Intestinal Recovery

New Video on Kombucha Tea!

2011-02-23T08:27:00.000-08:00

I have a new video on my Ecourse site about how to make
Herbal Kombucha Tea, that tasty, potent tonic full of probiotics and enzymes.
Learn to make it yourself for pennies a batch.
Click Here to take a look!

Kombucha Tea

Purchase Kombucha Cultures from this excellent company!

Post Dental Surgery Food

2010-08-24T05:32:00.000-07:00

I recently had some dental surgery and planned in advance to make sure I would have some good meals for the days following the surgery. I had to eat very soft food for at least two days. I was able to use some of the contents of my freezer to put together an excellent soup:

-chicken stock
-rice congee
-lentil stew

I also added some fresh summer squash to the pot.
I simmered everything together, let it cool, and then spooned out the solids into the blender.
I whirred it all in the blender and had a nutrient dense, soft, mushy soup that lasted me the two days until I could chew again.
I also put the stock in a separate jar because I felt sure I might need a potent but liquid pick-me-up at some time, which I did.

Since I couldn't have any hard nuts or seeds for a week, for breakfast, I mixed almond butter into my cooked amaranth.

And for snack I had a slice of my gluten-free sourdough Teff Coconut bread toasted and steeped in a bowl of almond milk to turn it into a mushy pudding. It was really quite good!

With a little preparation I was able to eat just as well post surgery as I do everyday.

Here are the photos during preparation:

Cooking Gluten Free on the Road

2010-03-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

After many years of minimal traveling due to health problems and stringent food needs, my daughter and I took a road trip together. In the last few years I had traveled by car to Maine for weeklong vacations by the ocean. With practice I mastered the art of packing the car: Kombucha tea into its special box, loaves of home made bread, frozen Highly Digestible Beans, vegetables from the garden, water kefir, milk kefir, grains, nuts, dried fruit and olive oil. I had the packing pattern down pat.

This trip was going to be different, however, as we were traveling by plane. Some people, when faced with a flight across the country followed by an 8 day road trip ending with a family wedding, pack lots of clothes and shoes. I, on the other hand, pack lots of food and equipment. I packed an Elite Rice Cooker with steamer attachment, a small toaster and a few plastic containers for soaking and storage. In the suitcase I used clothes for cushioning around the equipment.

The day before we left I baked 3 loaves of gluten free sourdough chia bread and sliced it into 30 slices. My chia bread recipe is extremely long lived so I knew it would last the week. I packed it in a plastic container lined with wax paper. (My daughter is also allergic to gluten so I packed enough for her) I also packed dry rice and lentils, rice cakes, nuts and a homemade amaranth/teff mix for breakfast which is simply a 50/50 mix of whole grain amaranth and teff. I brought 2 Ziploc screw-on containers to soak the grains and lentils.

I also packed provisions for the full day of traveling:
I cooked extra bluefish the day before mixing the leftovers with olive oil, salt, lime juice and a Cajun pepper mix. I added some lightly steamed broccoli and layered it over bed of rice. I also packed a bag of fresh cut celery and carrots. For snacks I toasted 6 thick slices of bread right before leaving the house to have with Applegate Farm sliced chicken.

A few days before the trip I cooked a pot of Highly Digestible Beans putting some portions of it immediately into the freezer. One portion had rice so it was almost a complete meal. I also froze 2 portions of cooked amaranth/teff hot cereal. My plan was to have 24-36 hours of prepared food so I wouldn’t have to think about cooking until I had a good rest. The only thing I would have to do was soak nuts before bed.

When it was time to go I packed the frozen beans and amaranth/teff in the bottom of the lunch bag. These would defrost slowly keeping the fish, chicken and veggies cold.

The food worked better than I had hoped. The toasted bread was great for snacks and was even great without anything on it! My fish lunch was perfect. Satisfying and unusual. When we had a midday stopover in Detroit we bought nori rolls at a Sushi Restaurant in the airport for dinner later on the connecting flight. This worked perfectly with the cut veggies. We arrived a little weary but well fed.

In the hotel room I began unpacking and realized that I had a minor luggage malfunction. There was brown rice scattered all over everything. No big deal. It could wait till morning. The frozen food had defrosted but was still very cold. They went right into the mini refrigerator. I made up 2 portions of nuts to soak for the morning.

As we were wired from our trip and unable to sleep my daughter and I went out for a walk in the cool San Francisco evening around Fisherman’s Wharf and unexpectedly found some colorful plastic plates from the Rain Forest Café that we could use for our meals.

In the morning I dug out the rice cooker from the suitcase, pouring off the scattered rice. I heated water in it and reheated the cold amaranth/teff mixture. I mixed it with the soaked, drained nuts and had a normal breakfast minus flax oil and cinnamon but I was very happy with it.

We would spend one full day in San Francisco and move on. I soaked some lentils for the next day of traveling. I gathered some more of the scattered rice and soaked some of that, as well. I would cook later in the day, probably when I needed a rest from jet lag.

My regular diet includes beans nearly every day. They are an excellent source of protein and add variety to my meals. My Highly Digestible Beans cause me no intestinal distress whatsoever whereas if I eat beans without my usual preparation I have a lot of discomfort. I didn’t want to give up beans but I knew that the cooking time would be difficult in a hotel room so I decided on lentils because they soak and cook more quickly than other beans. Usually I add a fermented liquid to the soaking water and cook my beans with seaweed but I was able to cut those steps out without any intestinal distress.

