Cultured Food Your Best Probiotics

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DTrENdWvvM&feature=share&list=PLC45C4EFB407661B7[/youtube]

Amazing isn’t it that we have 10 times more cells in the form of bacteria and other microorganisms living on and in us than we have cells in our bodies. Kind of makes me think that I’m a fabulous planet for those microorganisms.

But wait, sometimes we send “Agent Orange” down our guts that wipe out those innocent and beneficial microorganisms. Another name for this “Agent Orange” is antibiotics.

Yep they wipe out the good guys along with the bad guys, leaving the lining of our guts looking like a war zone. Then the bad guys overgrow and it’s “Oh, my aching, gassy gut.”

Perhaps you’re thinking, “But I don’t take antibiotics”. Do you eat chicken, pork, beef, turkey? Then you’re most likely ingesting the antibiotic residues in them on a regular basis, unless your food is all organically raised.

Since microorganisms help digest our food, make vitamins for us and turn our food into the form that we can utilize well we better get those good guys back in our guts and working on our side to heal the damage to the gut, to reverse food allergies and to help our guts become comfortable again.

To that end eating cultured food is even more important than taking probiotics. Historically many cultures fermented some of their food and ate or drank it on a regular basis keeping their GI tracts and themselves healthy. In the USA we’re most familiar with yogurt. However there are a myriad of other ways to culture or ferment food. We will be exploring a variety of them in this series.

For now let’s cover the basics.

Eat cultured food and/or drink daily, 2-3 times per day.

Start with small amounts and increase gradually to prevent “die-off” reactions.

Start with 1 teaspoon

Increase to 2 teaspoons as tolerated

Then gradually increase to ¼ to ½ cup of cultured vegetables with 1n then 2 and eventually 3 meals per day

People with gut problems need to continue eating or drinking these amounts for 2 ½ to 3 years to restore the normal flora in their GI tract.

Start by eating these small amounts of yogurt and the juice from sauerkraut (or cabbage rejuvelac).

Eventually eat a variety of cultured food every day. Eat cultured vegetables and fermented drinks that have a different profile of microorganisms and a different action in the gut

Yogurt- bacterial culture

Kombucha – an elixir, a fermented tea beverage – can use black or green teas

                Scoby = Symbiotic CultureOfBacteria &Yeast (the starter for making Kombucha)

Natto – soybeans fermented by the bacteria Bacillus subtilis – be sure non-GMO soybeans are used. Among other attributes Natto stimulates a healthy immune system.

Kefir – symbiotic relationship of bacteria and yeast. Contains Saccharomyces boulardii, beneficial yeasts that are not in yogurt make kefir a different therapeutic cultured food.

Fermented grains may have a different action in the gut (Wheat rejuvelac)

Coconut water fermented – mineral-rich, an electrolyte, probiotic beverage.

Cultured meat provides pre-digested proteins broken down by those organisms.

Organisms in the culture are magnificent detoxifiers.

They pull out heavy metals, and other contaminants that you are invariably exposed to from living in a modern-day, 21st century, industrial environment.

Stimulate the immune system favorably.

Help restore proper digestion and assimilation

Heal the enterocytes (cells) lining the villi of the intestine

Resources:

Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) Book by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride

Nourishing Traditions cookbook by Sally Fallon

Recipes for cultured/fermented food:

http://nourishedkitchen.com/recipe-index/ferments-cultured-food/

http://culturedfoodlife.com/recipes/

http://bodyecology.com/

These sites have cultured products for sale:

www.CulturedVegetables.net or www.CulturedNutrition.com

www.GAPS.me or www.Immunitrition.com

Links to good articles on Dr. Mercola’s site:

http://mercola.fileburst.com/PDF/ExpertInterviewTranscripts/InterviewCarolineBarringer.pdf

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/07/31/dr-natasha-campbell-mcbride-on-gaps-nutritional-program.aspx