A Super Way to Get Your Good Bacteria, Vitamin C and Vitamin K in One Food.

Nutritional deficiencies are significant with those with celiac or gluten sensitivity diseases. And many have had to take antibiotics and the bio film of the digestive system is an unhealthy mix of organisms and needs to be coaxed back to health. I recommend eating nutrient dense foods and here is a food that has lots of vitamin C and K, good for prevention of illnesses and probiotics.

I know, when I mention that super food is Sauerkraut, many of you will turn up your nose.
But I'm going to tempt you to try home made or naturally fermented Sauerkraut found at health food stores. I recently started making some at home and find it easy. I find it quite sweet with a slight hint of sour. If it's too sour one could rinse it off a bit. But not too much because you don't want to wash away the good bacteria.

And you can even make chocolate cake from it!

Linda Joyce Forristal, CTA, MTA writes in her article on the Weston A Price Foundation web site called
Sauerkraut: The Miracle Cabbage :


With winter upon us, I think it's a good time to talk about sauerkraut--one of man's most ingenious ways of enjoying the garden bounty during the months when fresh fruits and vegetables are unavailable. In my mind, the miracle of sauerkraut is that the brine does not have to be inoculated with bacteria for the process to work; the best sauerkraut is made simply with shredded cabbage and salt that is magically inoculated with atmospheric bacteria.

According to Harold McGee, the author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, the ideal salinity for sauerkraut brine is 2.25 percent, with temperatures between 65-70ºF. These conditions produce the best environment for a bacterium called Leuconostioc mesenteroides to grow and produce lactic acid. When the acidity of the brine reaches about 1 percent, another bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum, takes over to finish the job. The end result is tangy, crunchy bits of cabbage to top off a sandwich or round off a heavy meal.
A new book on sauerkraut, A Passion for Sauerkraut: The Humble Vegetable for Good Health by Sam Hofer, (Hofer Publishers, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, 2001) is full of interesting sauerkraut lore and fascinating recipes, including one for Sauerkraut Chocolate Cake!




The recipe can easily be doubled.

Sauerkraut, from Nourishing Traditions published by New Trends- Promotes Weston A Price philosophy.

1 half a head of cabbage shredded ( I use the food processor)

1 TBsp of sea salt.

1 tsp caraway seed (optional)

4 TBsp of whey ( optional, if used, use 50% less salt)

Crush or pound the cabbage with a meat hammer with the salt until there is a little bit of liquid. Transfer to a mason jar that can be sealed and punch down the cabbage so that it is covered with a layer of liquid. It should be at least 1 inch below the opening of the jar. Seal and leave at room temperature for 4-5 days before transferring to cold storage. The sauerkraut may be eaten immediately, but it improves with age. http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/612-sauerkraut-miracle-cabbage?



Best of all sauerkraut is nutrient dense and has a strong reputation for preventing illness. With the erosion of our soils and the gradual decline in the nutrient levels in our foods, it's always best to look for nutrient dense foods.

Read more about it's use for preventing illness and death here.

To your health
Dr. Barbara

Avoid Vitamin D Deficiency at All Costs.

Vitamin Vitamin D3 deficiency is 100% in persons who are celiac or gluten sensitivity unless there is active ingestion of Vitamin D3 or active exposure to the vitamin D3 making sunlight- UV B light, which above the 49th parallel is only significant from late May to mid September.

 It is very important to keep your Vitamin D3 blood levels up because Vitamin D3 controls as many as 2000 of our 20,000 genes. ( Which are controlled by their on-off switches or epigenetic sites. Each gene may have as many as 100,000 epigenetic sites.The other major controller of epigenetic sites are the agents of methylation, like folate ).

Vitamin D3 deficiency is related to the onset of autoimmune diseases such as celiac disease, diabetes type 1, and many others. Deficiency is related to poor immune system and the inability to fight viruses and bacteria, like colds and flu's but also supplementing with Vitamin D aids in the cure of TB with anti-TB medications.

Deficiency is related to increased risk of cancer,depression, schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions, neurological conditions and heart disease.

Slowly, administrative bureaus are recognizing the importance of getting more vitamin D3 both from food but also from supplements and sun. And recognizing it's safety in high doses up to 11,000 iu's a day (especially when combined with vitamin A and K). A great source of up to date information on Vitamin D3 is the newsfile Vitamin D Council.

Here they report on The European Food Safety Authority's recommendation to increase the their tolerable upper limit for Vitamin D to 4,000 iu's in adults and in teens above age 11.If put into policy and foods have more Vitamin D, and people will ingest more vitamin D, there will be less deficiency overall.
Vitamin D Council >
News


European Food Safety Authority ups vitamin D upper limit

14 August 2012


The European Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies has recently increased their tolerable upper limit for vitamin D. Following a request from the European Commission, the panel took a look at research to date to re-evaluate if a change in the upper limit was necessary.

In result, the panel raised the upper limit to 4,000 IU of vitamin D/day for adults and teenagers older than eleven, despite finding no evidence of hypercalcemia or hypercalcuria in supplementation up to 11,000 IU/day. The panel cited that they did not want to raise the upper limit higher for the time being in order to take “into account uncertainties associated with these studies.”

Children between 1-10 years old, the panel proposed an upper limit of 2000 IU/day. For infants under one year old, the upper limit was set at 1,000 IU/day.

Their scientific opinion can be found in full in the European Food Safety Journal.

Source:

EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies. Scientific Opinion on the Tolerable Upper Intake Level of vitamin D. EFSA Journal, 2012.">">

Page last edited: 14 December 2012

How does one know if one has a blood level of Vitamin D above 100 nmol/L?
You don't know unless you get a blood test. Ask for one or get one from the Vitamin D Council web page.


To your health!
Dr. Barbara

GAPS Help from Sarabeth at Life is a Palindrome

Now that you have decided to do the GAPS diet or you are looking for some help, here is a great website by Sarabeth at Life is a Palindrome. It will give you some ideas for making menue choices. And time and money saving tips. 

I think everyone who starts GAPS, starts by being completely overwhelmed.......then it gets better.

From Sarabeth:
What We Eat - With Recipes!
Mar 07, 2013


What We Eat Now - With Recipes!
March 2013

When we first started the Specific Carbohydrate/Gut and Psychology Syndrome Diet in 2010, I had a bookcase full of vegetarian recipes, a burgeoning career as a vegetarian chef…and not a clue how to cook (let alone eat) a chicken. The only thing I knew how to ferment was sourdough bread. And for many more reasons than the sheer cooking workload, I was completely overwhelmed.

To your Health

Dr. Barbara