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FERMENT FOR HEALTH Do you usually feel on top of the world with lots of energy and get up and go? Or do you feel that your energy levels are somehow lacking and you've lost your oompf? There is a saying that your food should be your medicine and that you are what you eat. There is a lot of truth in this and the food you eat certainly influences your general well being. Are you getting all that it takes to give you abundance of good health or do you feel that your diet is somehow letting you down? There are many foods that we can eat that will greatly enhance our digestion and nutritional assimilation. It is important to look at how we digest and assimilate our food, as this is where trouble often starts. The following suggestions are helpful hints to regain health and vitality simply by eating foods that are your medicine. The digestive process It all starts with a desire to eat. You can smell the food being prepared and you are getting hungry. Your stomach juices are signalling for action and you look forward to tucking into it. When you are chewing the food the digestive processes have already well and truly started. It's so important to eat only when you are hungry and relaxed so that you give your body the chance to do its job properly. Food needs to be chewed thoroughly and then be digested when the stomach is ready and waiting. This is the first important hint for good health! A lot of people suffer from a low pH (acidity) and this is where trouble gets a foothold. With a low pH, arthritis and other degenerative diseases do their damage to joints and blood vessels. All healthy plants, animals and humans need a pH of 6.3-6.8. You can test your own pH by using a simple soil test kit by testing your saliva. How do you change a pH that is too acidic? By eating lots of fresh greens and fruit and vegetables you will automatically readjust a pH that is out of kilter. Drinking lots of fresh carrot, apple and celery juices will also go a long way to good health. A glass of lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar and some honey is an excellent way to start the day. Digestive enzymes It is said that arthritis is a cooked food disease. Food needs enzymes to be digested and eating too much cooked food brings a strain on the pancreas by relying on its own supply. As we age we also tend to loose our own enzyme supply and so we invite disease and lack of energy. Eating raw food with cooked food is the first step to introduce some enzymes to help with the digestive process. Eating raw, fermented foods is even better as these foods have a large supply of enzymes that help the entire digestive tract to do its work. How do fermented foods work? Microbes, yeast and moulds in fact break down any food that is fermented. Fermentation is the art of breaking down complex starches to simple sugars, proteins into amino acid, sugars into lactic acid etc. by using specific microbes. A few examples are sourdough, sour kraut, miso, cheese, yoghurt and sour cream. There are many different ferments and fermented foods. These will all help to enhance your digestion and they taste good too! Fermented foods bring along their own digestive enzymes as well as some for the cooked food. Fermented foods also need minimum digestion as they are predigested before we eat them. It is traditional in many cultures to have a drink of buttermilk or a side dressing of yoghurt with their meals- this is to enhance digestion. A diet rich in fermented foods also encourage healthy bowel flora and this is of utmost importance. Apparently no cancer patient has good bowel health and this makes sense, as the bowel is the seat of disease. Are there any other foods that will help to digest our food? Spices such as galangal, ginger and turmeric are excellent and these can easily be incorporated into the dishes we prepare. Eating lots of garlic, onions, leeks etc. will also help towards our wellbeing. Some people feel that food combining works for them and this means that for example, starches and proteins aren't eaten together at the same meal. If we have a good store of enzymes this might not be so important. Are you getting all your minerals? Today's food is falling far short of good nutritional value. The soils are usually mineral deficient to start with so you can't expect to get all your mineral needs met simply by eating good foods that are chemically grown in a monoculture. Unless you are eating mainly organically grown food you can expect to be mineral deficient. Digestive enzymes need minerals to do their job so you can imagine the consequences. Become mineral saturated to attain good energy levels by supplementing with a plant based mineral supplement. Plants, animals, people and even soils that have their full quota of minerals don't get sick. A diet high in phytates also robs you of assimilating all your minerals. It is therefore wise to ferment your cereals, grains and beans to prevent minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and zinc from being mal absorbed. (Bread bakers yeast does nothing to break down the enzyme inhibitors in the fibre of the grains, only sourdough does). Natural antibiotics There are foods that have a special quality within them and they act as an antibiotic. Raw cheese that has healthy mould growing on it and mouldy sourdough bread both have those special qualities that will combat pathogens. Eating garlic and to a lesser extent, onions and leeks will also help. Another source is colloidal silver. Colloidal silver is also antifungal and antiviral and is very useful as a first defence against oncoming colds and flu and toothache. High doses of vitamin C is also recommended and this is best taken in a powder form. Calcium ascorbate is the one we always have on hand. Vitamin C tablets nearly always have saccharin in them. Probiotics It is so important to have a healthy population of bowel flora. Modern day living with stress, pollution and antibiotics and other medication will upset the balance of the beneficial bacteria we need for proper digestion and assimilation. Keep up the healthy bacteria by eating yoghurt with acidophilus and bifidus. Also have miso in miso soup or add to your salad dressing. Make sure it is unpasteurised miso. Parasites Eat pawpaw seed to expel worms. Dry them and put them through the food processor. Sprinkle over food. Black walnut tincture with cloves and wormwood is also very effective. Natural cleansers Sometimes when the body feels sluggish or you don't feel quite well, it would be a good idea to have a good clean up. Liken it to a good spring clean where debris that clogs up the system needs to be removed and washed out. The most effective way is to embark on a juice fast for several days where the digestive process has a break from digesting food. This gives the body a chance to do its own repairs. A diet high in fibre is also like a natural cleanser as excess cholesterol amongst other debris is swept away with it. Drinking kombucha tea is also a very useful way to cleanse and assist the liver. Glucoronic acid is naturally occurring in the liver and the mushroom tea produces this as well. A very pleasant and slightly acidic and fizzy tea. It is also advisable to drink lots of water during the day but make sure it is pure, clean rainwater or better still, distilled. Last of all; remember to get rid of the chemicals in your life. We are living in a very toxic age and this brings on many forms of cancer. Eating lots of beans will help rid the body of heavy metals but remember to soak them thoroughly before cooking. Also remember that soya beans should always be fermented first and eaten with discretion. The following list of food is typical of what we eat on our farm at Black Mountain. Glass of lemon juice with raw honey upon rising Sourdough (made from organic, freshly ground flour) toast with raw, organic cheese Fermented millet porridge with honey Cup of miso soup Glass of kombucha tea Some pawpaw or any other fruit in season Sourdough pikelets with sour cream and homemade jam Fermented and fried polenta cooked in ghee with a fresh garden salad served with pumpkin and a glass of buttermilk A serving of acidophilus/bifidus yoghurt Tempeh cooked with homemade pasta in coconut cream Fermented cassava cake Fruit wine These are some of the homemade food we eat on regular basis. If this type of food was available in the shops life would be a little easier but unfortunately this isn't so. Ah well, back to the kitchen.   elisabeth@permacultureproduce.info back to home page