Most people are shocked when the topic of fermented foods is broached - probably because it conjures up images of those nasty-looking moldy blobs of stuff you find in a long-forgotten container in the back of your fridge every now and then. But let me put this in the proper perspective.
You are actually quite familiar with fermented foods, even if you haven't really thought about it. Here's a brief list:
Buttermilk
Yogurt
Sauerkraut
Sour Cream
Cheese
Soy Sauce
Sourdough Bread
Apple Cider Vinegar
Beer
Wine
Ok, feel better now? I always feel better when I think about wine; have 2 jugs fermenting in my pantry right now. Such wonderful medicinal properties... But I digress.
Fermented foods are from way back- older than me; it's how people preserved food when they didn't have freezers and canning equipment. It's a long-forgotten art form that is making a huge comeback now that medical science has caught up with the pioneers.
Other names for fermented foods are "aged, cultured and lacto-fermented." Fermentation is a process that exposes food to beneficial bacteria and yeasts. These microorganisms will consume the carbohydrates and sugars in food and in return for their "dinner," they will produce things your body needs, like enzymes, vitamins, and amino acids.
You can ferment dairy products, vegetables, fruits, tea, and grains. Vegetables are fermented in a brine (solution of sea salt and water) and/or whey (the clear liquid that forms on the top of things like yogurt and sour cream). The brine solution inhibits the growth of putrefying bacteria (the stuff that rots food and makes you sick), and the whey encourages the growth of beneficial bacteria that produces lactic-acid. The beneficial bacteria (lactobacilli) convert the starches and sugars in vegetables into lactic acid - a natural preservative. Lacto-fermented veggies will last for months in the refrigerator! Fruits require more salt due to their high sugar content, and tea, dairy products and grains can be fermented by using a starter culture.
Studies indicate that 80% of your health is linked directly to your gut. You can bake, steam, juice, eliminate fat, cut out sugar, stop smoking and take as many vitamins and supplements as you can swallow in a day - and still be fat, have bad joints, and die of cancer, heart disease or some other dreadful malady - IF your gut isn't healthy.
Scientists now call the gut the "2nd Brain." The neurons lining the gut perform all kinds of complex functions and communicate to the "other brain." Your body has literally trillions of bacteria; you can either work with them or against them. It's very easy for the bad bacteria to get the dominant hand with today's processed foods (virtually everything you see in a box, can or jar at the grocery store), and all the pesticides used to eliminate the problem of bugs so producers can mass market food products.
Here are some reasons to eat fermented foods as noted on CheeseSlave.com.
1. Proper Digestion
When foods are fermented, the friendly bacteria and yeast transform food from it's initial raw state into an easily digested state. In other words, fermentation performs the 1st step of digestion for you. How much of a load would that take off your system? For example, fermented dairy products transform lactose into lactic acid so that many people who are lactose intolerant can enjoy the foods and their multitude of benefits.
2. Balances the Bacteria in the Gut
Since your body depends on the fuel you feed it to perform every cellular function and stay healthy, keeping the gut plied with good bacteria is critical. Some obvious signs of a lack of friendly bacteria are lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance, allergies, asthma, yeast infections, and irritable bowel syndrome.
3. Supplies Enzymes
Your body needs enzymes to properly digest, absorb, and make full use of your food. As you age, your body’s supply of enzymes decreases.
4. Increases Vitamin Content
For example, fermented dairy products reveal an increased level of folic acid and B vitamins versus unfermented products.
5. Nutrient Absorption
You can ingest the best organic food, the most expensive vitamin and mineral supplements and the most targeted herb supplements, but unless your gut can absorb them and convert them into the product required at the cellular level, they are useless to you.
6. Longer Shelf Life for Food
Fermented food lasts a lot longer than unfermented. Ever wonder why milk will go bad in the fridge, but fermented kefir and yogurt will last a lot longer?
7. Fermented Foods Are Inexpensive
No fancy equipment is needed to start fermenting foods, and the ingredients are readily available in your grocery store or garden. Even using organic cabbage to make sauerkraut is less expensive than most processed food on the store's shelves, and with a Kombucha scoby (starter), water, tea and sugar, you can make delicious Kombucha tea for just pennies - the one drink that will rival sodas in taste and satisfaction.
8. Fermented Foods Increase Flavor
There's a reason people love drinking wine and spooning fermented salsa over their Mexican food - it's delicious. Commercially-processed foods can't duplicate the flavor or the benefits.
So those are the health reasons of why I have become fascinated with the fermentation of food. The other reasons are:
1. It's easier, faster and less expensive than canning, drying and freezing food.
2. It produces some of the most beautiful looking jars of food you've ever seen.
3. It tastes delicious; some of the tastes can't be duplicated by any other process.
4. It prevents high-risk food from spoiling before you can use it all.
5. It's interesting!
Even my dogs and chickens love my homemade yogurt and kefir. In fact, that's how I got interested in fermentation - chicken and dog websites that stressed the importance of yogurt and probiotics in the diet. When I saw the difference it made in them, I was hooked.
In future posts, I'm going to talk about the different ferments I'm doing and explain what is involved. I hope you'll try them; your body will thank you for it.
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