We live in a world obsessed with destroying bacteria.  Since we discovered that sicknesses can be caused by bacterial infections we as a society have been on a rampage to destroy all bacteria in our environment. 

We take antibiotics, feed our livestock antibiotics, wash our hands with antibacterial soap, wipe with antibacterial wipes and sanitize our kitchens and bathrooms with toxic chemicals to ensure we destroy any bacteria on any surface. 

This has led to problems like super-bugs, chemical sensitivity and environmental damage of colossal extent.

Sure hand sanitizers kill 99% of the germs on our skin but not all 99% are bad, of the 1% remaining are the ones which are resistant to the hand sanitizer.  They live to reproduce and subsequent generations are more resistant and have an open field to grow with abandon.  This does not lead to long term health. 

Instead of trying to kill everything off we should promote the bacteria which are good for us and let them duke it out with the unhealthy bacteria.  This has how we have done it since our creation and seems to have served us well so far.

Chemical sensitivity is now becoming an epidemic.  Most public locations in North America are requesting patrons to be scent free so as not to bother those who cannot be in an environment which has chemical smells.  This is due to the overuse of chemicals in our environment. 

We have chemicals which clean, deodorize, sanitize and just smell good.  All these chemicals are not natural and cause our immune systems to react.  This can cause inflammation and allergic reactions if the inflammation gets to out of control.

Our food is produced by the use of vast amounts of toxic chemicals.  The land which it is grown is sprayed with herbicide before, during and finally just before it is harvested. 

It is also fertilized with chemically produced fertilizer which boosts yield but does not improve the mineral content of the food.  This is because farmers are paid by how the product looks and how much they can produce.  It has nothing to do with how much food value there is in it.

All this spraying not only ends up in our food, and therefor in our bodies, but they also end up in our lakes, rivers and oceans.  They change the environment by polluting, killing and stressing our natural habitats which we rely on to keep us healthy. 

Fermentation on the other hand is a healthy and valuable practice which not only supports your health but also helps the environment around you.

We pasteurize almost all food we eat

It seems our reaction to the knowledge that bacteria can cause sickness is to try to destroy all bacteria in our environment.  One of the main ways we do this is through pasteurization.   By heating our food up we destroy most or all of the living bacteria found in our food.  The problem with this is that heat is indiscriminate, it destroys the good with the bad and in the process it also destroys vitamins and enzymes which are healthful to our bodies.

Fermentation is the opposite of that.  Instead of trying to kill all living things in our food and in that effort destroying enzymes, vitamins and good for you bacteria (probiotics), fermentation encourages the good and benign bacteria to grow.  This process destroys the unwanted bacteria through altering the environment and making it inhospitable for them to flourish. 

We have focused too long on the small amount of bad bacteria and not at all on the good.  It is time we concentrate on maximizing our consumption of life giving food rather than minimizing the bad.

Fermentation is energy efficient

Other methods of food preservation take large amounts of energy. 

Canning takes energy to cook the food and then to sterilize it by placing it in boiling water for a period of time.  The time required to ensure safety depends on the type of food being preserved.

Pasteurization again requires heating the food up enough, for long enough, to effectively destroy the bad for us bacteria (also along the way destroying the good for us bacteria). 

We also dehydrate some foods to preserve them.  Again heating it up to drive out the moisture.  Since bacteria (both good and bad) require moisture to propagate the food remains edible. 

Notice that each method above requires heat.  That heat is produced through the use of electricity.  That electricity is produced through burning of fossil fuels, damming our rivers and flooding vast tracks of land or through nuclear power.

Fermentation on the other hand preserves our food without the need for outside energy.     

There is no boiling, canning, dehydrating.  The acidification is natural and stops way before no living thing can survive and the only “chemical” used is salt and in some cases not even that. 

It is safer then canning

The process of canning involves raising the temperature of the food in the can high enough for long enough to kill all the pathogenic bacteria found in the food.  There are two problems with this plan.

• This process kills off all the good bacteria and destroys most vitamins and enzymes found in the food.
• If it is not done properly spores of harmful organisms can be left behind to have free run of the foodstuff.  This is how botulism produces enough toxic waste to kill.
• Chemicals from the cans leach into the food, especially if the can becomes dented or damaged.

