerkraut and homemade yogurt contain beneficial microorganisms that contribute to gastrointestinal health. 


As part of your health recovery and diet we recommend that you add Lacto-fermented foods and beverages to your daily diet. 
     
They  provide your body with natural probiotics, nutrients and beneficial enzymes, these are key to relieving digestive disorders, kidney problems, skin disorders, allergies and asthma, and alleviating food and alcohol cravings. (See Recipes Below)

In the normal scheme of things, we'd never have to think twice about replenishing the bacteria that allow us to digest food. But since we're living with antibiotics drugs and chlorinated water and antibacterial soap and all these factors in our contemporary lives that I'd group together as a war on bacteria, if we fail to replenish [good bacteria], we won't effectively get nutrients out of the food we're eating.

We have eaten fermented foods since the beginning of time. It's very recent that fermented foods have begun to disappear from our plate. Modern pickles and sauerkraut are made with vinegar instead of the traditional method of lacto-fermentation using sea salt. Bread and pasta are made with commercial yeast instead of being naturally leavened with wild yeast (sourdough). Wine, beer and cheese are being pasteurized - killing off all the good bacteria we so desperately need to maintain health. By using traditional methods and learning how to ferment your own foods you begin to regenerate good bacteria in your body.

Lacto-fermented Foods Benefits

• The live lactic bacteria that are involved in the production of fermented foods are so beneficial to health that they have often been called "life preserving agents".
• They contribute to the protection of the body against infections and stimulate the immune system.
• They improve the digestion process by regulating the level of acidity in the digestive tract and by stimulating the production of beneficial intestinal flora.
• They act as anti-oxidants.
• They facilitate the synthesis of certain vitamins, such as vitamins C and B12 (which can only be produced in the presence of lactic bacteria).
• They are known to have a soothing effect on the nervous system.
• In producing lactic acid and enzymes, the lactic bacteria also facilitate the break-down of proteins and hence their assimilation.
• Fermented vegetables are recommended for diabetics, since the sugar content of vegetables is transformed by lactic bacteria into a more assimilable form.
• The lactic acid contained in fermented foods does not have the harmful acidifying effect on the human system that other organic acids tend to have. In fact, it helps prevent arthritis.
• Fermented vegetables are an important component of a yeast-free diet (as in the case of candidiasis).

Check out these websites and learn more about and how-to ferment food. 

Pickl It - Creating your own natural, brine-cured pickles, sourdough starters and batters, sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir – and a huge variety of traditional foods! – is fun and easy with Pickl-It! Note: Pickl it leaves whey out of there fermenting which is fine if you don't have time to make your own, you have a dairy allergy and or you can't find farm or health food store that sells whey. However, I highly recommend using it, it helps to speed up the healing process.

• Kelly the Traditional food Kitchen Kop
• Fermented Carrots and Fermented Cabbage
• Video: Sandor Katz, Author of Wild Fermentation, shows us how to ferment veggies with confidense and ease.
• Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz

Gloria Prater, Whole Health Educator is a member of The Weston A. Price Foundation for Wise Traditions in Food, Farming, and the Healing Arts.

 Disclaimer: This website is for informational purposes only.