1) What’s the Difference Between Fermenting and Rotting?

If the thought of eating fermented foods makes you a bit queasy, you’re not alone. There are indeed some people for whom the thought of eating anything more than a week old is simply gross. This is a frame of mind worth changing, however, as fermented foods are so far from the rotting foods that might be coming to mind for you. In simple terms, fermenting is great and safe, while rotting food is awful and downright dangerous! Although there is indeed a thin line between two processes, they couldn’t be more different in the results they produce. Let’s break down that distinction.

Putrefaction is the process that causes food to rot, and when this occurs, harmful bacteria run amok on the food in question, breaking it down to an inedible and terribly stinky state. These bacteria rob your food of life. With fermentation, however, you’re exercising some degree control of the environment in which the food is placed; when this is done correctly, beneficial bacteria are produced that inhibit the growth of harmful bacteria. This preserves and infuses the food with beneficial bacteria, allowing you to eat it well past its usual shelf life.

So if you’re worried that fermented foods have spoiled or rotted in any way, rest assured – fermentation has banished the bad bacteria that can make you sick, or at the very least, get your gag reflex going.

2) Do Bacteria Survive the Journey Past Your Stomach Acid?

Despite how powerful stomach acid is, many bacteria do make it into the gut, which you’ll definitely understand should you take a trip to Mexico or India and mistakenly drink the water. Not good!

This all largely depends on the strength of the strain of the bacteria in question, and it’s the strongest ones that make it through to help repopulate your gut. As such, it’s important to make sure the foods you’re eating have a wide variety of live, healthy, strong bacteria, which is one of the main reasons we prefer cultured ferments.

3) Finding the Right Temperature For Your Fermented Food…

Fermentation is a delicate process, and it’s very important to be mindful of maintaining the right temperature in the area where you choose to let your ferments sit.

I’ll give you an example: my wife Annmarie and I tried our hand at yogurt once. We were using a yogurt maker, which we figured would be pretty

straightforward as it maintains a constant temperature of 90 degrees. Everything would have been fine had we not left the yogurt maker close to a window that let a steady stream of sunlight in. What we ended up with was most definitely not yogurt.

This principle also applies if you’re living in a colder climate. If this the case, you’ll want to set your ferment in warmer area of the house, or else your ferment may not grow at all.

4) Fermentation Times – How Long Does It Take To Ferment Something?

Here’s a tricky subject: how long should you let your ferments sit for? There’s no firm answer for this, but that’s all part of the fun. Effective fermentation times vary entirely based on how much prebiotic you add and what temperature your ferments maintain. With experience however, you’ll come to recognize this as an art, knowing what to look for and taste for.

Of course, personal preferences come into play here as well. Many foods will have sufficiently fermented in the course of a week, but that time can be extended or reduced. For example, in the case of coconut kefir, you might like it very bubbly, which requires a longer fermentation time; less bubbly doesn’t need to sit as long. Similarly, most vegetables break down more and develop a stronger, more vinegary with time; as such, if you prefer milder flavors, you might not want to allow your ferment to sit as long.

The best thing to do aside from consulting recipes is to taste your food at regular intervals, every 3 or 4 days. This will allow you to experience and understand the relationship between time the various stages of the fermentation process, in addition to allowing you to determine what kind of taste is pleasing to your taste buds.

5) Fermenting at Home Vs. Store-bought Ferments

Just as we took a moment to consider why producing your own ferments was preferable to buying probiotic supplements, you should give some thought as to why fermenting at home would be preferable to buying ready-to-eat ferments from the grocery.

Right off the bat, there’s an immediate advantage that shouldn’t require much consideration: it’s so much cheaper to do it yourself! Many things are cheaper DIY style, but this is especially the case with fermented foods, as many of them can very pricey.

For example, I remember once buying a jar of sauerkraut from a store for about $9. This was the good stuff, sauerkraut that hadn’t been heated to pasteurize and “purify” it, allowing all of the beneficial bacteria to remain intact. I was quite pleased with my purchase until I came home and realized I could literally ferment almost four times that amount of sauerkraut for the same price with very little effort.

Of course, if you’re buying fermented foods from your local farmer’s market, there’s a good chance that those are recipes that have been fine-tuned over hundreds of batches. That’s fine, and it shouldn’t discourage you from trying your own ferments at home. It allows you to support your local farmers and get an idea of the standards you can hope to achieve with practice.

If you’re buying from a larger chain supermarket, try to look for information on the label about their fermentation practices. You definitely don’t want pasteurized ferments, as they won’t provide the health benefits that you’re seeking. If they don’t, however, and the rest of the information on the label checks out, feel free to give it a go. One advantage is that these foods will likely have been subject to extremely strict processing guidelines, giving you the assurance that the food you’re getting was prepared in a very hygienic setting.

ASK A Question Section!

If you have a question about superfoods, super nutrition, diet or superfood recipes.... ask it HERE. In next issue of Superfood Evolution Ezine I will select four and, to the best of my ability, answer them directly.

1) Sabrina asks.... Hi, I love your website. It seems very well rounded at far as diet goes. My question is about finding the best natural sweetener for a low sugar diet. You have a number of raw sweeteners listed, but which ones do you personally recommend for this situation?

Shira's ANSWER: The best natural sweetener in my opinion is stevia for a low-sugar diet. It is the best and helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, making it perfect for diebetes. Yacon root is second choice because it is a long chain sugar containing polysaccharides that provide low glycemic effects. It also serves as a substrate for microflora in the colon and increases the balance of friendly flora.

2) Janice asks.... Can you please clarify the probiotic powder ingredient in the sunflower seed cheese recipe, what it is where to buy etc. thanks very much.

