My Fermented Food Stack

"Kefir Is A Food Trend That Actually Deserves Its Health Halo" Lorie Eber

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Fermented Foods- It's How I Started It All​

A little review before we start with my fermented food stack and end with my Kombucha disaster.

We want our good gut bacteria to look like a hustling, bustling metropolis of movers and shakers. We would like the trillions of bacteria to work for us.

All of those characters need to thrive. They need reinforcements sent their way by eating fermented foods. And when they're trying to thrive, they need to eat.

What we eat determines who survives and thrives and who fades into the background. If we send ultra-processed food (think gas station chicken salad chased down with a Snicker Bar) to our guts, this is what good bacteria look like:

They go into hiding in all the nooks and crannies in your colon called niches. They quickly get outnumbered by the bad actors that are happiest with the gas station chicken salad and Snicker Bars.

But when we eat fermented foods and lots of dietary fiber, it's a party.

Enough visuals for a while.

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My challenge was a tough one. You're reading a newsletter from a guy who hates plain, white milk. Still do. Kefir, yogurt, fermented cheeses? No way.

Hell, one of the earliest Army memories I have was sitting across the table in an Army dining facility from a guy by the name of George Halas (not the football coach). I quickly learned that Halas hated milk more than I did. You ate and drank whatever they slopped on your plate, which included two small glasses of white milk.

That didn't end well for Halas. I must have looked green in the face and the drill sergeant knew what would happen if I stayed seated a second longer so he yelled at me to move out...QUICKLY! Halas tossed up every bit of milk all over the table. I digress.

I quickly adopted a philosophy I coined as "purpose eating" Come hell or high water, if a particular food was going to help me achieve my goals, I was going to get it in my system. This is exactly how I managed to incorporate fermented foods into my daily diet. If I had to sweeten the item, mix it in a smoothie, or generally make it unrecognizable, that's what I did.

The goal was to build the habit, get the microbes in my system, then I would tweak the method of delivery to strip out the added flavor maskings. It was the ole "get started, get educated, then get good" mentality.

And it worked.

After 4 1/2 years, I've worked my way up to 4-6 servings of fermented foods per day. This has been gradual and intentional. To be successful, you need to give your body time to adapt to something it probably has not seen on a regular basis...ever.

Remember, the goal of fermented foods is to send probiotics all the way to your colon for usage by good bacteria hanging out there. We would like to send as many diverse microbes as possible to give our bacteria choices. The more diversity means the greater chance that these bacteria can defend against a host of different bad actors that also try to take residency.

I'll reference the photo above and provide a few comments to the following list:

1. Kefir- this was and is the centerpiece of my fermented food regimen. The fermented milk drink is known for having the greatest amount of diversity in the strains of bacteria. In the photo above, there are two versions.

The "Lifeway" bottle of kefir is store-bought and contains about 12 strains of different bacteria. The juice glass with the white liquid is homemade kefir, delivering as many as 50 strains of bacteria and yeast. It's an everyday drink for me and would help you as well.

To start, I used the store-bought since it was already flavored. It also has a yogurt taste. Once I got into my routine, I graduated to making my own kefir and eventually started drinking it plain. The yogurt taste is gone in the homemade version for a much more tart profile. I embrace the tart taste!

2. Greek Yogurt- this is probably the most widely consumed live culture, fermented food. I prefer Fage's 2% yogurt mainly because that is the consistency I like best. Again, I needed to add fruit and even a dash of honey as a sweetener to get used to Greek yogurt. I still add berries of some sort but have removed any sweetener.

3. Water Kefir- this is seen in the red flip-top bottle and shares a lot of the huge benefits as milk kefir, but with a much more citrus profile. I began making my own water kefir as a replacement for Kombucha. Kombucha was in my early lineup but proved to be a bit too acidic for my liking.

Water kefir can deliver diversity in the range of 30-40 different strains of bacteria and yeast compared to only a handful found in Kombucha. We will return to Kombucha in a minute- it was epic!

4. Sauerkraut- hiding in the mason jar to the left edge of the photo, sauerkraut is the rockstar in this picture. I happen to like sauerkraut anyway, but the benefits of fermented sauerkraut are many. The benefits of cabbage, the probiotic punch, and the relatively small amount needed to have an amazing effect make this a fermented rockstar.

