Nutrition Frenzy

In my opinion, fermented foods should be included in the food pyramid. We all need fermented foods on a daily basis.

Most health care professionals in this country would say that the appendix in the body has no function and there is no need for it. This doesn’t make sense to me. The body is such an amazing machine, why would it have parts that serve no function. In my anatomy class in college we were told that “statistics show that only 10% of people who have their appendix out, will keep their gallbladder” If there is no correlation then why were the statistics calculated in the first place?

My Zone Therapy teacher was from Sweden and she taught that the appendix is the transition place between the small and large intestinal tract where the food gets fermented. The appendix secretes a chemical that ferments the food magnifying its nutrients before entering the large intestine. She said that if we take care of our intestinal tract then we have a fermenting system, if we do not take care of it, we have a rotting sewer system. One of the ways she said to take care of the intestinal tract and ease the burden of the appendix was to eat fermented foods each day. It is much the same as comparing rotting food with fermented food. There is a totally different outcome. Fermented consists of good bacteria or positive flora and rotting is when the bad bacteria takes over.

There are many fermented foods to eat. Kombucha is a wonderful fermented beverage that is naturally carbonated and a great alternative to soda. There is also naturally made sour kraut, pickles and olives. (I say naturally made because most of the ones in the regular grocery store are not fermented and have chemicals added to them).Raw cheeses, sour dough breads, kimchi, apple cider vinegar, and yogurt are also good choices for fermented foods.

My personal favorite is kefir. Kefir has a 2,000 year old history and is even mentioned in the Koran. It is made by fermenting milk with kefir grains. These grains are living growing cultures. The end product comes out as a sweet and sour yogurt type drink. You can make it yourself from a kefir start or buy it in a variety of flavors. You can pour it over cereal or eat it in a dish with berries or sliced bananas. Kefir is a complete protein and has essential minerals and B-vitamins. Unlike yogurt it has a very complex microflora, containing both positive and negative colonies of probiotics. It has 10 or more strains where yogurt has one or two.

Some people who are lactose intolerant are able to eat kefir because most of the lactose is naturally removed in the making and all fermented foods are in a sense pre-digested. (Easier to digest)

Former Soviet Union used it in their hospitals as medicine to treat metabolic disorders, atherosclerosis, and allergies. It has also been used to treat tuberculosis, ADHD, high cholesterol levels, chronic fatigue, Candida, and hypertension.

Even though it can be medicinal, most people just eat fermented foods just to maintain proper balance in their intestinal flora.

Click to read a true story that reads like a fairy tale about a beautiful young girl and her quest to receive kefir from a prince.