Using the steamer I planned to steam veggies during the last part of the cook time. We could make a few meals and store them in the lunch bag with ice in a Ziplock screw top

With my lentils and rice happily soaking I began a bit of sightseeing. My daughter had already begun catching up with friends so I was on my own. I was concerned about having bouts of sudden jetlag fatigue. The last time I traveled to California, pre-gluten and food sensitivity diagnoses, it took seven days to recover from the jet lag. Huge blood sugar swings, huge fatigue, huge hunger. After I finally recovered I only had 3 days of vacation time left only to begin the jetlag process soon after arriving home. It is a testament to the power of a body to heal because on this trip I only had one hour of jetlag in both directions!

I began walking along Fisherman’s Wharf and saw an enormous seal lounging on a dock. Then I took a trolley to the Ferry Building which now houses unusually beautiful shops and artisanal food markets including an organic farm store where I bought some veggies for the big hotel room cooking experiment. There was also a push cart selling gluten free breads and treats by Mariposa. So beautiful!

After a few hours I felt the fatigue set in and headed back to the hotel. After a short rest I began my cooking adventure. The cooker has two settings, “cook” and “warm” which translate as really high and really low. I brought the lentils to a boil on cook and turned it down to warm. This probably works well for slow cooked rice but resulted in barely simmering lentils so I turned it up to cook again and kept my eye on it for about an hour, stirring often with a small wooden spoon. This worked well. Using my pocket knife I cut up the veggies from the organic farm store, swiss chard and turnip, and steamed them during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking. I realized I couldn’t cook the rice in time to eat dinner because the rice cooker was full of very hot lentils so I toasted a piece of multigrain bread and had that with the lentils. Dinner was really excellent. When they were cool I stored the leftovers in lunch containers and stored them right next to the little freezer in the mini fridge.

The next morning I cooked the rice and had it for breakfast. It was nice break from amaranth/teff and helped me continue rotating my food.

As we began our road trip down the coast we happily ate our leftovers for lunch. We had some meals out, carefully questioning our servers but by day five I wasn’t eating my own food any more and began to feel sluggish and spacey. I repeated the soaking and cooking routine again and got myself back on track, feeling much better.

After driving past many mountains and elephant seals we arrived at our family event, the wedding. I had already sent my food requests to the hostess who forwarded them to the caterers. Turns out the groom was gluten intolerant as were a handful of others! Our little gluten free club included some vegetarians, some sugar-frees and some dairy frees. The caterer did a fantastic job of accommodating us with beautiful food of great culinary height. There were gluten free challah rolls, (egg bread) that I hesitated to eat, being sensitive to eggs, but decided to take a chance after being off of eggs for 3 years. They were very nice and doughy. The “wedding cake” was a tower of gluten free cupcakes! I scraped off the sugary frosting after having a little taste of it. The cake part, which had walnuts in it, was a beautiful texture with very delicate spicing. It also probably had eggs in it so I got to test myself a little further. I did have a moderate reaction the next day and now feel sure that eggs should stay out of my regular diet.

It was a blessing to go to an event and receive such good care around our food needs. I also have tremendous gratitude for the many advances in alternative medicine and gluten free awareness which has made it possible for me to regain my health and travel again.

Rotating your food: Liver Pate'

2010-03-15T07:52:00.000-07:00

I have been eating too much peanut butter and peanuts for snacks. I know this because I’m starting to feel tired and/ or warm after eating them. I know how important rotating one’s food is but I’ve fallen into an easy habit of reaching for a slice of my gluten free sourdough bread with peanut butter or peanuts. After becoming sensitive to so many foods I’ve eaten repetitively I now know the signs of encroaching sensitivity.

I decided to try making a liver pate to spread on my bread. I used spices traditionally used for pate’ while adding a few of my own. Many of the pate’ recipes use very large amounts of butter or animal fat to make the pate’ set up. I only wanted to use a modest amount of animal fat plus I added some olive oil. I try my best to grind spices right before I use them. I was very happy with the result which is actually somewhere between a traditional chopped liver and an artisanal liver pate’:

Liver Pate’
Yield: about 3 cups

Ingredients:
1 pound calves liver, membranes removed
4 tablespoons fat or mixture of fat and olive oil
1 large or 2 medium onions medium chop
2 cloves garlic medium chop
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon mace
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon cardamom
¼ teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon dry mustard
¼ teaspoon rosemary
1-3 teaspoons dried sage
1-2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons kombucha tea or kombucha vinegar or any wine or wine vinegar
Salt
Black pepper

Directions:
Heat fat and oil in pan, add onions and garlic and cook a few minutes
Meanwhile grind spices and add to onion mixture
Stir to mix spices
Salt and pepper the liver and to pot
Add lemon juice and kombucha vinegar

Simmer till liver is done, about 10-15 minutes
Let cool
Remove any other tough membranes
Put entire mixture into the food into food processor and process till smooth.
Test for seasoning, add more salt and pepper if necessary and briefly process once more

Serve right away or pour into mold or loaf pan and chill before using
Keeps about a week

"To what do you attribute the growing prevalence of food allergies, gluten intolerances and autoimmune disorders?"

