You probably all know by know that I love to bang on about the importance of gut health. Well the good people at casadekarma.com.au let me do just that on their beautiful new website.

In my article I talk about good and bad gut bacteria, how the gut affects the immune system and your mood. I also share some tips on how to improve your gut health by feeding your good bugs and keeping stress at bay.

Want to dive in? You can check it out here: http://casadekarma.com.au/why-gut-health-is-critical-to-your-wellbeing-and-theres-more-than-1-reason/

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You’ve probably been hearing about fermented foods recently – things like how you can have a spoonful of sauerkraut alongside your dinner or add some kefir to your smoothie or muesli for a myriad of awesome health perks. I thought it might be helpful to remind you of just WHY health nerds like myself have been banging on about fermented food awesomeness and so I’ve compiled a little list for you:

BETTER GUT HEALTH

The process of fermentation breaks down sugars in the food, and in this process lactic acid is created. This lactic acid helps to feed the good guys in your guts, aiding in a better microbiome.
Eating fermented foods will also introduce beneficial bacteria to your digestive system, again helping achieve a better microbiome.

Here’s just a few reminders on why a healthy microbiome is awesome:

1.  Better immune health
2. Better digestive health with less unhappy gut symptoms like bloating, farting, diarrhoea/constipation and pain
3. Better mood (you can read more about that here)
4. More energy
5. Less inflammation, less aches and pains

BETTER NUTRIENT ABSORPTION

The presence of the lactic acid helps some nutrients to be better absorbed and used by the body. In fermented vegies you get more Vitamin A and Vitamin C, in fermented dairy like kefir and yoghurt you get more B vitamins and in some cheeses Vitamin K2. If grains have been sprouted prior to fermenting the protein is much better absorbed, and enzymes that reduce mineral absorption are limited as well.

Have you noticed improvements in your health from fermented foods? Let me know below!

The post Why you should be eating fermented foods appeared first on Alison Mitchell Naturopath.

Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish made from fermented vegetetables.  Kimchi has a tangy, slightly spicy flavour and is a good side to a lot of dishes.  Fermented food is awesome for your digestive system, because it helps the friendly bacteria in our digestive system to stay in balance, which can help with all sorts of health conditions, especially digestive complaints like bloating.

I’ve been experimenting by making various fermented foods, and Kimchi is my favourites, mostly because it tastes good.  I like to have a couple of tablespoons of kimchi with one of my meals most days and encourage my patients to do the same, as I am pretty excited about the benefits it offers.

I totally get that making your own fermented foods is probably a little daunting, it’s a bit time consuming (not every day though) and sounds weird if you haven’t heard of the concept before – but it’s worth it!

When you ferment vegies, you get a whole heap of benefits:

• The food becomes more digestible
• The vitamins are heaps easier to use by the body
• More enzymes are produced, which help digestion
• Your gut’s good bacteria increase, which means better digestion and better immune health
• Fermented foods help clear out unwanted heavy metals such as mercury and aluminium
• Fermented foods promote an alkaline environment, which is important for general health
• Fermentation is a natural preservation technique, and is actually the only method that doesn’t kill off nutrients in the process.

Ingredients:

Day 1:

• Sea salt (not table salt)
• Half a purple cabbage (normal cabbage is fine, I just like the colour)
• 3 carrots (i used a combo of orange and purple carrots)
• Optional – other vegies can include beetroot, green beans, radishes, seaweeds

Day 2:

• 1 red onion
• 1 red chilli, seeds removed and finely chopped
• 8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp freshly grated ginger
• Spices, e.g. cumin, coriander, turmeric, caraway, fennel.

How to:

Prepare the brine by mixing approximately 1 tbsp salt into 1L of filtered water, stirring to dissolve.  You want it to be salt, but palatable.  If you are not using whey, you may need to add more salt to preserve it until the fermentation process starts.

Thinly slice the cabbage using a mandolin or a slicing attachment on the food processor, and either grate, or quarter and thinly slice the carrot.  Submerge these vegies (along with any of the other vegies with the exception of garlic and onion) in the brine and allow to soak overnight.  You can put a smaller plate on top of the vegies and weight it with a can to ensure they’re fully submerged.

The next day drain the soaked vegetables (reserving the brine) and mix through the chopped garlic, ginger, chilli, onion and a generous amount of spices of your choosing to the kimchi.

In the mean time sterilise 2 large jars with boiling water and allow to air dry.

Pack the combined vegies into the jars, pressing down firmly and adding more brine if needed to submerge the vegies fully.  Close or cover the jar with muslin or a clean tea towel and then let it sit in a warm place.  Snap lock jars work best for storing fermented foods, but a screw top jar will be fine.  If you close the lid of the jar rather than cover with cloth you may need to ‘burp’ (open) the kimchi every few days to let out some pressure.

It usually takes about a week for the fermentation process to complete – you know it’s worked when the vegies taste ‘ripe’ and have a sharp acidic smell, but it shouldn’t smell off.  It’s a good idea to check the vegies every 1-2 days so that you don’t let it go too far.  Once it’s complete, seal the jar and store in the fridge.  You can eat it straight away or store for a few months.

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