Fermentation does not involve the destruction of life but rather the promotion of it.  It provides an environment for beneficial bacteria to grow.  The presence of several strains of probiotic bacteria produce an environment which is not conducive to the growth of pathogenic bacteria.  This naturally produces a product which is safe to consume and is also good for you. 

Does not contain chemical preservatives

The worst method of food preservation I can imagine is the chemically preserved foods which are sold at grocery stores.  Some of them are presented as healthy breakfast foods like cereals which are heat treated, crushed, puffed and chemically treated and provide no real food value.  Once they are made “shelf stable” artificial vitamins are added to provide some advertising clout to the claim of a healthy start of your day.  Let me give you a hint, if the box can stay on the shelf for over a year without having to do anything special to it there is no food value in it.

Fermentation on the other hand does not require chemicals other than salt to preserve our food.  It relies on us to encourage an environment which is conducive for the growth of probiotic bacteria in the food and an environment which is inhospitable for pathogenic bacteria to survive.  Most of the time this means adding some salt, keeping the oxygen out, controlling the humidity and other similar actions. 

Improves gut health

By focusing on probiotic foods you can be sure to provide your gut with a wide variety of living probiotics which will improve your health.  Since each type of fermented food provides a different set of probiotics it is good to eat a variety of them.  Yogurt has different probiotics then kefir even though they are similar.  Yogurt can also be made using a variety of bacterial cultures. 

Most probiotics are transient.  This means that they are not permanent residents of your gut but rather travel along the entire length of your digestive system.  This has two effects:

• The probiotics help to provide an environment which is not conducive to the growth of pathogenic bacteria throughout your gut.  
• The benefits of probiotic foods dissipates with time therefore you should eat them on a regular basis to keep them topped up.

There are an unlimited collection of fermented foods from every culture in the world and each of them has a unique probiotic profile.  Although the main probiotic strains are the same, the makeup of the community of probiotics changes with time and environment.  For example, sourdough made in New York is different than sourdough made in Alaska.  This is because the environments which the sourdough live have different ambient bacteria. 

Boosts the immune system against viral infections

It seems obvious that eating probiotic foods would help in fighting bacterial infections as the probiotics in fermented foods are active bacteria which consume the same food, live in the same location and produce an environment not conducive to the growth of pathogenic bacterial strains. 

But they also boost the immune systems response to viral infections, including conavarius viruses.  The range of viruses they are effective against is unlimited as they are not specific to one virus strain like vaccinations are (this is why the flu shot needs be taken yearly to have any effect).  Instead they help the immune system response, improving how your system naturally take care of viruses. 

Both respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases have been studied and probiotics especially lactic acid bacteria have positive effects on the immune response against influenza and polio, improving the number of killer cells in children given the polio vaccine.

Prolongs vitamin shelf life

Fermentation preserves the food value in the original food and often produces additional vitamins like B12, folic acid, vitamin D, K2 and K which are vital to human health.  It also prolongs the life of the vitamin C.

This was how Captain Cook managed to beat scurvy on his boats.  His fermentation of choice was sauerkraut and took barrels of it with him on his around the world trip.

Breaks down hard to digest foods

Sourdough bread is easier to digest then store bought bread because the sourdough culture breaks down some of the hard to digest elements in the flour.  In short it predigests the bread for us making more of the food value and energy available to us. 

Olives need to be brined to reduce their bitterness before they are edible, yogurt culture breaks down the lactose in milk making it more digestible for those who are lactose intolerant, and sourdough starter helps to break down the indigestible parts of the flour making home-made sourdough bread more digestible then store bought.

This is because store bought bread is made for profit.  It is produced as fast as possible with the cheapest of ingredients in order to turn the highest profit for the bakery.  This means that the dough is “conditioned” with chemicals, proofed only long enough to produce a fluffy consistency and baked long enough to form the right looking loaf of bread. 

If there are more than five ingredients on the ingredient listing or if even one of those ingredients is unpronounceable don’t buy it.

This doesn’t seem like a benefit until you have a pantry full of canned preserves which are still perfectly “good” even though they have been in the pantry for at least 4 years.

Every time you go to through them you remember the time and energy which went into the canning process and the plans you had for them when you put them up.  They somehow end up back on the shelf taking up space even though you know they are never going to be eaten.