2010-01-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

I was asked this question and here is my answer:
I believe that babies’ immune systems may not be developing properly because mothers' immune systems have become unknowingly compromised from a lifetime of ingesting foreign substances like high fructose corn syrup, over-hybridized wheat, refined sugar, ultra-pasteurized and canned foods, and industrially farmed meat, milk and produce.

I also believe that many of us raised on highly processed foods have sustained intestinal and immune system damage. Many people from my generation, age 50-ish have experienced diseases in young adulthood like candida, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia and gluten allergy but because they were “new” diseases had to wait years for accurate diagnoses. The resulting damage from years without proper attention can take years to repair.

Subsequent generations are showing a disturbing amount of diagnoses of ADD, ADHD, autism and signs of extreme food allergies almost from birth, which I believe is from mother's compromised systems. (I imagine the American diet would take its toll on fathers’ sperm, as well) Most mothers do their best to create healthy children by receiving prenatal care, eating well, exercising and take supplements. However, I think we are seeing the slow and steady results of a civilization that is so large and has so many mouths to feed that it cuts corners in order to create the volume of food we need, hence the substandard food from feedlots, the ultra-pasteurization of many foods to increase shelf life in the market, and the marketing of junk food that is spawned from the creation of food substances that are unrecognizable to the digestive system such as high fructose
corn syrup, additives, preservatives and trans fats.

Through highly focused advertising the pharmaceutical business fosters the belief
that one can best manage one’s health through pharmaceuticals. If, over a lifetime. one learns that the only way one can maintain health is with drugs and surgery it will become the only path to healing. Many people subscribe to this belief and may eventually build a mental block around other possibilities of healing. It becomes easy to stay within this belief cycle and raise children within the cycle thus continuing the potential ill health for future generations.

There is so much we can do to move towards healthy living. One thing that is easy and economical to make is lacto-fermented Sauerkraut. Lacto-fermentation is the old fashioned fermentation technique used for centuries to create “medicinal food”. The fermentation process fosters the growth of beneficial bacteria and yeast known as probiotics, resulting in a food that “cleans out” the digestive system while boosting all the bodily systems. A few tablespoons of sauerkraut also helps to digest an entire meal using enzymes that grow during the fermentation period.

All that is needed for a month’s supply of sauerkraut is a medium cabbage, water, salt , a quart canning jar and a stove.

I have long thought that those of us that develop these new diseases, are the canaries in the coal mine. We have become the barometers for global public health. We are the first generation exhibiting the diseases resulting from a toxic and unnatural approach to food. With the current growing swell of celiac and autoimmune diagnoses it has become obvious we will not be the last. Let us do what we can to improve the health of ourselves and our families so we can get back on the path to good health!!

Break up sinus congestion with fermented tonics!

2010-01-04T06:59:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to pass along a couple of home remedies that use the fermented tonics, kombucha and water kefir.

Kombucha Tea: During cold season I will keep some kombucha tea in the refrigerator with a 1 inch hunk each of ginger and horseradish roots steeping in it. These will stay fresh in the tea for about 7-10 days, then they should be replaced with new pieces. When I'm ready for my tonic I pour out some kombucha tea,add a generous squeeze of lemon, a little olive oil and a sprinkle of cayenne pepper. It seems better to sip it slowly to let it do its work.

Water Kefir: I pour out some water kefir, add a generous squeeze of lemon and stir in 1/4 teaspoon of Vitamin C powder and sip it slowly.

Water can be added to both of these tonics if they are too intense.

Watch my sauerkraut presentation on youtube!

2009-12-03T14:29:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of demonstrating sauerkraut and kimchee techniques to a wonderful Raw Food Group in Massachusetts. A woman graciously videotaped it and put it on youtube. Click below to watch. There are 7 videos in total and I have only posted the first link. You will see links to the other 6 parts on youtube. Let me know your thoughts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpQmYmyeVog
youtube.com

A month’s worth of probiotics for the price of a cabbage!

2009-09-28T06:08:00.000-07:00

Did you know that you can easily make your own probiotics at home in your own kitchen from simple ingredients like salt, water and cabbage?
Lacto-fermented cabbage, aka Sauerkraut, is an ancient cultured vegetable that is loaded with probiotics and enzymes that grow through natural fermentation. I like getting my probiotics and enzymes from a food rather than a bottled supplement. I believe these probiotics and enzymes become highly available to the body because they are live right from the food rather than processed in an industrial plant awaiting rehydration in the digestive tract.

People that have taken many courses of antibiotics usually have reduced and out-of-balance intestinal bacteria opening the door for illnesses like candida, IBS, fungal infections, and parasites. Eating small amounts of lacto-fermented vegetables (1-2 tablespoons) at lunch and dinner on a regular basis helps to gently repair the intestinal environment. The enzymes help to digest the meal while the probiotics repopulate the intestines with friendly bacteria.

