My herbal and healing journey has also lead me to the fascinating world of fermented foods and drinks. You can feel amazing and vibrant again by bringing balance to your microbiome, the beneficial organisms we can not live without and enhance our vitailty and health. Check out some of my favorite recipes and read my ferment log below to learn a quick overview about fermented foods and how they have supported me on my healing journey. Click on the image or text below to see the detailed log for each ferment with the recipe and additional pictures of the step by step process.
Fermentation is the process of breaking down substances in an anaerobic environment, without oxygen. In the context of fermented foods, it is the process of creating an environment for beneficial microbes to thrive and pre-digest food or liquids. That initiates a cycle where the pH of the food changes to create an even more ideal environment for beneficial microbes to thrive while preventing harmful ones. This also helps to preserve perishable foods for storage, enhances the enzyme activity of our food and helps nutrients to be more active, easily digestible and bioavailable.
I eat a small amount of kimchi 1-2 times a day and find as many ways of incorporating other fermented veggies, condiments, spiced pastes, yogurt and kefir into our meals. I also drink 4-8 ounces of a fermented beverage like kombucha, kefir, or herbal fermented soda throughout the day, usually with or after meals. I have been making our bread recipes using a sourdough starter or by fermenting other grains before using them. We have all noticed our digestive and food sensitivities are reducing as we have been finding more creative ways of consistently eating or drinking beneficial microbes. My 4-year old son has been reacting to all his food since he first started eating solid food and his face turns a pink, red or purplish color every time he eats. It does not seem to matter what food it is but having him on a clean, organic whole food diet helps to reduce the severity of the reactions. He also gets puffy eyes, edema in his face, distended belly and he occasionally complains of his tummy hurting after meals. After he turned 4, he started having more severe reactions resulting in us having Benadryl and an epi pen on hand for emergency situations. It does not seem to matter what I eliminate, and I have had him on probiotics, yogurt, kefir and raw dairy (when I could) since he was 6 months old; however, it was not until I started to make our own fermented foods and drinks at home that I have started to see a reduction in his symptoms and fewer reactions when he eats.
Our health, especially for my son. Feeling “normal” or “functional” in day to day life.
Making sure I can provide the ideal environment for the fermenting process to thrive in or have the time to commit to the ferment and be around to check and harvest it when needed.