Fermented food is different.  It has a shelf life.  When stored in the correct temperature fermented food will last a long time.  The difference is that it does have an expiry date.  It will one day no longer be eatable.  One day you will open a container of sauerkraut and it will have a funky smell, the contents will have become mushy and you will not want to eat it.  It can now legitimately be thrown out.  It will no longer take up space in the cellar and you will not have to feel guilty about not eating it.

Fermented food is constantly changing

This is due to the nature of the living organisms in the ferment.  They need energy to survive so they consume the sugars in the food.  As the different sugars are consumed different organisms thrive. 

For example yeasts like simple sugars like fructose (the sugar which makes fruit sweet) and will readily ferment grapes into wine, apples into cider and pears into Peary but once the main amount of sugar is reduced the liquid must be kept in an oxygen free environment because otherwise the LAB will start to convert the alcohol into vinegar. 

Some ferments improve with age like wine and some cheese but they all continue to change.  Some flavors are enhanced and some are mellowed.   This effect provides interest in consuming fermented foods.  Taking note of the flavors of a young ferment like sauerkraut or garlic then tasting it again after a month or so will reveal the differences time makes.  Young sauerkraut is tangy and has a nice crunch.  Sauerkraut which has been fermented for a while becomes highly acidic as the LAB continue to produce lactic acid.  This preserves the sauerkraut but can get overpowering. 

This adds interest to your fermenting.  It provides another level of control and knowledge which can be used to produce fermentations which are suited to your individual tastes and needs.

For example if you are lactose intolerant and you still want to eat yogurt then if you make your own yogurt and let it ferment longer than the 8-12 hours suggested the resulting yogurt will have less lactose and other hard to digest compounds in it.  If it is fermented 24 hours most of the lactose will be gone but as a result the yogurt will become much tangier.

They taste great

Fermentation is a great flavor enhancer.  It adds flavors which cannot be duplicated in any other way. 

Sure pickles can be made with white vinegar but there is no comparison to the flavors of a brined pickle fermented at the correct temperature to the vinegar soaked cooked counterpart.

Umami cannot be duplicated with chemical processes and who would want to drink a wine which did not include the fermentation of the grapes?

The variety of flavors is infinite.  Cheese is a great example as demonstrated by the Monty-python cheese shop skit where the patron lists off at least a hundred different types of cheese (all of which the shop owner does not have).

So go ahead and ferment something

Don’t just sit there. Ferment something. you have lots of options like fermented salsa, kefir, yogurt or sauerkraut.

Try making kombucha or kvass which are great for imporving digestion and warding off any infections which may be lingering around.

Why Ferment?

Fermentation has been around as long as civilization.  Cultures of yeasts in high quantities have been found in ceremonial bowls, pottery and on stirring sticks from prehistoric times and it seems each culture has a history of fermentation of some sort. 

The question is, why should we ferment in today’s world of high tech? 

Food storage is not a problem.  

We can buy anything we want online and have it shipped to our door. 

We can even eat things which in the past had to be fermented to achieve the desired flavors but now they seem to taste the same without all those nasty micro-organisms floating about. 

1. Taste

Fermentation changes the flavor of everything. 

• A sweet carrot made into pickled carrots loses its sweetness and becomes sour. 
• The sugar in grapes is converted to alcohol and becomes more astringent. 
• Milk is fermented into kefir, yogurt, and a variety of cheeses.
• Soya beans can be made into a wide variety of foodstuffs through fermentation each of which has a unique taste profile.  They range from miso, Tampa, soya sauce and natto.

Then there are pickles which can be made a number of ways from brining to pickling in rice bran.  There are books written on the humble pickle which has traditionally been made using fermentation. 

Not a fan of fermentation?

Well then you will have to give up leavened breads, tabasco sauce, yogurt, any cheese and all wines or beer. 

Fermentation has been used to transform foods from humdrum to flavor sensations for centuries.

Healthy preservation

Fermentation is the safest and most energy saving method of food preservation there is.  There is no boiling in water, one time use lids, special additives or other costly equipment.

The food is usually not cooked. This preserves the vitamins, enzymes and produces an environment which naturally prevents spoilage.

Other methods of food preservation require a high level of care to ensure all living things in the preserve are killed to prevent spoilage.  This means cooking, boiling and/or the addition of preservation ingredients (the most benign being sugar) during the process of canning.  