Here is the recipe for Sauerkraut:

Sauerkraut

Ingredients
1 medium cabbage, green, red or savoy (curly)
For leaf layer: 3-4 whole cabbage leaves peeled from the outside of the cabbage

For the brine
2 quarts filtered or spring water
Pure salt, kosher, pickling or coarse sea salt, with no additives

Equipment:
Large pot for boiling water
2 wide mouth quart canning jars
2 canning lids and rings
2-4 rocks that easily fit through the mouth of the canning jar. Garden rocks are great. Look for a rock about 2-3 inches in diameter and not more than 1 inch high. Alternately, you can use 2 smaller rocks in each jar.
Scrub rocks with a brush, run through dishwasher or wash thoroughly by hand.
Small pot for sterilizing the canning lids, rings and rocks
Something to press the cabbage into the jar, a crab mallet, a wooden food pusher, etc
Wide mouth funnel (optional) for filling the jar
Ladle

Bring the filtered water to a boil for 4 minutes.
After it’s cooled a bit add 3 tablespoons of salt and stir to dissolve.
Allow brine to cool to near room temperature (2-4 hours or overnight)

In small pot sterilize lids, rings and rocks by boiling for 4 minutes.
Let them cool about 10 minutes and pour out the water to let them cool further.

Peel off, and set aside, a few outer leaves of the cabbage for the top leaf layer (you can also use horseradish leaves, raspberry leaves or grape leaves instead of cabbage).

When the brine is almost cool, chop or grate cabbage.
If using herbs or spices put them at the bottom of the quart jars.
Start layering the cut cabbage into the jar an inch or two high at a time, gently pressing it down with hands or pressing tool.
Keep adding 1-2 inch layers of cabbage until about 2-3 inches of space is left at the top.
Press it down again.
Fold a cabbage leaf, or other leaf to fit over the top layer of cabbage and press it in.
Place a rock or rocks on top of the leaf.
Pour brine into the jar leaving about 1 inch of space from the top.
Wipe any brine off top of jar, put lid on jar, and screw on band.

Allow to ferment on kitchen counter or shelf for 3 days at room temperature, 72 degrees.
Gently move to the refrigerator for 3 weeks.
Eat after 3-4 weeks. Store in refrigerator. Taste gets better with time.
Lasts 3-6 months in refrigerator.

http://www.sanctuary-healing.com/food-photos.html

Kombucha Tea in the Kitchen

2009-09-07T05:37:00.000-07:00

Kombucha Tea has become a staple in my kitchen. I turn to it often.
Sometimes I use a ladle full of kombucha tea in a stir fry, especially if I’ve cooked the food too fast and it’s sticking to the pan. The Kombucha releases the food from the pan and lends an unexpected flavor to the stir fry.

I’ve used it as a marinade for fish like Haddock, Tilapia, Perch and Catfish. I put the fish in a dish, add Kombucha to nearly covering the fish, let it marinate for a half hour or so, turn it and let sit for another 20 minutes and cook. I usually cook a veggie-fish saute’ but I’m sure this marinated fish would also be great grilled, baked or broiled.

Due to my high sensitivity to wine I haven’t had any in decades. I’m not sure if it’s the alcohol, the sugar, or the sulfites but I have a strong unpleasant reaction very quickly. I’ve taken to substituting Kombucha tea, ounce for ounce, in recipes that call for wine or beer. It brightens up the finished product lending a hint of the fermented taste we expect from a recipe with wine. I used it successfully in a braised short rib recipe and it was fantastic.I suppose it could be used in French Onion Soup so I will give it a try soon, as our onion harvest is plentiful this year.

In cold and flu season I make Kombucha Horseradish Tonic. I fill a jar with 8-16 ounces of Kombucha tea and drop a 1-inch peeled chunk of horseradish root in it. I let it steep a day or two and then drink 2-4 ounces every morning. If I’m very congested I’ll squeeze some lemon into my glass and then add the Kombucha Horseradish Tonic. This combination quickly breaks up any congestion. I replace the horseradish chunk every 7-10 days.

My recipe for Herbal Kombucha tea below.

Kombucha on the Road

2009-09-02T09:52:00.000-07:00

On a recent family vacation I brought my giant jar of Kombucha tea complete with mature culture. This was not the first time I took Kombucha tea on vacation with us. I use a deli-size pickle jar. During regular fermentation I use a cloth and rubber band to allow air flow but when I take it on the road I use the glass lid it came with and tape the lid to the jar using masking tape. I line a special box, saved specifically for this purpose, with bubble wrap. I carefully nestle the sealed jar into the box and lay a towel on top before folding the box top closed. I’m sure the jostling of the car is not the best thing for the culture as the film on top disconnects from the sides of the jar. It takes a few days for it to settle in but it still tastes just fine.

On this vacation we were met with large, hungry mosquitoes that gave us large, itchy bites. My 11 year old grandson was very uncomfortable and after getting no relief from products that were supposed to reduce the itch I suggested the Kombucha tea. My grandchildren thought that “thing” was weird enough, with its brain-like culture... “you mean you’re going to drink that???” but discomfort pushes us to try new things so we poured some Kombucha tea into a cup. He dipped into it and began dabbing at the nasty bites. He said the itch was almost gone! He returned almost hourly for reapplication and in a day he had no more discomfort. Chalk up another use for Kombucha tea!

