Fermented Foods!

Well I think with everything I do, I am always striving to be better.  It must be the type-A thing, but I think I've mastered getting rid of the crappy junky food-like substances in my diet, I eat very clean, I supplement with chlora, fish oil, probiotics (lactobacillus acidophilu), vit D and a prenatal multi-vit. I've added tons more green leafy veggies, I eat less meat, less dairy and no gluten.  I consume loads of good fats (EFA's), ok not like it's really that hard.  Truth be told my favorite all time snack is natural peanut butter on celery.  I eat almond butter by the spoon full! 

The point is it's time to move on. My diet is clean, but is my gut? Who knows what I'm actually absorbing?  But I do know that from what I've read, eating fermented food is like eating food that is partially digested.  Ok ok.. relax, I know that might sound gross.  But seriously it's pretty awesome, half the work is done for you!  You are half way to absorbing all the healthy nutrients.  If you are interested here is an article that is a great spring board to your own personal research (http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com/fermentedfoods.htm)

 I used to buy tofu every week at coscto because it was a cheap, high protein and low sodium food.  Now I've moved on to tempeh (a fermented soy product), it has basically the same texture as the firm tofu, but it tastes a bit more complex.  And it has the same amount of protein, not to mention the naturally occuring probiotics.  I've bought kimchi (just today actually) because it too contains probiotics and other great nutrients. 

Oh before I move on a short lesson on the difference between probiotics and digestive enzymes.  Digestive enzymes start to work in your stomach (they break the food down into smaller particles - aka catalist to the beginning of digestion), probiotics are strains of bacteria that continue the digestive process in your colon, by keeping strains of yeast, harmful bacteria and other pathogen infestations at bay.  Basically by adding  more probiotics you are keeping yourself healthy because most of us don't have enough probiotics left in our gut (look at how often we get sick) and by adding more digestive enzymes you are making it easier for your body to actually absorb the nutrients of the foods you are eating. And to complicate you life even more, probiotics are microbacteria, and prebiotics (have you seen that word) is basically food for your gut bacteria.  This is a very very simplified definition. But I'm trying to make this info user friendly. 

So back to fermented foods!  Here are 6 foods you should try! 

1) Natto: fermented soybeans
2)Kimchi: a mix of fermented (like pickled) cabbage,radishes,peppers and other veggies
3)Miso: produced from fermented soybeans/barley/brown rice
4)Tempeh: fermented from partially cooked soybeans
5)Sauerkraut: fermented cabbage
6)Kefi: fermented milk beverage 

Great info and descriptions of what these are and how to eat them found on this website: http://theconsciouslife.com/top-probiotic-foods.htm