Improper methods of canning can lead to sickness and even death.  If the can is not processed properly you could kill off everything but the spores which cause botulism.  Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium which causes botulism, is commonly found in soil and untreated water.  The reason it does not normally cause sickness is due to the competing bacteria. 

The problem is when there are no other competitors they take over and produce a toxin which in high enough concentrations can cause sickness and death.

During fermentation we encourage the good for your bacteria to grow.  It might produce an alcoholic ferment, a tangy lactic acid ferment or an umami ferment depending on the environment we place it in and the food being fermented. 

The difference is with fermentation we promote good for you probiotics.

When you place the food in an environment which promotes the growth of healthy bacteria and yeasts the result is a product which maintains its vitamins and usually produces more, some of which we cannot produce ourselves like vitamin B12.  Enzymes are also preserved and again new ones are produced through the action of the probiotics which preserve the food.

Today we have access to methods of food preservation which were unavailable in the past.  We can freeze things in the summer, cool things in the winter and have fresh fruit and vegetables delivered to us from all over the world. 

This is true but did you know the main cause of foodborne illness comes from fresh vegetables? 

Since our food comes from all over the world, lettuce from California and strawberries from Peru we do not know how it was grown, harvested, packaged or stored.  This has caused the degradation of our food supply. 

We can only get maybe three types of tomatoes in the grocery store and all of them have the same bland taste.   This is despite the fact that there are thousands of tomato strains which have been developed for all sorts of situations.  This is because these few tomato strains look good to the buyer and taste good to the eater.

Apples, lettuce, onions and garlic are all the same.  In fact the list is as long as the choices at the store. 

Convert inedible foods to edible foods

Fermentation can transform inedible foods into delicious edible ones.  Olives are not edible until they are brined for a month or so.  The brining (a method of fermentation) reduces the bitter components in an olive. 

Those who are lactose intolerant are better able to eat fermented milk products like yogurt and kefir since the culture which makes them uses lactose for energy, naturally reducing the amount of lactose in the milk.

Phytic acid binds with zinc and iron making it unavailable to our digestion.  Fermentation reduces the phytates in grains and beans making them easier to digest and making the zinc and iron available. 

All types of leavened bread rise because of the yeast acting on the sugars available to it in the dough.  This makes carbon dioxide, causing the bread to rise.  Leavening was originally accomplished through the use of sourdough starter. 

The sourdough starter is basically water and flour mixed together and left to ferment.  The natural yeasts in the air and on the flour grow and multiply until it starts to bubble.

The other method is to use packaged yeast.  This yeast was first produced by skimming the foam off the top of beer fermentation vats and dehydrating them. 

Both methods use fermentation to cause the bread to rise.  Each with their own flavor profile.

Added probiotics

We all hear that probiotics are good for you.  Health stores promote powders, fermented milks and various other sources of probiotics.  Store bought cultures typically have a specific bacterial culture profile which makes the product consistent.  This is important for the store as it makes the product more salable. 

While probiotic powders have their benefits they are lacking in the natural nutrients needed to get the most out of them.  Traditionally fermented foods supply the probiotics as well as the food which the probiotics grow in.  This helps them to survive the stomach acid and make it to the small intestine where they have the most beneficial effect.

Fermentation is an easy way to increase your probiotic intake cheaply and with the highest degree of variety. 

Shelf stable food products like pickles and sauerkraut do not have probiotics in them.  This is because probiotics produce CO2 which if contained will carbonate the product and can burst the container causing spoilage.

The last thing a grocer wants is cans of pickles exploding on the shelves!

For the fun

Fermenting is a creative and learning pursuit.  It is great fun to find new and unique recipes to try as well as creating your own. 

Currently there are thousands of recipes online for sauerkraut alone, one of the most basic of ferments.  Just think of the variety of things you could make right now in your fridge. 

Chutney is another great source of experimentation.  It can be made with anything, usually a mixture of sweet fruits like mango and/or pineapple, onions, nuts and seeds.  The spices range from traditional cumin and coriander to hot cyanine.  Why not try a recipe or two and then start to develop your own.    

The anticipation of adding a variety of ingredients in a fermentation vessel and waiting to see what happens.  Tasting it in each stage of the process to see how it has changed.

Since every batch will be a little different it is a constant source variety.