When it was time to pack up the mostly finished Kombucha I got out my trusty box and bubble wrap only to find the bubble wrap had lost all its bubbles! When I asked around I learned that my 5 year old grandson had found the bubble wrap and decided to have a bubble wrap stomping party.
Oh, well…no problem. I used towels to cushion the jar on the way home.

After vacation I have noticed that when I make a new batch the fermentation time is slower probably due to all that disruptive jostling. It’s good to know so I can allow some extra time until it returns to its normal fermentation cycle.

My recipe for Herbal Kombucha Tea below.

Recipe for Herbal Kombucha Tea

2009-08-18T10:51:00.001-07:00

Ingredients for one gallon-size brew:

1. Kombucha culture
2. 2 cups of “starter tea” from the previous kombucha brew, if no starter tea is available, use 2 tablespoons of cider vinegar
3. 5-6 tea bags or 4-6 Tablespoons of herbal loose tea made from leaves rather than flowers. I avoid teas with added flavorings. If you use Black tea you can use less than 4-6 Tablespoons.
4. one cup sugar
5. 3 ½ quarts of filtered water

Supplies needed:

One gallon or larger glass container, jar or bowl
or a food grade plastic bowl may be used, either number 1 or 2 in the triangle on the bottom.

Clean cloth, paper towel or coffee filter to fit over fermenting container and a large rubber band to secure if needed.

A warm quiet spot, (does not need to be dark)

White vinegar to clean utensils. If you need to clean the culture, let it sit in vinegar for a little while.

Boil water: bring water to the boiling point and let it boil a minute or so.
Add tea bags or loose tea in a strainer.
I let the tea steep about 30 minutes.
Remove tea

Add the cup of sugar and stir to dissolve.

Let it come to room temperature (about 2-4 hours) or overnight

Put the room temperature tea and sugar into your jar or bowl. If it is too hot it will damage the culture.
Add the starter tea
Add the kombucha culture.
Cover with the cloth or paper towel or filter and leave alone.

The entire brewing cycle can take up to 14 days. Usually the tea is ready to drink about day 5. You should see a light film starting to cover the top of the tea surface. I ladle out a bit to taste it. If it’s still very sweet, it’s not ready. Sometimes it has some carbonation. This is fine. Sometimes bubbles form in the culture and the culture looks bumpy and strange. It’s okay.

Start drinking one tablespoon at a time, on an empty stomach. Build up the amount you drink slowly, as your body suggests.
This drink isn’t right for everybody but if it’s good for you, your body may start to crave it.

It’s a powerful detoxifier so you don’t want to start drinking too much in the beginning. Let your body start its detox process in a slow and gentle way.

I’ve settled on drinking about 1/4 -1/2 cup 1-3 times a day 20 minutes before a meal. Anymore than that really feels like too much.

It is suggested that once the culture is in the tea, no metal should come in contact with the brew. I use a plastic ladle.

Some people strain the tea before they drink it because sometimes there’s some squidley stuff floating in it. The stuff is part of the brew and can be drunk.

If you don’t finish the brew after 10-12 days it will become very vinegary and for some, undrinkable. This can be used for salad dressings and marinades.

Always save the last 2 cups for the next batch.

The film that forms on the top is the offspring of the culture. You can use this to start a new batch when it is substantial enough or you can just leave it attached. To detach it from the culture, with clean hands pick up the culture and peel the film off. If it is too small to start a new batch, store it in a glass jar with 1-2 cups of fresh tea and a paper towel cover. Keep adding new films as you get them. You should add fresh tea every 14 days. After a while the filmy pieces will meld into one new culture that can be used to start a new batch.

At this point I always have 2 different batches going. This is enough for me. I put my extras in a jar and save them until I have someone brave enough to try it.

Purchase a kombucha culture from www.anahatabalance.com. Type in "new_customer_10" for a 10% discount.

Kombucha Tea and Sugar Addiction

2009-08-17T10:01:00.000-07:00

I started drinking Kombucha tea a few years ago and immediately noticed positive changes in my health. It seemed as if my digestive system was waking up. It cleared out my sinuses and reduced my sugar cravings. Even my hormone imbalance seemed to clear up!

Kombucha tea is a fermented drink said to strengthen the immune system by repopulating the digestive tract with live probiotics and enzymes that grow during the fermentation process.

When I first learned about it I was hesitant to make it because the recipe called for sugar and black tea, two foods I had stayed away from for decades. I was told that I had to make it this way or the benefits would be minimized. Having recovered from candidiasis I was concerned about drinking something with sugar in it. I was also unable to consume caffeine, (kept me up at night and made my hands shake) and was concerned about the caffeine in the tea. I went ahead and made it with herbal mint tea and organic sugar. It came out great and I felt sure the drink was plenty potent! I did not get any candida symptoms as long as I drank it in small amounts.

After making this lovely gentle potion for a few years I finally took a sip of a commercial kombucha drink, made with black tea. That one sip felt like a shock to my system. I knew my gentle herbal kombucha tea was right for me.

Recently, a few people expressed to me that they had been drinking Kombucha tea for awhile, felt good results but then got to a point where their bodies didn’t want it anymore. I was surprised to hear this as my body was craving a little every day.

