Fermenting & Sprouting
What Are Fermented Foods?
Fermented foods are foods that have been through a process of lacto fermentation in which natural bacteria feed on the sugar and starch in the food creating lactic acid. This process preserves the food, and creates beneficial enzymes, B-vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, and various strains of probiotics.
Natural fermentation of foods has also been shown to preserve nutrients in food and break the food down to a more digestible form. This along with the bevy of probiotics created during the fermentation process, could explain the link between consumption of fermented foods and improved digestion.
Cultures around the world have been eating fermented foods for years, from Sauerkraut in Germany to Kimichi in Korea and everywhere in between. Studies have even shown the link between probiotic rich foods and overall health. Sadly, with the advances in technology and food preparation, these time-honored traditional foods have been largely lost in our society.
Why are fermented foods good for weight loss?
Eating fermented foods has been making a huge comeback among people in-the-know these days. Most of these foods have a sour and savory flavor, and although sour is not a taste we’re accustomed to in our modern diet, these foods are in fact delicious and extremely good for your body. The reason is simple. Fermenting anything, especially vegetables, creates healthy probiotic bacteria that are essential to a healthy and functioning digestive tract.
Sustainable Weight Loss Depends on Healthy Digestion
You can be eating all the healthy foods in the world, but if the digestive tract isn’t working right, your body isn’t going to see a dime’s worth of benefit. This is why probiotics are thought to be even more important than vitamins. By promoting friendly intestinal bacteria, fermented foods help…
- Aid digestion
- Support immune function
- Increase B vitamins (even Vitamin B12)
- Facilitate omega-3 fatty acids,
- Produce digestive enzymes, lactase and lactic acid
- Fight off harmful bacteria and even cancer cells
- Expel toxins and heavy metals from cell tissue.
How does this help with Weight loss?
All of the health benefits listed above help reduce the overall inflammation of our body, which is is particularly important when it comes to weight loss.
You may have heard of the conditions called ‘leptin resistance’ and ‘insulin resistance’. One of the factors that causes these fat-gaining conditions is inflammation. Inflammation, more specifically ‘proinflammatory cytokines’ which are the hormones that cause inflammation, activate your body’s FAT triggers. These inflammatory hormones cause the cells of your body to become resistant to ‘leptin’ and ‘insulin’, the two most important fat regulating hormones. Anything that can reduce chronic inflammation helps address one of main causes of obesity.
Studies are coming out all the time now linking unfriendly gut bacteria with obesity. It’s no surprise then that more and more physicians are using probiotic therapy to treat obesity, diabetes, depression, and heart disease as well as a host of other conditions.
Where Have All the Fermented Foods Gone?
The amount of probiotics and enzymes available in the average diet has declined sharply over the last few decades as pasteurised milk has replaced raw, pasteurised yogurt has replaced homemade, vinegar based pickles and sauerkraut have replaced traditional lacto fermented versions.
Even the much dreaded grains were safer to eat in earlier times since their preparation included soaking, sprouting and fermenting, which largely reduces the anti-nutrient content and makes them less harmful.
Instead of the nutrient rich foods full of enzymes and probiotics that our grandparents probably ate, the average diet today consists mainly of sugar laden, lab created dead foods.
Why Eat Fermented Foods?
Besides the fact that they taste great and really grow on you, there are several great reasons to start making and eating fermented foods:
Probiotics– Eating fermented foods and drinking fermented drinks like Kefir and Kombucha will introduce beneficial bacteria into your digestive system and help the balance of bacteria in your digestive system. Probiotics have also been shown to help slow or reverse some diseases, improve bowel health, aid digestion, and improve immunity!
Absorb Food Better– Having the proper balance of gut bacteria and enough digestive enzymes helps you absorb more of the nutrients in the foods you eat. Pair this with your healthy real food diet, and you will absorb many more nutrients from the foods you eat. You won’t need as many supplements and vitamins, and you’ll be absorbing more of the live nutrients in your foods.
Sprouting & Soaking
Why do we need to soak & dry nuts? We do this so we can then release enzyme inhibitors that also inhibit our digestion, we then activate the good enzymes that are beneficial for our health. By doing this 8-24 hrs before eating them we will have neutralized the enzyme inhibitors and anti-nutrients as well as enhanced the beneficial nutrients for our use.
Why do we soak dried lentils, rice, quinoa?
A seed ( or grain, legume ) has many nutritional advantages. But they are locked up tight by antinutrients. Once it begins to germinate the dormant seed comes to life. Anti-nutrients are cast away. No longer are you eating a seed You are eating a tiny plant. Phytic acid binds with calcium, magnesium, iron, copper and zinc, making it almost impossible for you to absorb nutrients it's also irritating your digestive system. By sprouting your grains legumes, seeds you are neutralising phytic acid very effectively. You will also be neutralising enzyme inhibitors, which unfortunately not only inhibit enzymes in the actual seed but can also inhibit your own valuable enzymes once they have been eaten.
This is one of the biggest advantages in my mind. Once sprouted the phytic acid in the legume will be neutralized. You will then be able to digest and assimilate more nutrients.
What is Phytic Acid?
Phytic Acid (sounds like Fitch ) – is the storage form of phosphorous it is one of those pesky “anti-nutrients” the paleo community keeps telling you to avoid. It often considered an anti – nutrient because it binds minerals in the digestive tract, making them less available to our bodies.