About 2 tablespoons is all it takes to make a serving. This can top a sandwich, or sausage, or just be eaten as a side or garnish. Another fantastic benefit of sauerkraut is it is one of the cheapest fermented foods to make yourself. Salt and cabbage are all it takes. And it is a fraction of the cost of store-bought kraut. I highly recommend adding this to the to-do list.

5. Fermented Vegetables- my vegetable of choice is the cucumber. Yep, fermented pickles are my preference. Many people ferment carrots, onions, peppers, squash, you name it. I keep it simple. And in the photo, I purchased Bubbies pickles. I like the flavor profile and haven't been inclined yet to make my own since this flavor profile is so tasty.

6. Fermented Brine- this liquid is found in both sauerkraut and the pickles. Fermented brine is one of the most probiotic-dense liquids you can drink. And it doesn't take much.

A couple of ounces, or a few sips is all it takes. So when you are at the bottom of the sauerkraut or pickle jar, gut-shot the brine instead of throwing it away!

These are the main actors in my daily fermented food stack. I also have Natto, or fermented soybeans in the photo but I don't eat Natto often. Not pictured and occasionally eaten are kimchi and some other fermented Korean pepper pastes used for seasoning.

The bottom line is this- start somewhere. Start with one serving. Find the item that tastes the best to you. And don't be afraid to "doctor" something up to get it in your system. I assure you, the benefits of fermented foods will be a game changer for you.

I touched on my experience with Kombucha and the ultimate retirement of the fermented black tea beverage due to the acidic attributes not agreeing with me.

I did brew my own, and to be quite honest, I got pretty good at brewing and flavoring Kombucha. The process is to make black, sweet tea and use a SCOBY (symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) to ferment the sweet tea.

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It resembles an opaque disc and has a bit of an "alien" look to it. The tea sits for a few days until the sugar is fermented and the sweetness is turned to a sour, vinegar taste. This is the first fermentation.

The second fermentation is when the Kombucha is flavored. This is done by adding fruit, juice, or some form of natural flavoring. It also serves as a natural carbonation process and provides the "fizz" to the finished product.

When you buy store-bought Kombucha, it is "force carbonated" with CO2, much like a soft drink or beer.

On one of my batches, the secondary fermentation didn't provide the carbonation I was seeking so I decided to try to force-carbonate on my own.

I had a "Soda Stream" appliance sitting on my counter and thought if this thing would carbonate water, surely it could handle carbonating a little kombucha.

Boy did it ever.

Kombucha and the process of natural carbonation always has the potential to build up CO2 pressure and one should ALWAYS exercise caution when opening a fermented bottle. Think about shaking a can of Coke and opening it.

You can probably see where this is going.

This batch of Kombucha was red, flavored from a Triple Berry blend, but it was flat. So I poured some into the plastic Soda Stream bottle and screwed it onto the appliance.

After a few pumps of CO2, I began to unscrew the bottle. It was a slow-motion explosion that began on the countertop, and quickly moved to the sink. I did have the presence of mind to grab a towel and cover the bottle top.

But this pressure was not holding forever. Thank heavens the bottle was plastic. This allowed me to avoid a likely trip to the emergency room for stitches from shattering glass.

Accepting my fate, I tried to turn the bottle upside down and point it toward the drain while uncovering the top of the bottle.

It flipped back over like it was shot out of a cannon and red liquid shot all over the kitchen. It resembled a cross between a crime scene and a sprinkler system malfunction.

A million things shot through my mind, most notably that I needed to clean my wife's kitchen and fast! It was such a disaster area, I had no idea where to start. I grabbed a stack of towels and proceeded to clean, mop, and wipe down for what would take hours.

Thinking I was done, I gazed at the ceiling and saw that the Kombucha had not only stained the ceiling, it took the paint off, all the way down to the drywall. Yep, I had to paint the entire ceiling before my wife got home.

What a day.

We'll leave things there. Start your fermented food journey today. And for heaven's sake, NEVER try to force-carbonate Kombucha with a Soda Stream!

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Next week we'll talk about adding fiber to your diet to benefit all the gains we're making from fermented foods.

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Take care,

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Jeff