Then, this summer, all of a sudden, my body didn’t want it! I tried a few sips, but no, it just wasn’t right anymore. I wonder if the kombucha did for me what I needed at the time and then I simply didn’t need it anymore.

I use a variety of lacto fermented products and I find myself craving different ones at different times. I trusted my body when it said it no longer needed Kombucha.

One of the major concerns about Kombucha is the large amount of sugar used for the fermentation. I believe that most of the sugar is used during the fermentation stage but I also believe that if one is extremely sensitive to sugar, candida, diabetes, IBS, it may not be the right drink.

I’ve also been thinking about some of my students who have had a difficult time “giving up” sugar. I’ve been through this myself. We are trying to heal illnesses such as candida, IBS, chronic fatigue, hypoglycemia, and fibromyalgia. We cut out the sugar and begin to feel deprived. Then it’s easy to binge on sugar and carbs exacerbating our symptoms.

I'm beginning to see Kombucha tea as being an important stepping stone for some people making the shift away from sugar. If someone is trying to minimize sugar intake but has occasional uncontrollable bingeing it seems that it could be more beneficial to drink the kombucha tea as an interim step. They could sip some tea when the craving for dessert shows up. They could sip some more when everyone is having a soda. They could put a slice of lemon in it when everyone is drinking overly sweet lemonade. This may satisfy the sugar fix while beginning the healing of their digestive and immune systems enabling the person to stay away from ice cream, baked goods and candy. As the bodily systems begin to return to a higher state of health the feeling of being sugar deprived could become a distant memory.

Purchase a kombucha culture from www.anahatabalance.com. Type in "new_customer_10" for a 10% discount.

Purchase my Intestinal Recovery Recipe Package at www.food-medicine.com

Lacto Fermented Cucumber Pickles by Sharon A. Kane, www.food-medicine.com

2009-08-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Ingredients:
4 small cucumbers
1 medium onion
2 pinches black mustard seed
8-10 black peppercorns
2 cloves garlic
1 dill flower head or a small handful of dill leaves
A few thoroughly washed leaves: horseradish, raspberry, cabbage, bok choy or Swiss Chard

For the brine:
2 quarts filtered or spring water
Pure salt, kosher or sea salt, with no additives

Equipment:
Large pot for boiling water
1 wide mouth quart canning jar
1 canning lid and 1 canning ring
1 rock that fits easily through the mouth of the canning jar. Garden rocks are great. Look for a rock about 2-3 inches in diameter and not more than 1 inch high. Scrub it with a brush, run through dishwasher or wash thoroughly by hand.
Small pot for sterilizing the canning lid, ring and rock
Something to press the cucumbers into the jar: a crab mallet, a wooden food grinder pusher, etc.
Wide mouth funnel (optional) for filling the jar
Ladle

Directions:
Measure 2 quarts of water into a pot and bring to a boil for 4 minutes
Let cool uncovered for ½ hour
Add 3 tablespoons of salt and stir to dissolve
Let brine come to room temperature, (may take up to 4 hours)

Wash quart canning jar in very hot water and rinse thoroughly.
Put canning lid, ring and rock in small pot, cover with tap water and boil for 4 minutes. Let water cool a bit and pour off water.
Let lid, ring and rock cool while you assemble the vegetable ingredients in the jar.

On bottom of canning jar put:
Dill
Peppercorns
Mustard seed
Peeled and coarsely chopped garlic

Wash cucumbers and cut ends off
Slice into discs about ½ inch thick
Start filling jar with cucumber discs and when the cucumbers reach about 2 inches high, use the food pusher to press them down. This bruises the vegetables and gets the juices flowing while reducing air pockets in the final product.
Chop a small amount of onion and put a thin layer of chopped onion on top of the cukes and press with the food pusher.

Continue layering cukes and onion in this manner until approximately 2 inches of empty space is left on the top of the jar. Use the food pusher one last time to press the vegetables.

Take your leaves, (remember, they can be horseradish, raspberry, cabbage, bok choy, or Swiss chard.
Remove any hard ribs, leaving pieces of leaf approximately the size of the opening of the wide mouth jar.
Take a leaf and lay it over the vegetables. With your fingers, gently press it to the edges of the jar. Use 3-5 more leaves in this manner, overlapping each other so that the vegetables are totally covered. We’re applying this leaf layer to prevent vegetables from floating up to the top of the brine where they could get moldy.

Take your cooled rock and place it on top of the leaf layer.
Start ladling brine into the jar to the level of the rock.
Tilt the jar slightly to release air bubbles. You can also push down on the rock a little to release air bubbles.
Add more brine to cover the rock leaving 1 inch of space between the top of the brine and the top of the jar.
Let this sit for a little while, about 10 minutes to allow any other air bubbles to come up. Add more brine if necessary, to one inch from the top of the jar.

With a paper towel:
wipe the top of the jar to dry off any brine
wipe the lid and ring and cover the jar with the lid and ring.

Fermentation:
Let the jar sit in a quiet place for 3 days at room temperature, about 69-73.
Then place in the refrigerator.
Pickles will be ready in about 3-7 days.

When you open the jar for tasting, sniff the jar as soon as you open it.
It should smell simultaneously sweet, sour, salty and fresh.
Remove the rock and the leaf layer, (discard).
Take a spoon and sip a small amount of the brine.
It should taste pleasant.
If it tastes good, taste a small piece of the cucumber.
Again, it should taste pleasant.

