Grow Your Own Health Food

Contents

Healthy Gi Tract Depends on...

Lactic Acid Fermented Foods

Fermented Cucumber Pickles

Fermented Buckwheat

Yoghurt

^*Food for Thought, Vol 3, Issue 12

A healthy intestine is one that maintains a critical balance of bacteria such as lactobacilli, streptococci, clostridia, coliform, and bacteroides. Conditions such as stress, excessive alcohol use, and diets high in fat, meat, and sugar may endanger the fine balance of intestinal flora, resulting in weakened digestive and immune systems, Chlorine and floride in drinking water, antibiotics, inadequate food and rest, exposure to environmental toxins and antibacterial chemicals, and even antacids may alter the balance of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and leave an intestinal environment in which pathogenic bacteria and yeast can flourish.

...Sufficient beneficial bacteria help prevent substances such as free radicals, pathogens, and undigested fats and proteins from penetrating the intestinal wall and entering the bloodstream. Fortunately, it is possible to encourage a healthy GI tract. Research has shown that dietary supplementation with probiotics, in addition to healthy lifestyle choices, can help balance the friendly intestinal bacteria. Replenishing the supply of probiotics alleviates much of the stress on the immune system.

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Probiotic or for life bacteria are usually soil borne bacteria that form symbiotic relationships with their human hosts. Probiotic supplementation is not the only way to get these valuable friends. You can grow your own.

With only a small investment of time and effort you can make delicious, lactic-acid-fermented foods that are alive with beneficial bacteria, are easily digested, contain additional vitamins, supply you with live enzymes and include beneficial lactic acid as well.

You may be wary of trying something like this for fear that you will have the wrong organisms growing in your food. You need have no concern. Lactobacillus bacteria carry on lactic acid fermentation, while yeasts produce alcoholic fermentation and certain other bacteria produce spoilage. Lactobacilli control or eliminate yeasts and other bacteria that would spoil your food. This food preservation method dates back to early civilization and has a long history of being beneficial as well as safe.

The following, simple recipes will help you get started. You can find more fermenting ideas in Sally Fallon's book Nourishing Traditions. However, my methods differ from hers in two ways.

• I use Simplexity's Spectrabiotic® or Acidophilus as the innoculant in place of whey.
• Instead of pounding vegetables like cabbage, carrots, radish, etc., to release the juices; I grate or chop the vegetables, mix in the Spectrabiotic (1 capsule/packed-quart) and the required amount of sea salt (1 tablespoon/packed-quart). I then allow this mix to sit for about an hour while the salt and Spectrabiotic draw out the juices. Use the wooden vegetable pounder to pack the vegetables into the jar.

Note: use only with organic foods. The presence of toxins in or on non-organic foods will inhibit the bacterial growth you need.

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• Enough organic cucumber to pack a wide mouth quart jar with thin slices. (Leave about 1 in. head space.)
• 1 tablespoon Celtic Sea Salt (www.celtic-seasalt.com).
• One capsule Spectrabiotic^{® **} for inoculant.
• (Optional) 4 Capsules Alpha Sun^® algae.
• Small amount of pure water.
• Wide mouth, quart canning jar.

Pack the cucumber slices into the quart jar leaving about 1 inch of head space. Sprinkle the salt, the contents of the Alpha Sun^® capsules and the contents of the Spectrabiotic^® capsule on top of the slices. Add enough pure water to cover the cucumber slices.

Cap your jar so that it is airtight and let this sit out on your counter from two to three days. The length of time will be determined by the temperature -- the cooler your house, the slower the bacteria work.

If pressure builds up in the jar so that the lid is bulging up in the middle, you know your food is correctly pickling. When you open the jar, the contents should smell like pickles. If they smell bad, don't eat them. If you want your pickles to taste more acidic (stronger pickle taste) extend the fermentation time.

At the end of this incubation period, refrigerate your pickles and enjoy.

You can try this with many other vegetables and some fruits. For more information send me an

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You will need some sort of mill to break up the seeds. We use a roller mill, but a blender may work also. A roller mill is different than a mill that produces flour. A roller mill crushes brittle seeds like buckwheat or makes flakes of soft grains like oats whereas a flour mill rubs the seeds between two steel burrs or between two stones abrading them into flour. A roller mill is similar to the wringer on a wringer-washing machine.

• Grind one cup of buckwheat.
• Place ground buckwheat in a glass bowl and add 2 cups of water
• Soak this overnight (we usually add a little Spectrabiotic to this to help begin the process of breaking down the buckwheat.)
• In the morning, place the buckwheat and the soaking water into a saucepan. Add another 2 cups water and 1 teaspoon of seal salt.
• Bring this to a boil (stir occasionally to keep it from sticking). Then cover the pan, shut off the fire and let it sit for about 5 minutes.

• Let the buckwheat cool to 100 degrees F (Stick in your fourth finger. The temp. should be about what you would want for feeding a baby, or as hot as you would want to heat milk if you were feeding a baby calf.) You should have about one quart of fairly thick porridge-like stuff.
• Add 1 teaspoon sea salt per quart.
• Add one capsule of spectrabiotic and mix thoroughly
• Place in either quart or pint jars. Clean off any residue from around the rim or above the food line. Tightly cap with good fitting lids.
• Let this ferment for three days at about 70 to 75 degrees.

When opened, it should smell and taste sour. Check that there is no mold growing as this is an indication that it did not ferment properly.

We have also used the above recipe with mixed grains.

To eat, I like to mix in a few soaked walnuts, a few raisins, and some fresh sprouts. They provide a nice taste treat contrasted to the sour of the buckwheat.

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Supplies:

• Organic Milk (Raw and unhomogenized from reliable source or else pasturized organic milk from the store)
• Small styrofoam cooler and lid (styrofoam minnow bucket will work also)
• Quart jar or suitable container
• Thermometer (or ability to test temperature with your 4th finger or wrist.)

Procedure (using quart jar)

1. Heat 1 quart sweet (not sour) milk to 100 degrees F (a comfortable temp. to the wrist or to the 4th finger)
2. Whisk in one capsule of Simplexity's L. acidophilus and pour into quart jar.
3. Skim off any foam as it will form a grainy texture on top of your yoghurt.
4. Place the jar in styrofoam cooler and fill with 100 degree F water until just before the jar wants to float, but don't cover the jar with water
5. Let sit for about 8 hours
6. Remove from the water and refrigerate anyting that don't eat immediately

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^**Spectrabiotic^® contains eight key "good bacteria" which are microblended with four whole foods (Omega Sun^® algae, Jerusalem artichoke, acerola, and rose hips) and four kinds of enzymes.