In my nutritional practice, digestive issues are among the top 5 reasons people decide to come in and illicit my help. They plague more than 75% of Americans in some fashion, although many of us don't even realize we are dealing with digestive issues. Proteins go undigested in nearly everyone over 35 years of age due to a lack of Hydrochloric Acid in the stomach. We tend to forget that the stomach as an organ must be acidic in order to perform it's duties. Without the proper acidity, we generate a putrefying wasteland of food being pushed into the small intestine. The poor little villi (finger like projections of the small intestine) try to pull nutrients out of these humungous molecules for the blood to circulate to the places the body needs it. The trouble is, the molecules are not broken down enough to be used as nutrients so instead they wreak havoc on the immune system. The results are many symptoms including gas, bloating, reflux, constipation, even allergies and brain fog. Although there are many other things that may also be going on with your digestion, this is typically where we need to start in order to get things under control.
Where our American culture is severely lacking is in the department of fermented foods. These amazing foods are the way we get our wonderful ALIVE good bacteria in order to regulate the pH in the stomach and get our enzymes flowing. In my opinion, you should get at least one serving of properly fermented food each time you eat. My favorites include home made kombucha, sauerkraut, kimchee, and kefir. I say home made because there are so many processed versions available today that are truly not fermented at all-just a note of caution. If you're not up to making your own, just make sure you do your research on the products you choose. I can almost hear you asking about yogurt…the issue with yogurt is that the cultures just really aren't strong enough anymore and the kind you buy at the store is loaded with sugar and even artificial sweeteners. Not ideal. On the other hand, although I am not an advocate of cow's milk (especially pasteurized) you can make a wonderfully life enhancing kefir (yogurt's stronger and more liquid cousin) from it. And even if the milk is already pasteurized, the amazingly smart kefir grains know how to naturally eliminate all the 'bad' stuff. Use this article as a wake up call to start experimenting with fermentation! If you're dealing with gas, bloating, or any other digestive concern, fermentation is a MUST. If you don't think you can figure it out for yourself, I'd be glad to help you out on a personal level.
In the meantime, here is one of my favorite EASY fermentation recipes (although I have to admit, my wonderful husband is the one doing all the work). This recipe was adapted from Sandor Katz book Wild Fermentation. An excellent resource.
Fruit Kimchi (1 week fermentation) 1/4 pineapple 2 pitted plums 2 cored pears 1 cored apple 1 small bunch of grapes 1/2 cup raw cashews 2 t sea salt Juice of 1 lemon 1 small bunch of cilantro, chopped 1-2 fresh jalapeño peppers, finely chopped 1-2 hot red chilies, fresh or dried 1 leek or onion, finely chopped 3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped 3 T grated fresh ginger
Chop fruit into bite size pieces. No need to peel. Leave grapes whole and add in any other fruits you'd like to try. Add nuts and mix everything together. Add salt, lemon juice, and spices, and mix again. Stuff the mixture into a quart size jar and pack tightly into the jar pressing down until the brine rises. You can add a little water if necessary. You'll need to weigh the mixture down with a smaller jar to make sure it stays submerged in liquid. Cover it with a cloth or a loose fitting lid to keep out dust. After about a week, put it in the fridge to stop the fermentation process and TA DA! You're set! Eat just a bit with each meal.