Use about 2 tablespoons of lactofermented vegetables at every meal to gently add probiotics to your diet. You may want to start with a smaller amount, like 1 teaspoon and gradually build up.

Signs that the batch is spoiled:
If it explodes out of the jar when you open it discard it immediately.
If it smells rank, vinegary or like wine it may be spoiled.
If it is slimy, or stings your tongue you should discard it.

Don’t take chances, when in doubt, throw it out!

After the initial 3 day fermentation at room temperature, all lactofermented vegetables should be stored in the refrigerator because they are live foods and will overferment very quickly at room temperature. In the old days people had cool root cellars that were perfect for cold storage but most of us will do best with the fridge.

These cucumber pickles will be good for 1-2 months.

FYI: The basic recipe for making brine is 1½ tablespoons salt per quart of water or 6 tablespoons per gallon.

Intestinal Recovery Recipe Package now available

2009-06-29T08:07:00.001-07:00

I wrote this recipe package when I began seeing a pattern among some of my students. Some of the students could easily try new foods, drinks and cooking methods because they were in a moderate or good state of health. The foods, drinks and methods stepped up the detoxification process and their bodies could easily eliminate the toxins being released. Some of the students, however, were in more of an extreme condition and knew (from their own previous experience) their bodies were not able to move the toxins out fast enough having felt worse rather than better after trying to detoxify too quickly. I realized I wanted to compile the methods that would work for someone who needed to detoxify extremely slowly in a way that minimally stressed their bodies. I went through my manual collecting the simplest and gentlest of all my recipes for this recipe package. I came up with 9 recipes along with explanations of the principles and practices of soaking foods, the benefits of slow cooking and the benefits of fermented foods. These methods may be helpful for people with ongoing intestinal difficulties, candidiasis, challenges to the immune system, fatigue disorders, managing the side effects of chemotherapy and post surgery after antibiotics. Please contact me with questions. To order this recipe package please go to http://www.sanctuary-healing.com/food-as-medicine.html

Fermented Foods: A Culture of Healing

2009-06-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

Currently many of us are discovering that our diet creates an environment in our bodies for health or illness to thrive. We are learning that certain foods can stress and damage our digestive systems, and that in order to fully recover we may need to change not only our diet, but also our entire dietary lifestyle. These changes can be extremely challenging on all levels and can impact our relationships and social lives. After a 20-year period of illness and learning how to successfully alter my diet, I am pleased to report I am the healthiest I have ever been.

Our lifelong relationship with many foods makes it difficult to permanently omit some of them from our diet. These are the foods of our cultures, our families, our peer groups and our memories that nourish us emotionally, as well as nutritionally. It takes time to create a new relationship with food. We cannot will ourselves to like, enjoy or desire unfamiliar foods. We may need time to get used to and appreciate unfamiliar tastes and textures. As we alter our diets it is essential that we are mindful, gentle and patient with ourselves throughout the entire process.

I had struggled with poor health after giving birth 25 years ago. In those early years I had continuous colds, chronic sinus and yeast infections, asthma, fatigue and symptoms involving every bodily system. It took me six years to find a naturopathic doctor who recognized that I had systemic candida. He set me on a rigorous treatment of diet change and yeast killing supplements. Progress was slow and intermittent with many setbacks. Sometimes it was hard to stay hopeful about recovering. I spent a lot of time exhausted on the couch and learned to develop new levels of patience with my slowly healing body. Deepening my capacity for patience was an unexpected and valuable gift that came out of this particular life lesson.

Over the next ten years I was able to heal most of my symptoms, however I still had to carefully monitor my activities to avoid getting exhausted or sick. Seeing how altering my diet contributed to my health, I continued to look for ways that food might take me to the next levels of wellness.

One day, I found a book claiming that old-fashioned sourdough rye bread could rebuild the entire digestive system while cleaning out the arteries! This was my first step into the world of fermented foods and traditional cooking techniques. The sourdough starter recipe included a long fermentation period: daily feedings for seven days and 12-24 hours of rising. The enhanced digestibility and healing properties were said to come from the seven days of fermentation.

With some practice I was able to make wonderfully rich and substantial bread at a cost far below retail prices. After eating it for a while I noticed a steadiness in my health, although I still had some unresolved symptoms.

Then I read that lacto-fermented sauerkraut was good for people with unresolving intestinal issues. The process of lacto-fermentation creates lactobacillus, enzymes and vitamins which, when consumed, becomes instantly available to the body. Lacto-fermenting vegetables is an ancient salt brine technique of vegetable preservation. The recipe simply called for vegetables, salt and water fermented in a container for three weeks. I decided to give it a try. After the 3 weeks I tried a bite and was startled at the taste. It was simultaneously sweet, sour and salty. I wasn’t sure if I liked it enough to eat more of it. Fifteen minutes later my body told me that I needed to eat more of that stuff and to eat it now! I listened to my body and ate some more. It was as if my intestinal system was coming alive.

In the following weeks my energy level jumped a few more notches and my digestive issues seemed to improve. Making my own sauerkraut cost much less than store bought and I could control the amount of salt. I could also experiment with different
vegetables for interesting combinations.

