Originally published October 13 2005
Fermented foods reinvigorate the body's immune system
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Cook Rachel Woods talks about the benefits of live-culture foods like sauerkraut in providing the stomach with a protective lining and increasing the number of antibodies in your blood.
Besides upping flavor, some lactic-acid ferments, such as homemade sauerkraut, actually strengthen your immune system.
Fermentation increases the flavor, medicinal value and nutrition of foods.
Below, you'll find an easy recipe for sauerkraut.
But first, here's why it and other living lactic-acid ferments (such as kefir, kimchee, miso and yogurt) are such remarkable foods.
Advertisement When you are looking to add fermented foods to your diet, the first thing to be aware of is that there's a difference between the living and the dead.
The microbes in most fermented foods are destroyed by pasteurization or processing.
It is live cultured foods, especially those high in lactic acid, that strengthen your immune system.
They do so by helping you maintain a healthy population of micro-flora in your gut.
Among the foods and substances that decimate intestinal flora are: antibiotics, commercial meats containing antibiotic residues, chlorinated water, alcoholic beverages and a diet high in processed and packaged foods.
For their good taste --- and your good health --- favor living fermented foods.
Fermentation generates new nutrients including omega-3 fatty acids, digestive aids, the trace mineral GTF chromium and antioxidants (glutathione and superoxide dismustase).
The living cultured foods commercially available in the Rogue Valley include some brands of kefir, yogurt, miso, sauerkraut and a pickled Chinese cabbage called kimchee.
A kefir culture contains 30 different strains of beneficial microorganisms while yogurt has but a few strains of bacteria and a less robust life span.
The labels on quality brands of kefir and yogurt, such as Nancy's, include the phrase: "contains live cultures."
Most dairy products are pasteurized and therefore have no living cultures.
I repeatedly use three recipes from his book.
The recipe below, however, is one I've been using for over 25 years.
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