Resilience and Health with Fermented Foods

The end of summer is always major fermentation time around my house. Even my small backyard garden is producing enough cucumbers to make dill pickles at least once a week! I've also been enjoying fermenting fresh carrots and green beans into pickles too. The fermentation fun doesn't stop there though ~ I also make kombucha (which is fermented tea) year round. Aside from enjoying the amazing flavour of these fermented goodies, there are so many other reasons why I make sure I consume lacto-fermented foods and probiotic supplements regularly....

Nestled inside your gut are trillions of live microorganisms that make up the microbiome. Many of these bacterial cells are considered “good bacteria” and help support immune function, enhance nutrient absorption, and aid in the synthesis of key neurotransmitters and other compounds. Lacto-fermented foods naturally contain probiotics which are a type of organism that can help boost the amount of beneficial bacteria in your gut.

Probiotics are possibly best known for their ability to ease and alleviate many digestive complaints. These include:

* Treatment and prevention of diarrhea

* Irritable bowel syndrome

* Inflammatory bowel disease, including Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis

* Prevention and treatment of ulcers caused by the bacteria H. pylori

* Respiratory System Support

* Urinary Health

* Cardiac Support

* Cognitive and Mental Health

* Eczema Relief

* Immune System Support

Around 70 percent of the immune system lives in the gut and gut bacteria help your immune system’s T cells develop — teaching them the difference between a foreign substance and the body’s own tissues. This is an extremely important process that determines how and what your immune system responds to, and the success of this critical process is determined, in part, by the health of your gut. When there’s a mistake in the process, for instance, if there is an overgrowth of bad bacteria, it can lead your body’s immune system to start attacking your own cells, the hallmark of autoimmune disorders.

With its roles in training your immune system and acting as a gatekeeper to the rest of your body, the gut is arguably the center of your health. For those with arthritis and other autoimmune conditions whose symptoms are exacerbated or created by poor gut health, healing the gut can reverse their conditions. For everyone else, healing the gut makes developing an autoimmune condition, food sensitivity, and inflammation less likely.

Live probiotic cultures are found in fermented dairy products such as yogurt and milk drinks. Fermented foods like pickled vegetables, tempeh, miso, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha also contain beneficial bacteria. Many people enjoy these products as a means of encouraging a healthy microbiota. However, probiotic supplements may provide additional support.

Here's my blog post with my favourite recipe and directions for making Fermented Dill Pickles 

Here's a link to some really quick FB Live videos I made outlining how I make Kombucha

If fermenting isn't your thing, many good quality sauerkraut and lacto-fermented foods can be purchased in the refrigerator section of most grocery stores. You can also supplement your diet with probiotic supplements ~ be sure to buy a good quality probiotic such as Young Living's Life 9 which contains over 17 billion live cultures from 9 beneficial bacteria strains. Life 9 comes as a delayed release capsule designed to bypass the stomach and deliver the probiotic to the lower digestive tract. This means you get way more of the good stuff instead of your stomach acid killing much of it off.

Interested in learning more about natural solutions for women's health and beauty? Join Keeping It Real Natural Living FB group! It's the home of my FREE Detox Your Diet in 7 Days Challenge too!