Cultured food
I've found that the more kefir (both water and milk varieties), saur kraut, natural fermented pickles, miso, tamari, kombucha and other live foods I eat/drink, the better I feel and the stronger my digestion is. I don't need to worry about food combining anymore, even the "worst" combinations digest with ease. It seems to me that the live part of "raw and living" foods gets neglected.
People have been culturing food for ages. And wild animals eat fruit that rots on the ground or rotten meat. I haven't been brave enough to try "high" meat yet, but that may be my next adventure in cultured food.
People have been culturing food for ages. And wild animals eat fruit that rots on the ground or rotten meat. I haven't been brave enough to try "high" meat yet, but that may be my next adventure in cultured food.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jha'en on -
It's a wild ferment... I think the composition of the scoby's can vary too, depending on what air borne organisms come in contact, and that can affect the quality and taste, which is part of the reason why kombuchas can be very different, depending on who is brewing it! But it is exposed to air and hence the wild yeasts that can exacerbate candida - as opposed to beneficial anti-candida yeasts.
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Permalink Reply by Rawstrength on -
Candida likes to live at body temperature, so wild yeasts from the air aren't going to be candida. A lot of people have used kombucha effectively in helping cure yeast conditions.
I've never had much luck with wild yeast ferments though. It's easier and better to use a starter.
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Permalink Reply by Jha'en on
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She's not saying the wild yeasts are candida - just strains of yeast that can be troublesome to someone who is already fighting candida.
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Permalink Reply by Jha'en on
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That's what Donna says - check the website and search "wild fermentation" and you'll come up with several articles where she mentions this. Here is one about nutritional yeast.
The Body Ecology book is good, but mostly if you want to do her whole program. There is a ton of info on the website though, I usually check there when I'm researching something - I usually get a hit. I'm not sure if there is a list of archived articles or not... might be...
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Permalink Reply by Jha'en on
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Oh, as to what kinds of starters... Body Ecology sells a couple of different starters, one for kefir and one for culturing veggies (of course they can be used for other things too). Check out this article on her culture starters. Although I checked the other day and it seems that they don't have the "essential duo" for sale in their store now. No idea why.
My sense is that the strains they use are carefully selected and they are used in combinations that work well together. I've used them before and they work great. I've been more inclined to buy probiotic supplements lately, and use those as a more cost-effective strategy. I tend to look for certain strains, and make sure it's a high-potency product (the higher-end probiotics in other words ;)
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Permalink Reply by lemoned on -
is it true that you can just break open a probiotic capsule and mix it in?? Also, the starters help to do what exactly?
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Permalink Reply by Jha'en on
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Yes, that's the idea. If you want to get fancy, you can give the powder a head start by putting it in a little warm water with some kind of sugar or inulin for about 20 minutes. Depending on how much you're fermenting, and the potency you might adjust how much you use. I use 1 capsule of a high potency probiotic for about a gallon of kraut.
Food is fermented by probiotic microorganisms. They will feed on the sugars and nutrients in whatever you are fermenting and grow. You are in effect, growing more probiotics, while simultaneously pre-digesting the food, and even substantially increasing the nutrients as well as making them more bioavailable. Is that what you are asking?
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Permalink Reply by lemoned on
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Yes, thanks! So it's basically the same as the milk cultures. I was just wondering why some make their kraut without probiotics and some with. I mean, with fermenting milkm it seems a bacteria is absolutely needed (like kefir grains I'm using right now). But for the kraut/vegs it seems optional.
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Permalink Reply by Jha'en on
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Actually milk will ferment naturally, but only with strains that are present or that it's exposed to from the air. Unpasteurized milk has natural lactobacteria in it. But without a culture medium, it is much more susceptible to being contaminated by "bad" bacteria. Just like cabbage and many veggies have lactobacteria on their skin - it's that white film you see on the outside of the cabbage leaves.
Traditionally a starter is not used to ferment kraut, and only the naturally present lactobacteria grow and ferment the cabbage etc. However, to ensure that "bad" bacteria don't infect and spoil the kraut before the lactobacteria get a good enough start, you need to add quite a bit of salt - salt kills bacteria, but with the right amount the good strains will still grow slowly, while the bad strains are kept at bay. One implication is that without an added starter, it will take quite a bit longer for it to ferment. The other factor is that you are limited to the probiotic strains that occur naturally, and there is much benefit to selecting specific strains that have particular health benefits and use those for your culture. If you use a starter for kraut, it will be well fermented in a few days (usually about 3) especially if you don't add a lot of salt, but just a little to taste (or even no salt). Whereas without a starter, it could be a week or two, depending on temperature and other factors.
Some people use raw apple cider vinegar as a starter, that works well too - it has a number of good probiotics and lots of minerals... (make sure it's raw and unfiltered with the MOV - mother of vinegar)
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Permalink Reply by lemoned on
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Oh wow that's just what I wanted to know. I have some Bragg's ACV in the fridge. thanks so much!!
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Permalink Reply by Jha'en on
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Also PLA - you've done the mercury detox so I'm guessing you've been successful in dealing with the candida monster! I'm still working towards that end myself. The info I've gotten from Body Ecology has been really valuable in understanding how to keep it from getting out of control in the meantime...
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