Save money

The ingredients for most fermentations can be found by either some legal foraging, gleaning, growing or if need be can be purchased at a typical grocery store.  Whatever your chosen method of finding the base ingredients is up to you but even in the most expensive scenario it is still cheaper to make your own then to purchase them already fermented at the store. 

The reason for this is simple economics.  The factory which produces ferments needs to buy their ingredients or pay someone to harvest it, pay for the shop costs, power and heating.  Once the product is made it must be transported, promoted and stored correctly.

All this costs money.

A bottle of Kombucha costs $3-6 for one bottle.  It is made from tea leaves, sugar, water and if you want to make it into a soda you will need some form of flavoring. 

When you make your own, each bottle can cost as little as 50 cents.  Quite a difference I would say.

Not into kombucha?  Fine, how about kefir.  Kefir costs $5.00 a bottle but kefir made at home costs the same as milk by volume.   

Sauerkraut is made with cabbage and salt.  A batch of sauerkraut costs the price per pound of the cabbage.

For the adventure

Have you ever tried fermented salsa, fermented tomato sauce, natto or kimchi? 

If not, why not? 

They all have unique flavors and textures as well as health benefits all their own.

Try making your own vinegar out of fruit scraps or make some hopped cider or any other fruit (or vegetable) of your choice. 

The sky’s the limit. 

Why not pick a culture and research what fermentations that culture made. 

Some of them like those in temperate zones fermented mainly for food storage.  Fermentations like sauerkraut and pickles were mainstays of these cultures. 

Others developed products like wine and cheese which intensified and transformed the base food to something completely different. 

Each culture has a different method of making and storing their food.  This leads to an unending source of inspiration. 

I currently have a list of recipes which I want to try. 

They include:

• laphet a Burmese dish made by fermenting tea leaves
• kimchi the Korean standard
• Japanese umami plums (which aren’t plums at all)
• saki and rice wine vinegar 

To experience some history

History does not have to be a boring subject full of dates and memorized facts. 

Instead make it a living experience. 

To properly understand our past we must have some perspective on what their lives were like.  

What better way to learn history than through our stomachs? 

You can make sauerkraut the same way it was made 100, 200 maybe 300 years before.  Trace the history of kimchi and try making some from each region you study. 

I recently watched a video of how to make sake which is deeply entrenched in Japanese culture.  Each step is precise and requires years of study and dedication to perform them in the traditional way, but that shouldn’t stop anyone from trying to make their own sake’.  It may not be the highest quality but through the making we can learn about the culture, people, and even some language which we never would have learned before.

With the added benefit of having people over and offering them some of your own sake.

Start Now

As you can see there are many reasons why you should ferment.  So get out to your kitchen and start something.  Fermentation is not instant food, you can’t just throw it into the micro-fermenter and push go.  If you want something fermented today you will have to have started it yesterday.  So if you think you will want to have something fermented tomorrow, start something today.

Here is a list of fast one day ferments which will get you started on the road to living a fermented lifestyle.

1. Long fermented bread – use modern yeast and let it ferment for 12-14 hour in the fridge
2. Kefir – can be made in 24 hours from grains or kefir starter (I recommend finding some grains)
3. Yogurt – This is usually a 12 hour ferment but I like to ferment it at least 24
4. Potage – soak your oatmeal the night before you are going to make it.  Adding a nice tang and digestibility to this traditional breakfast 

Throughout history we have tried to control our environment.  We have built houses to protect us from the elements, built roads to help us travel, plowed the ground to plant specific seeds, and in the recent past added toxic chemicals to control the insects, yield and type of plant which grow.

We have also tried to make our lives more convenient.  Instead of eating lots of vegetables we take greens pills or powders.  To get our vitamins we take supplements.

Well it may be convent but this lifestyle is not healthy in the long run.  It is destroying your environment, killing species of all forms vital to the long term health of our planet as well as negatively affecting your health.

Unnatural methods always seem to have consequences none of us want to pay.

Where then do you get the vitamins and minerals which your body needs in today’s world of toxic chemicals and forced growing practices?

Fermentation can provide you with a wide variety of vitamins and minerals which are hard to get from the nutrient-lite factory farmed food you have available at the grocery store.

