<\/p>\n
by Sue Becker<\/p>\n
Do you suffer from lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance, constipation, IBS, yeast infections, allergies, or asthma?\u00a0 All of these conditions have been linked to a lack of good bacteria in the gut.<\/p>\n
I have had a growing concern over the past few years about the vast number of people being diagnosed with food intolerances, particularly gluten.\u00a0 Although I know for some people these intolerances are very real and removal of certain foods may be the only option, nevertheless I still wonder at the cause of such prevalence today and question the wisdom of removing these God created foods completely from our diets.<\/p>\n
In some of my recent studies, I learned that glutamic acid, an amino acid found predominately in wheat gluten, is critically important in brain metabolism.\u00a0 Glutamic acid functions as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system and is called “brain food” because of its special role in the brain.\u00a0 It is converted to glutamine in the body, which serves as a buffer against too much ammonia in the brain.\u00a0 A lack of glutamic acid can cause mood swings and brain upset.\u00a0 Glutamine has been shown to improve intelligence and the I.Q. of the mentally retarded.\u00a0 If wheat and other whole grains containing gluten are our predominate food source for these amino acids,\u00a0 is it wise to completely eliminate these foods from our diet or is there another solution to the problem?<\/p>\n
Of course if you can not digest gluten, then these amino acids can not even function in the body and the undigested protein just makes health matters worse.\u00a0 Perhaps, however, correcting the digestion issues could be a better solution.\u00a0 Here is where fermented foods may play an important part.<\/p>\n
The idea of fermenting foods may sound unappealing to some, but the truth of the matter is that fermented foods have been the mainstay in the diets of most cultures probably since the beginning of time.\u00a0 Fermentation involves the culturing of food with living organisms, and is certainly not limited to milk.\u00a0 Such foods as yogurt and kefir are common fermented foods, but sauerkraut, sour dough bread, miso, kimchi, and fermented juices have graced the tables of people in other countries for centuries.\u00a0 Perhaps what began as a means of preservation, the fermentation of foods, is now known for its restoration of health to an out of balance body.<\/p>\n
The Health Benefits of Fermented Foods<\/strong><\/p>\n Improved Digestion<\/strong> Our bodies need enzymes to properly digest, absorb, and make full use of the food we eat.\u00a0 As we age, our body’s supply of enzymes is depleted.\u00a0 Nutrient absorption is greatly enhanced by both eating living food with enzymes still in tact and eating fermented foods that are already partially digested.<\/p>\n Restoring the Proper Balance of Gut Bacteria<\/strong> Increased Nutrient Absorption<\/strong> Bottom line, if we fail to replenish our good gut bacteria on a daily basis, we will never effectively restore balance to our systems.\u00a0 Though just the name, “fermented food”, may sound unappealing, the possibilities go way beyond yogurt and kefir, to delicious foods your whole family will love. by Sue Becker Do you suffer from lactose intolerance, gluten intolerance, constipation, IBS, yeast infections, allergies, or asthma?\u00a0 All of these conditions have been linked to a lack of good bacteria in the gut.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-51","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-food-intolerance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.breadbeckers.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nNot only do fermented foods naturally contain important enzymes to help with digestion of other foods, but also the fermented foods themselves are partially digested before we consume them.\u00a0 The living organisms actually ingest the proteins, fats and sugars in the foods during fermentation, making these components easier to assimilate by the body requiring much less digestion.\u00a0 Sometimes people who can not tolerate milk can eat yogurt because the fermentation process breaks down the milk sugar, lactose.<\/p>\n
\nThe widespread use of antibiotics in this country has greatly affected the delicate balance of our good gut organisms.\u00a0 The fermentation process of foods, whether it is milk, vegetables or fruit, is accomplished by the action of lactic acid forming organisms.\u00a0 Foods that have been properly fermented contain a wide range of healthy organisms that can effectively recolonize our guts. These organisms play a key role in our immune function as they not only produce antibiotics in the gut but the also keep in check the overgrowth of harmful organisms.<\/p>\n
\nDuring the fermentation process the organisms actually produce certain nutrients as a byproduct of the break down of the food.\u00a0 For example, the organisms used to culture yogurt actually produce an abundance of B vitamins, giving yogurt a higher vitamin content than milk.\u00a0 These same organisms produce nutrients in the gut as well that are very useful to the body.\u00a0 As stated earlier, eating fermented foods will actually help to absorb more of the nutrients you do ingest.<\/p>\n
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