Obesity and Fermented Foods

[Monica]

Interesting...I've recently gotten into fermenting. I've been reading a lot about it...turns out that, historically, people of all cultures ate some sort of fermented foods on a daily basis! This is a glaring deficiency in the modern diet...even in the so-called health food diets!

Then, today, I got this from an email newletter:

Is Obesity Caused by Bacterial Infection?

The experiments show that the bacterium "may causatively contribute to the development of obesity" in humans, according to the paper published in the peer-reviewed journal of the International Society for Microbial Ecology.
A human patient lost over 66 pounds in nine weeks after being placed on a diet of "whole grains, traditional Chinese medicinal foods, and prebiotics," which reduced the bacterium's presence in the patient's gut to "undetectable" levels, the paper said.
One of the report's authors, Zhao Liping, lost 44 pounds in two years after adopting a diet of fermented probiotic foods such as bitter melon to adjust the balance of bacteria in his gut, the American magazine Science said in an article this year on his previous research.

I've got my first batch of sauerkraut, carrot chutney, kimchi, and spiced pears fermenting now!

And, just got this in the mail! I'm excited to try it, for 'foolproof fermenting.'

http://www.perfectpickler.com/

[Spaced]

Kombucha is good stuff too, basically fermented tea.

[Plenum]

sauerkraut is the best food on the planet!!!!

(thank god for germans )

[Monica]

Yes! What I'm learning is that a lot of the so-called 'fermented' foods in grocery stores are actually made with vinegar instead of real fermentation. Pickles, for example, and soy sauce. They're not really fermented at all, so they're worthless as far as healthy gut bacteria.

[Plenum]

you mean I've been eating the wrong stuff all this time??

<insert loud expletive>

thanks for the info Monica.

did you ever take those probiotics stuff? (re healthy gut bacteria)

[Monica]

you mean I've been eating the wrong stuff all this time??

<insert loud expletive>

Yeah, pretty much! I feel the same way!

thanks for the info Monica.

did you ever take those probiotics stuff? (re healthy gut bacteria)

Yes, I've tried 'em all!

[Tenet Nosce]

Also remember anything that has been pasteurized has no living organisms left in it. :-/ For many good reasons, the regulations on food production are all aimed at reducing the amount of bacteria in a food. However, this is problematic when it comes to fermented items. Best to make them at home.

One of the tests I run most frequently looks at levels of gut bacteria. It includes the "Adiposity Index" which is the ratio of two different groups of gut bacteria that can contribute to increased caloric extraction from food. Here is a link to the interpretative guide, which has some explanation on Page 8. http://www.metametrix.com/files/test-men...cts-ig.pdf

The big take home message here is that the vast majority of probiotic formulas in retail stores have a heavy dominance of Lactobacillus over Bifidus. Many formulas have no Bifidus, whatsoever. That means for those who have a high "Adiposity Index" most store-bought probiotic formulas will actually make the situation worse, not better.

As with many things, people tend to pick up on the buzz around probiotics, and incorrectly assume they are all the same, so they just pick whatever off of the shelf- usually the cheapest formula. What is worse, when people ask their doctors they are usually encouraged to buy Culturelle, or a similar probiotic product made by drug manufacturers. These tend to have only a single strain or maybe two, and at a very low dose (~1 Billion CFU). The professional-grade probiotics I use in my practice come anywhere from 10 billion up to 200 billion per dose.

[Monica]

That means for those who have a high "Adiposity Index" most store-bought probiotic formulas will actually make the situation worse, not better.

What!!!??? Oh wow, oh wow, I've been taking lactobacillus for years! And homemade fermented foods have lactobacillus!

Do you know which fermented foods have bifidus?

My algae company sells both acidophilus and bifidus. I was taught that one was for the small intestine and the other for the large intestine, but I forgot which was which. What is your take on that?

They also have a broad spectrum product which is expensive but will knock out any flu almost instantly, so I always keep some of that in the frig on hand, but don't take it on a daily basis.

[jacrob]

sauerkraut is amazing but must be made at home as all commercial product in australia is pasturised. Plenum it's very easy to make; traditionally just cabbage and salt (use celtic or himalayan). There is a video on youtube somewhere showing how to make it.

I drink raw jersey milk which my health food store sells (with the disclaimer it's to be used for beauty treatments only). I've been drinking it for many months now.

Lastly Plenum I would suggest you track down some Organic Barrambah yoghurt (Harris Farm sells it). It has 5 strains of bacteria (acidophilus, bifidus, casei, thermophilus and bulgaricus).

[Tenet Nosce]

Do you know which fermented foods have bifidus?

Unfortunately, no. My knowledge of which fermented foods have which bacteria is very limited. Also- it may vary from batch to batch.

My algae company sells both acidophilus and bifidus. I was taught that one was for the small intestine and the other for the large intestine, but I forgot which was which. What is your take on that?

I think they both colonize the entire gut to some degree.

They also have a broad spectrum product which is expensive but will knock out any flu almost instantly, so I always keep some of that in the frig on hand, but don't take it on a daily basis.

When we need Bifidus only, I use Kirkman Labs Bifido Complex. It has 15 billion CFU per cap, and 60 in a bottle. Retail price is $31.

[Bring4th_Austin]

Farmers' markets are a great place to find real fermented foods if you can't find any in grocery stores, with the added benefit of being produced locally.

I love kimchi and kombucha. My roommate brews her own kombucha, it looks like a fun and pretty easy thing to do.