Want to be healthy and not destroy to planet?  Here is a list of fermented foods which are not only good for you, but also can be produced without environmental damage

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut made the traditional way is full of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) which has beneficial effects on digestion.  Lactic acid has preservative properties which helps to maintain the vitamins in the cabbage as it ferments into sauerkraut.  This will provide you with vitamin C a powerful immune booster and B12, an essential vitamin which is necessary for maintaining your DNA.    

Sauerkraut also contains probiotics which are good for your digestion, vitamin K2 which helps build strong bones and fiber which helps maintain regularity.  

It can also be made with a minimum of environmental impact if you make it yourself.  Purchase whole cabbage heads from the grocer in the fall when the local crop is harvested or grow them yourself in a small garden plot.  This ensures a minimum of packaging and transport.  Use a glass jar or some other reusable container (not plastic) to further reduce your environmental footprint.

Ferment it in low temperatures as this will reduce the amount of salt needed and also keep your sauerkraut crunchy and healthy.

Yogurt

Yogurt has been touted as a healthy food for a long time.  It is well known as a health guru’s signature food but the yogurt which you can get at the store is not really yogurt.  Actually it is a derivative of yogurt containing few of the original bacterial cultures of real yogurt.  It also contains ingredients like milk powder and thickeners. 

If you want real yogurt you will have to make it yourself from a heritage starter culture which you can get online or a few health food stores. 

There are several types of yogurt starters, some of which need a warm place to ferment and some which can ferment at room temperature.

Like all fermented milk products it has less lactose then milk does.  This is because the culture used to make it consumes the lactose for energy, making it more easily digested for those who are lactose intolerant.  You can control the amount of lactose remaining in the yogurt when you make your own by varying the fermentation time.  The longer it ferments the less lactose remains.

Kefir

Another fermented milk product which is high in vitamins and minerals.  Kefir, if it is made from kefir grains, is packed with a wide range of probiotics.  There are from 30-50 different species of probiotic bacteria that have been identified in a single batch of kefir. 

This gives your digestion a boost by introducing it to several strains of probiotics, will help to maintain a healthy balance of gut flora, provide a variety of vitamins which we cannot produce ourselves and reduce the population of pathogenic bacteria in our systems.

Unlike yogurt, kefir has probiotic strains which can remain in your digestive tract long term.  They displace pathogenic bacteria and yeasts by altering the environment of your gut. 

Kefir contains vitamin K2, D, B12, and minerals calcium and magnesium making it great for bone building, cognitive and cardiovascular health.

Kombucha

Kombucha is a fermented sweet tea drink made from a variety of teas, from standard black tea to herbal teas like peppermint and hibiscus.  

If it is consumed in moderation can help support digestion, provide a varying source of probiotics and a source of tannins which are known to help reduce the incidence of cancer.  The amount of tannins are dependent on the type of tea which is used and how long the tea leaves remain in the ferment.

Due to the yeast activity it contains B1, B6 and B12.  It also contains vitamin C. 

If you purchase kombucha at the store make sure it is refrigerated and contains live culture in it.  Kombucha has become so popular lately that large food companies have started producing their own version of the drink which is often nothing like the original. 

Better yet make your own.  It is easy, cost effective and allows you to make it just as you like it.

Sourdough

One of the best benefits of sourdough is that it is digestible and does not put pressure on the digestive system like normal bread.  This is due to the action of the bacterial action of the sourdough starter which breaks down the difficult to digest anti-nutrients in the grains. 

Anti-nutrients are the chemicals the grain uses to protect itself from damage during periods of dormancy.  They prevent the grain from molding and insects from eating it.  They break down under proper conditions to allow the grain to sprout and grow.

Regular store bought bread is made in the fastest way possible.  It has additives in it which help the bread maintain its appearance, prolong its shelf life and require less energy to make.  All of which makes a bread which looks good but is hard to digest and has little food value. 

Sourdough on the other hand takes a long time to make.  The sourdough culture breaks down hard to digest elements in the flour.  This makes it easier to digest while making the nutrients in the bread more accessible to you.

Sourdough bread also has a longer shelf life due to the acidifying action of the sourdough starter making it less hospitable to pathogenic organisms like mold.

Miso

The first in the list of fermented soya bean products. 

Like most soya bean ferments it is fermented using a specific type of mold which produces valuable nutrients from the indigestible soya beans.