I found an online chat group of fellow fermenters and tried to learn as much as I could. One chatter suggested I try homemade kombucha tea for overall immune building. Kombucha is another fermented product that produces lactobacillus, enzymes and vitamins. She sent me an impressive compilation of all the illnesses people claimed the kombucha helped them recover from. The list included illnesses from every bodily system.

I bought a kombucha culture, which looked like a shiny pancake. I followed the recipe and watched the unusual fermentation process through the glass jar. I was not quite sure that I could bring myself to drink the liquid but when the tea was ready, about 9 days after the start of fermentation, I bravely had a sip. It was light and pleasant tasting. Then I had the odd sensation that it was gently burbling through my intestines. A few hours later my body seemed to be craving more and I started drinking small amounts a few times a day. It seemed to clear the sinuses nicely and again, my energy level jumped. My intestines seemed a bit better, as well. This wonderful drink also cost very little to make on a regular basis.

Eating Curds and Whey

About this time I heard about kefir and water kefir. I made the milk kefir for my family, having already eliminated most dairy products as part of the candida treatment. This was the easiest to make of all the fermented foods so far. You put the little kefir grains in a jar, pour milk on top, cover with a cloth and let it sit on the counter for 36 hours. Done. Again, the fermenting process allows lactobacillus and enzymes to grow, improving the nutrition and digestibility of the milk. This kefir has a sour taste and can be used plain on hot cereal or other grains. It can also be sweetened with fruit, honey, agave or stevia and used like a thin yogurt for sauces, desserts, and salad dressings. I also learned to make it into cheese by straining it through cheesecloth. The cheese making process brings to mind the old nursery rhyme, “Little Miss Muffet,” and her curds and whey. When the kefir drains through the cloth, the remaining cheese caught in the cloth is called curds. The water left in the bottom of the bowl is called whey. The cheese is a robustly sour cream cheese and is great on toast. The whey is a supremely potent liquid, full of lactobacillus, enzymes and vitamins with the addition of minerals. It is good for drinking, cooking, baking and soaking grains and beans.

Water kefir is another culture that creates lactobacillus, enzymes and vitamins and makes a nice dairy-free drink. I have read about people sweetening it and using it in place of sodas but never tried it myself, needing to stay away from sweets. I mainly use it in soaking water for grains and beans, which is another old-fashioned cooking technique I learned on this journey.

Soaking fosters the production of enzymes and vitamins, thereby increasing digestibility. I began soaking my grains before cooking, but didn’t notice any differences in taste or digestibility. One day I didn’t have enough time to soak and simply cooked the rice. It was then I noticed the rice didn’t seem as smooth in my stomach as it had been when I had soaked them.

Most of us know about soaking beans for increased digestibility, but adding 2-4 tablespoons of kefir, kefir whey or water kefir boosts the fermenting power and can bring the flatulence factor way down, a benefit probably welcomed by all involved. Soaking beans for 24 hours also allows the beans to quadruple their size, increasing the amount of available servings while bringing the cost per serving down to about 8 cents. Properly prepared beans are highly nutritious, tasty, and economical.

Good-bye to Gluten

My health continued to improve but I still had those remaining symptoms. I consulted a new holistic doctor about these symptoms. She ordered various tests and blood work and when the test results were back she gently told me I was sensitive to dairy and eggs, and I should completely eliminate them from my diet at least for a while, but possibly forever. She then told me I was also gluten intolerant.

This piece was extremely distressing to me having spent a year perfecting my sourdough rye bread. I loved making this bread. I loved creating the starter and watching it grow into an aromatic sponge over its seven-day growing period. I loved the malty aroma and the way butter seeped down through the pores onto the plate. I even bought a grain mill so I could grind my own rye berries. I was in a bit of shock about it all, but given my previous success around healing with food I had no hesitation about changing my diet one more time.

My doctor had given me this news one afternoon and I decided to have one last dairy and gluten-filled dinner. That evening I toasted a generous slab of sourdough rye and slathered it with butter. I ate slowly, relishing and savoring the taste and sensation of this marvelous ancestral bread. When I was finished I said goodbye and moved forward.

The next day I eliminated gluten, dairy and eggs from my diet. After 48 hours the remaining symptoms disappeared! I vacillated between great happiness to have found the root cause of my long time illness and grieving that I might never eat gluten again. No more toasted bagel and cream cheese, no more holiday cookies, no more slices of pizza…

Over the next few weeks I was unprepared to find myself moving through some of the recognized phases of grief: shock, grief, anger, bargaining and acceptance. I worked my way through it and then found myself in a new phase that I call resolution and declaration. I resolved that despite my restricted diet I would continue eating beautiful and lovingly prepared food. Then I declared that I would create gluten-free sourdough breads that could be made easily and was well within the parameters of my diet.

I experimented for a year with many failures but with a little help from my online chatters I was able to make some palatable nutritious breads.
Without the gluten and other problematic foods the tempo of my healing increased significantly.

Recovering is an incredible blessing for me after this very long road back to health. Sometimes I am still astonished that I am “back to normal” and that I have enough energy to do so many things in a day and still be alert in the evening. I am deeply grateful to have my energy, to be highly productive, and to be fully and happily engaged with life.