Gut 104: The Benefits of Consuming Enzymatic-Rich Fermented Foods

Since the beginning of time fermented foods have been eaten. For a long time, it was one of the only ways to preserve food. Every culture in the world has incorporated fermented foods into their diet…that is until of late.  Modern day sterile agricultural practices, in conjunction with a sterilized diet of processed foods and beverages, are the cause of most all modern day diseases.

By getting in touch with your microflora, a term used to describe the bacteria, fungi, viruses, and other microbes that make up your microbial inner ecosystem – you will discover the impact goes beyond your digestive tract.

Understanding the basics of fermented foods and incorporating them into your life will lead to effervescent health. Adding more of these probiotic rich foods into everyone’s diet can help turn the health crisis around.

Your gut is home to both good and bad bacteria, which outnumber the cells in your body by at least 10 to one. The key is to keep them in balance. One easy, inexpensive way to do this is to make and eat a variety of enzymatic-rich fermented foods.

Consuming enzymatic-rich fermented foods provide numerous health benefits:

• Fermented foods are packed with probiotics, which are your good bacteria, and other microbes that keep you healthy by strengthening both your immune and digestion system.
• Fermentation decreases the sugar content of foods, beneficial for those watching their carbohydrate/sugar intake. The epidemic of diabetes and obesity correlates to a lack of microbial rich foods in our diets.
• Mental and emotional well-being: Ongoing studies continue to prove that balancing your good and bad bacteria in your gut sets the foundation not only for your physical health but that your mental and emotional well-being also have much to gain. Your gut produces more of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is known to have a positive influence on your mood, than your brain does. Your gut serves as your second brain. G.A.P.S. stands for “Gut and Psychology Syndrome,” which talks about the functioning of your brain. According to Dr. McBride, any dysfunction of the brain is usually connected to what’s going on in the digestive system.
• Important nutrients: Fermented food is a potent producer of many B vitamins. This process increases the vitamins and enzymes of whatever we ferment. In addition, when we complement our food with ferments all the flavors and nutritional values are enhanced.
• Strengthens your immune system: Approximately 80 percent of your immune system is located in your gut. In essence, eating a diet of probiotics rich foods you create a vibrant gut flora that nurtures the rest of the systems in your body warding off diseases.
• Detoxification: Fermented foods are extremely potent detoxifiers, some of the best chelators, which add in the elimination of toxins and heavy metals.
• Cost-effectiveness: The cost of a bottle of a good probiotic supplement can cost you a bundle while just a couple of tablespoons of fermented veggies or a sip of a fermented beverage added to your meal can contain 100 times more probiotics than a supplement! Be sure to add a variety of these beneficial microflora for the greatest impact.
• An easy staple to add for a healthy diet: Eating a diet low in sugar and grains yet high in whole raw foods and fermented foods enables your beneficial gut bacteria to flourish.
• Gene expression: A probiotic-rich beverage has been shown to influence the activity of hundreds of your genes to help them express in a positive, disease-fighting way. This makes your gut health a very powerful variable of epigenetics, a cutting-edge field of medicine showing that your lifestyle plays a significant role in your genetic expression.
• Disease Busters: Studies have proven the fermented foods are beneficial in fighting diabetes, help those suffering with autism and other autoimmune disease

The G.A.P.S. diet is a comprehensive healing protocol developed by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, a neurologist and nutritionist who specializes in healing of issues like autism spectrum disorders, ADD/ADHD, dyspraxia, dyslexia, and schizophrenia by treating the root cause of many of these disorders: compromised gut health. The founder of Gut and Psychology Syndrome states that “Fermented foods not only give you a wider variety of beneficial bacteria, they also give you far more of them, so it’s a much more cost effective alternative. Here’s a case in point: It’s unusual to find a probiotic supplement containing more than 10 billion colony-forming units. But when my team actually tested fermented vegetables produced by probiotic starter cultures, they had 10 trillion colony-forming units of bacteria. Literally, one serving of vegetables was equal to an entire bottle of a high potency probiotic! So clearly, you’re far better off using fermented foods. Abnormalities in your immune system are a common outcome of GAPS, and such immune abnormalities are at the root of virtually all degenerative diseases.”

So don’t just take it from me, even the PhD’s say to eat your fermented foods at every meal! If you’re ready, you’ll love my next blog where I offer a few of my favorite recipes all to benefit your gut health. I’ll talk to you in Gut 105!

Big Love,

Founder of Soil to Soul Solutions

Go out there and inspire someone today to be

part of the solution and not the pollutions.