This is the same mold which is used to make soya sauce and sake. 

Animal studies have shown miso is able to deter cancerous tumors from growing, improve cognition and improve cardiovascular health. 

It contains vitamin K a wide variety of B vitamins including B12, folate and riboflavin.  Its mineral content has calcium, iron, potassium and manganese. 

With the added benefit of having umami a flavor not usually present in western cuisine.  Which provides a pleasant addition to your diet.  Try it in miso soup, mix it into a dressing for an Asian salad or a dipping sauce for vegetables. 

Pickles

Pickles made by lacto fermentation are a great source of probiotics and vitamins B1, B2, B3 as well as folic acid. 

As another source of probiotics they are linked to lower cancer risk, Parkinson’s disease and improved cognitive function.  Probiotics in the gut crowd out the pathogenic organisms, help to destroy toxic chemicals in our systems and reduces the load on our immune system.  This results in more energy, better skin and a more positive outlook on life. 

Eating regular store bought pickles has a different effect on your digestion then eating naturally fermented pickles.  This is because regular store bought pickles are not fermented but rather preserved in white vinegar and spices.  There is no fermentation involved and therefore produces a product which although tastes good does not have any probiotics in it.

To get the benefits of the probiotics either get the refrigerated brined pickles from the grocery store or make your own.

Natto

Natto is a fermented soya bean product which produces a strong flavored stringy textured product which is highly nutritious.  Besides the usual fermented food benefits of probiotics and being high in vitamins like K2 and B12 it has a compound in it called Nattokinase which has benefits all of its own.

Nattokinase helps break down blood clots, remove arterial plaques and may have positive effects on removing the amyloid plaque present in Alzheimer’s patients. 

Nattokinase has been isolated from natto and sold as a supplement in health food stores in a concentrated form.  It is touted to help cardiovascular health by lowering blood pressure, reducing plaque and associated health problems.

The benefit of natto does not stop at nattokinase.  Natto also contains bone building vitamins and minerals, helps support your digestion and makes a quick and easy breakfast.

Beet Kvass

Kvass is a fermented drink which has been made with a wide variety of bases.  The original was made with stale sourdough bread which is soaked in water and salt for a short time (24-48 hours) producing a slightly fizzy probiotic drink.

Beet kvass is essentially to same thing using beets instead of sourdough and fermented for a longer period of time (usually about a week). 

Beet kvass is good for the liver, heart and helps cognitive function as well.  The vitamins and minerals found in beets include vitamin C, some B vitamins, iron, calcium and magnesium.  It is a great tonic to help your liver detoxify your blood and improves bile flow which improves gallbladder function.

You could also try making carrot kvass, lettuce kvass or any other vegetable kvass using the same method as beet kvass.  Each type provides a unique source of probiotics, vitamins and minerals.

Red Wine

Red wine has several beneficial characteristics which make it a valued healthy fermentation.  The benefits seem to be due to the presents of resveratrol.  Resveratrol is found in the skins of red grapes.  It is the natural protection of the grape against bacterial invasions, sun damage and fungus. 

It has been noted that communities which regularly consume wine in moderation are less likely to suffer from strokes, dementia and depression.

 Women who drink red wine have fewer cases of breast cancer.  Prostate cancer in men is also reduced by a moderate amount of red wine.

It seems that a little wine helps to reduce the estrogen levels in women and boost the testosterone. 

It is wise to limit your alcohol intake as alcohol has been strongly linked to several types of cancers and it should not be consumed by those who have liver disease as it is the liver which deals with the toxins in our systems (alcohol being one of them).

Caution!

If you are new to eating live fermented foods start slowly.  They can have powerful and sometimes uncomfortable effects on the digestive system.  Especially if you have not had a lot of them before.  The probiotics in fermented food actively break down food residues, displace pathogenic bacteria and reduce their food source.  This can cause gas and cramping as your system eliminates these toxic compounds. 

Variety is also important in supporting your digestive system.  Each of the above fermentations have a specific collection of probiotics and vitamins and minerals.  You cannot get all you need form just one type of food.  This includes fermentations. 

Try to add a new fermentation to your diet regularly.  Trying one new fermented food a week you would have tried 52 different types of fermentation in a year.  Not all of them will become part of your regular diet but some of them will add new flavors and valuable vitamins and minerals.