Shira's ANSWER: You can find a probiotic supplement at any health food store. Basically, it is a powdered form of micro-friendly organisms, like acidophilus. These flora help to ferment the seed cheese and create a tangy, cheesey taste.

3) Gwen asks.... I want to drink more nettle tea, but I don't really like the taste of it by itself. Do you recommend certain herbs I can use with it to make it taste better?

Shira's ANSWER: Yes, nettle can be quite minerally tasting I agree, especially if you make a strong tea like I do. There are many ways to include this great herb into your diet via soups, smoothies and anytime you need a liquid base for most any savory dish and even some desserts. If you are make straight up tea, it blends well with other more flavorful herbs like mint, lemon verbena and fennel.

4) Isabelle asks.... I tasted Kombucha once and now I'm obsessed with it.. Too bad for me, there is non in Sweden where I live at the moment. I thought of making my own, so I have a question about the recipe. I don't have a 'mushroom', and need to make a starter myself, but I only have what's left in the bottom of a commercial bought bottle of kombucha. Is that enough to get started or do I need a whole jar with kombucha to make the 'mushroom'? Great website! So lucky when I found it. Thank you!

Shira's ANSWER: Yes, you don't need the whole mushroom, just some of the liquid from a kombucha brand will get it going and grow your first mushroom which you can reuse.

NEW Fermented Foods Recipe Book

As discussed above, one of the major things I've noticed over the years is that many people WANT to eat more fermented foods, but they DON'T WANT to pay all the money to buy them ready made in the store. I mean, have you seen the prices lately for commercial kombucha or sauerkraut brands? These foods and many others are easy and WAY cheaper to make yourself!

Cultured: Learn to Make Healthy Fermented Foods at Home! is a one of a kind compilation of some of the best fermented food recipes including creatively colorful kefirs, yogurts, kimchees, misos, kombuchas, vegan cheeses, non-gluten breads, tempehs and many other cultured foods that you may not be familiar with. If you are at all interested in the subject or want to learn more about how to make fermented food recipes yourself, take a look at this great new resource! For more info click here.

Recipe of the Month:

Homemade Pickle Recipe

Want to know how to make pickles? Here is a crispy, crunchy pickle recipe taken from the the new book “Cultured: Learn To Make Healthy Fermented Foods at Home!” I tried it and its a good one!

• 2 tbsp whey (not vegan) or 1/4 tsp probiotic powder (vegan)
• Upwards of 5 lb pickling cucumbers
• 5-6 tannic leaves (horseradish, oak, grape), which will give your pickles the ‘crunch’ (optional)
• 1 handful fresh dill
• 4-6 dried red chilis
• 5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 3 green onions, roughly chopped
• 1/4 cup pickling spices

Brine:

1/2 gallon of spring water with 6 tbsp sea salt dissolved into it

Equipment:

1 gallon wide-mouthed glass jar (washed really well) Cheesecloth or mesh screen

After collecting all your ingredients, wash your cucumbers and prepare them as needed. If you do not have small pickling cucumbers, you may use a larger size, but may need to cut them down in size. You can coin cut larger cukes or cut them into 3-4 inch spears. Do as you wish.

Pack the cucumbers into the glass jar to fill it 3/4 full. Add to the brine your tannic leaves, any spices and as many different garden herbs as you wish.

Pour in the brine to cover the cucumbers by at least 1 inch. Stir in your whey or probiotics. Cover the jar with cheese cloth.

Allow to stand at room temperature for 3 days. Keep an eye on the cucumbers and give them an occasional push below the surface of the brine. Taste and check for texture and taste.

Continue to let stand for a 2 days, then taste. Once desired taste is achieved, place in the fridge. Pickles will continue to ferment, slowly, and build flavor over time. Save some of the brine to inoculate your new batch of pickles.

This recipe was Contributed by Frank Giglio (frankgiglio.com)

1. 

   Healing Cancer World Summit - Oct 25, 2011

   This is a FREE online event! I am very excited about this upcoming live broadcast hosted by Kevin Gianni. Meet the doctors, nutritionists and advocates who say cancer may be treated successfully and naturally - without excessive use of drugs, surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. The Healing Cancer World Summit will discuss:

   • The therapies these doctors and experts are using that they say can prevent and even treat cancers naturally.
   • The cancer fighting herbs and supplements that are scientifically known to prevent cancer - many of which you can buy in your local supermarket (no matter where you live!)
   • Scientific and documented proof that natural cancer treatments work and why.
   • Learn how to detoxify and cleanse the body naturally... and safely.
   • Why many people have no idea these treatments exist and why these doctors are risking their careers to do help people heal.
   • Amazing stories of patients who have been healed naturally and are still thriving today.
   • How - in some cases - drugs, chemotherapy, surgery and radiation can cause side effects that may be worse than the cancer itself.
   • Simple and affordable ways to prevent cancer and many other diseases using natural, tested methods.
   • And much more!

   Don't miss out, you have nothing to loose... it's FREE! For more info see: Healing Cancer World Summit

2. Superfoods~for~Superhealth Blog

   Keep track of our Superfoods Blog by bookmarking links to new pages using the orange RSS feed button on the nav bar of any page to get instant updates.

DVD/BOOK of the Month:

DVD - Longevity Recipes

Longevity Recipes - By Frank Giglio

Frank Giglio is a classically trained chef from the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, VT and a graduate of The Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC. The base of Frank's culinary offerings lies in classic technique and traditional food preparation.

In this DVD edition of Longevity Recipes, you will find 2 incredible drinks, 2 satiating soups, 2 mineral-rich salads, 1 authentic entree, and 1 love-instigating dessert — eight recipes that will build a better body with fresh, wild, organic, nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, superfoods, and superherbs. Chef Frank Giglio shares tips and tricks as he talks you through these 8 essential recipes.

Until next month...

Here's to your Superhealth!

Much love,

Shira