10
in other words
november16
2017
An Unusual Culinary Column: Fermenting For Your Gut Health
By Karen Kain
Just as the weather started to
turn cold, I was invited to make a very
large batch of sauerkraut with my friend
Kert and some other friends. We were all
bundled up in warm clothes working on
the front porch shredding and mashing
cabbage with bits flying everywhere. We
had a blast. To keep the day in theme,
Kert gave me a mother SCOBY, so I
could make my own Kombucha. (A
SCOBY is a Symbiotic Culture of Bac-
teria and Yeast.) He also shared his sau-
erkraut and Kombucha recipes with me
to share with you. After the sauerkraut
was made, we started up the BBQ and
cooked up some sausages which were
served with a plate of fried sauerkraut
and chopped apples. A great time was
had playing with food, literally up to my
elbows.
Making sauerkraut is an an-
nual tradition for Kert. Every year he
orders cabbages from a pumpkin patch
in Portland. He had 11 cabbages, weigh-
ing about 12 pounds each. This will give
him enough sauerkraut to last the year
through.
If you are living with someone
who has Autism, you probably already
know all about the health benefits of eat-
ing fermented foods. There is a very crit-
ical gut to brain connection that exists in
overall health and wellbeing. Most chil-
dren who have Autism also have severe
gut issues. As we get older, we tend to
have more digestion problems and add-
ing fermented foods to your diet will
help. Fermented foods have also been
known to help people living with diabe-
tes. If you have digestive problems, it is
almost impossible to eliminate them un-
less you work on getting the gut healthy.
One of the best natural ways to do so is
to eat fermented foods rich in lactic acid
producing bacteria. Lactic acid-produc-
ing bacteria is what makes vegetables
ferment. You can take probiotic supple-
ments or do it the natural way and eat
a tablespoon or two a day of fermented
foods. Adding fermented foods to your
diet helps to balance the production of
stomach acid and ease digestive dis-
comfort. The great thing is that you only
need about a tablespoon once or twice a
day.
For thousands of years medicine
has relied on fermented foods. Because
we have changed our diet, eliminating
naturally fermented traditional foods
like sauerkraut and buttermilk, our gut
has suffered. It is only recently that the
gut-brain health connection has been re-
visited. I have many friends in the Au-
tism community who are chopping cab-
bage and making fermentation a part of
their daily diet. The word Autism and
recovery go hand in hand with a gluten
free diet and fermented foods. My dear
friend LJ has her son drink the liquid
from her homemade sauerkraut to help
him when he has had a bad day or eaten
gluten. Fermented foods, or as some call
it “real” foods like sauerkraut, plain yo-
gurt, Kombucha, and strong aged cheese
are certainly making a comeback.
You might wonder why fer-
mented foods are so good for you. These
foods that have gone through a process
of lacto fermentation where the natural
bacteria feed on the sugar and starch in
the food which creates lactic acid. This
process actually preserves the food cre-
ating healthy enzymes, B-vitamins,
and Omega-fatty acids. Many cultures
around the world eat some sort of fer-
mented foods; from Germany’s sau-
erkraut to Korea’s Kimchi. We have
become accustomed to eating an over
processed diet and in doing so lost an
important part of nutrition. I encourage
you to give some or all of these recipes
a try and get back to feeling your best.
These recipes are easy to make and if
nothing else, you might be able to man-
age a glass of champagne, white wine,
or beer with a splash of Kombucha in it.
There are many ways to add it into your
diet. Baby steps folks.
You can buy a mother SCOBY
at many places online. I usually order
mine from Cultures for Health. You can
also check out Amazon. There are a few
folks in town who are passionate Kom-
bucha makers and might share one of
their SCOBYs with you. Try posting on
the Vernonia Community Bulletin Board
Facebook page.
Homemade Kombucha
Ingredients:
1 Mother SCOBY
1 Quart of live Kombucha
10 Quarts water
3 Cups sugar
5 Heaping spoons Darjeeling, Jasmine,
green or any black tea
I break this down to 1 / 3
Directions:
Boil 4 cups of water and add the tea and
sugar. Let the tea boil for a couple min-
utes and the sugar dissolve. Let the water
come to room temperature. Transfer to
to a glass container, add the SCOBY and
1 quart of live Kombucha. Let sit for 6
days with a cloth or paper towel to cover
the opening.
continued on page 12
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