I dare you to say that ten times fast!

People have been fermenting and culturing food for centuries. Long before the invention of the refrigerator people had to find ways to preserve food. It’s strange to me that today there is such an emphasis on sterilization when not so long ago so people were using microbes as a means for survival!

Fermenting your own veggies is a really great way to keep those Happy Tummy loving microbes flourishing! For more information about the fascinating world of bacteria take a peek at my post Happy Gut Bugs…Happy Tummy. Making your own ferment is super easy to do! The hardest part is being patient!!

Cabbage is a really great option for a ferment because it is soooo nutritious! The fermenting process helps to unlock many of those good nutrients so they become more bioavailable to your body.

Cabbage is a great source of:

• Fiber
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin K
• Manganese
• Polyphenols
• Folate
• B6
• Calcium
• Potassium
• Thiamin

Vitamin U

Cabbage also contains a compound called methionine S-methylsulfonium (MMS) which has been giving the unofficial title of Vitamin U. This vitamin U is extremely healing to your tummy and helps to normalize gastric and intestinal function. It has been shown in studies to significantly reduce healing time in people with gastric ulcers.

One of my favorite gut healing supplements is Gastrazyme by Biotics Research. It’s loaded with this Vitamin U compound. The tablet itself is green and it tastes just like cabbage when you put it in your mouth!

 

Quercetin

Another Tummy healing benefit of purple cabbage is an antioxidant called quercetin. Quercetin has been shown to help “seal up the gut” in cases of Leaky Gut as well as block histamine which is also believed to be involved in the Leaky Gut phenomenon. Histamine’s job is to swell or make tissues permeable so nutrients have a clear path to get to the places where healing is needed.  It is part of immune function and necessary to healing. If bad things are happening in your gut, histamine will be produced to “help” remedy the problem. 70-80% of your immune cells are located in your gut so if there is a “perceived” issue in that area, histamine is readily available and can get out of control in a hyperactive immune system or if the anti inflammatory regulators are not available to mediate the reaction.

 

Anticancer

Studies have also shown cabbage to have powerful anticancer properties especially in cancers such as bladder, breast, colon, and prostate cancers.  Cabbage contains phytochemicals called glucosinolates which break down into components that inhibit the growth of cancer cells.

 

How to Make:

This recipe was adapted from Sally Fallon’s “Nourishing Traditions”. I chose purple cabbage over regular cabbage this time because I like it…and our kids are more likely to eat something pretty and purple over something sludgy looking and green. Plus it has an added boost of antioxidant and anti inflammatory polyphenols. Remember, colors mean nutrients! I added carrot for a little sweetness and ginger which really brightened up the flavor.

I used one head of organic purple cabbage, three organic carrots, roughly one or two inch chunk of ginger and two tablespoons of sea salt. I shredded all the veggies in my handy dandy food processor and pounded them together in about a quart sized glass mason jar until there was enough pretty purple liquid to cover the vegetables. The salt and pounding draws the water out of the veggies. You want to make sure the veggies stay under the liquid while they are fermenting. For this I used this set of glass weights and wooden pounder to prep and weight make my kraut and it worked great!

It’s important to make sure all of your prep tools and jar are really clean! You don’t want to accidentally cultivate any unfriendly microbes.

I put the lid on tightly and set in a bowl (in case of any overflowing) in a room temperature spot and tried to forget about it for a week. You should check on it here and there to make sure there is no scum or mold forming on the top. Scum, you can skim off. Mold…I would probably cry and dump the whole thing! Other people probably have different opinions on that….

You can let the ferment go for 3 days to a few months! The longer you can wait the better. Once it has ripened to your liking move to cold storage. It will continue to ferment in the refrigerator but at a much slower rate. I only had patience for a week and it turned out delicious!

 

Take it Easy!

I always like to mention that when introducing something new like this into your diet you should go slow in the beginning.  Your body doesn’t like sudden and dramatic changes because it needs time to adjust. I would recommend starting with no more than a tablespoon (or less) of a fermented food per day for a little while until you see how your body reacts and then gradually add more.  I use sauerkraut more as a condiment than a main course or side dish.  I like to sprinkle it on top of my salad with a little healthy oil which serves as my salad dressing.

 

Healing is a process and a practice in patience.  Taking time with yourself is an act of self-love and that love must be present for optimum health.

Post By: Hollie Donelson, NTP

Happy Tummies of The Lowcountry, LLC

Bluffton/Hilton Head, SC

843-227-1042

info@happytummiesdigest.com

Please note. I am not a Doctor.  The content on this site is not intended as medical advice. Always check with your doctor before starting any type of health or nutritional protocol especially if you are being treated for or have been diagnosed with a medical condition.

References:

https://www.nature.com/news/scientists-bust-myth-that-our-bodies-have-more-bacteria-than-human-cells-1.19136

https://www.nature.com/news/bacteria-bonanza-found-in-remote-amazon-village-1.17348

How Bacteria Talk to Your Brain

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23010679

The Use Of Vitamin U For Gastric Ulcer Recovery

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4264116/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15035868

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2013/08/03/cabbage.aspx

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