fermentation

[froggie]

i was just wondering if we could make a list of fermented products.

 

by the way, does anyone know why fermented things are thought of so highly?

it is because components are broken down and in the process new ones are actually created,

and some of these substances can be a very valuable addition to the body.

 

as a very crude example: if something produces an enzyme (say Q10 for example in it's process, if you yourself then after that consume that product, your own cells benefit from the organism that has 'already eaten' some parts of the thing that you are going to eat. i.e. if a 'nice microbe' ferments something and leaves more coenzyme Q10 behind and available than there was before, you can benefit from this tremendously.

 

i'll start:

miso

yoghurt

sauerkraut

tempeh

[Long Yun]

Cheese is fermented also, correct?

[NeutralWire]

My sister Nicola told me she takes fermented vitamins! Have no clue what that's about... can ask her for more if anyone is interested, but perhaps someone here already knows about this. NW

[karen]

Cucumber pickles are my favorite, but hard to find a real traditionally fermented pickle anymore unless you make it yourself. Fermentation is a form of "digestion" that makes many nutrients and co-factors more available, but mostly, brings out the life energy - when done traditionally. Here's a good source of info online, and a great book with recipes, Wild Fermentation. You can ferment just about any vegetable, and some hard-core Primal Diet people even ferment grass-fed meats.

 

Many fermented products you buy commercially are pasteurized, like yogurt, sauerkraut and kimchi, but you can find some unpasteurized products in Asian markets, and some health food stores in the US carry Biolacto brand fermented veggies, great stuff - carrots, cabbage (sauerkraut) and beets.

 

To take those fermented foods and make them into food-based supplements, generally a good thing, depending on how the processing is done. Cod liver oil is a good example - Fermented, high-vitamin CLO. The fermentation produces higher amounts of vit A and D so you take less.

 

Oh, cheeese is a fermentation process, but the high heat methods used commercially destroy the health benefits. Raw milk cheese is a whole 'nother thing! Then you have to watch out for the tons of poor quality salt they usually add.. or make it yourself with Himalayan salt!

 

If anyone wants to go down the rabbit hole of fermentation.. there's Vinny Pinto's site on "EM" (effective microorganisms). I used to drink this stuff, but it's a bit of a project to make. Vita Biosa is a similar commercial product, made from a variety of herbs and other plant material.

 

-Karen

Edited March 1, 2009 by karen

[Tactile]

I've been reading this blog of a neurobiologist who is interested in food.. one thing he has written about is fermentation and it's importance regarding to eating grains. Here's one quote

 

These traditional food processing techniques have a very important effect on grains and legumes that brings them closer in line with the "paleolithic" foods our bodies are designed to digest. They reduce or eliminate toxins such as lectins and tannins, greatly reduce anti-nutrients such as phytic acid and protease inhibitors, and improve vitamin content and amino acid profile. Fermentation is particularly effective in this regard. One has to wonder how long it took the first agriculturalists to discover fermentation, and whether poor food preparation techniques or the exclusion of animal foods could account for their poor health.

 

He also has some nice recipes there which apply fermentation. Here's one I'm going to try next week:

 

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2008...d-ix-idlis.html

[soundhunter]

There's some controversy over whether a diet high in fermented foods might be a risk factor for some kinds of cancer. Google it and read for yourself, to understand this controversy and come to your own conclusions.

[karen]

My view of this is that the whole area of what causes cancer is "controversial" because material science can only look at the "lost wallet under the streetlamp" as their light is brighter there, but the real cause isn't there. "Live" foods like fermented foods contain lot of microorganisms that could exacerbate symptoms in some people at some times, but we have to distinguish between symptom and cause. What "risk factor" means is also very muddy in the conventional medical literature.

 

-Karen

[Owledge]

i was just wondering if we could make a list of fermented products.i'll start:

miso

yoghurt

sauerkraut

tempeh

 

- sourdough products (Do you have that greyish, wheat+rye type of bread in the U.S.?)

- black tea (but here the fermentation is not really useful )

- soy sauce

- kombucha

- kefir

 

Actually I'm a fan of kefir. It's incredible how much these grains upvalue milk. The end product is quite tasty. And if it happens to be too sour, simply add stevia extract.

 

The people in Mongolia, where kefir is said to come from, are known to reach a very high age.

 

An effect that I noticed after only one day is softer skin.

You might get diarrhea when you drink it for the first time, this is just an adaptation process. Never happened to me again.

Edited March 1, 2009 by Hardyg

[Lozen]

Interesting timing! I just told my boyfriend we had to eat something fermented every day and let him taste my fermented cabbage and carrots. He loved it! I've made sauerkraut and kimchee, yum!

 

Re: Wild Fermentation, someone brought some ginger beer from a recipe from that book to the Weston Price potluck. It was so good! I found out after the fact that it had sugar in it, lol...but tried to convince myself fermented sugar was okay.

[Wayfarer64]

This is great!- I've been a long time brewer/consumer of home-made pickles, kimchee, and ginger-beer...

 

I am happy to hear that my natural inclinations have some health benifits as well- thanks for the thread!-

[karen]

Ginger "beer" is yummy.. and reminds me, if anyone has any idea how to get un-pasteurized beer (cask conditioned?), without brewing it oneself, let me know

 

Re. sugar, the fermentation eats it up.. like with kombucha, it would taste sweet if sugar was left.

Edited March 1, 2009 by karen

[growant]

I think that any beer that says bottle conditioned on the label is unpasteurized. In California, many of the microbrews sold in stores are, I believe, unpasteruized, as is, I think, Sierra Nevada (my favorite).

[Lozen]

http://www.cask-ale.co.uk/us/statemenu.html

 

Oh, and this too:

 

http://www.sheltonbrothers.com/distribution/

 

 

P.S. I don't have Biolacto in AZ but this stuff is pretty good and is from CA so maybe a good West Coast alternative: http://www.rejuvenative.com/mbg.htm

 

Also there are recipes in Nourishing Traditions and a few in Full Moon Feast, and some in that Body Ecology diet book too... and fruit chutneys are so good too!!!!

[froggie]

i forgot an important one:

Natto

Works well with soybeans or lentils.

Can be made with a starter or with freezedried spores (1/32th teaspoon for half a kilo of cooked soybeans or lentils or other kind of mix. (selfbuilt or commercial fermenting box of any size recommended (box, 25 to 45W lightbulb with dimmer, holes for ventilation, optionally a fan that blows inside out, and optionally also some tubing to direct the airflow wherever it's least undesirable - eventhough it's never a bother - depending on how much you want to show off your building skills

 

natto tubevids: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type...rch_query=natto

Edited March 1, 2009 by froggie