Nutrition counseling for those who want to feel healthier

Probiotics got their name from anti-biotics.  Antibiotics kill bacteria harmful to us or to our animals -- in short they remedy ill health.  Probiotics, on the other hand, increase beneficial bacteria and are thus preventative of ill health.  Even without their new label they've been hard at work for millennia, a fact we are increasingly waking up to.  Yogurt, which was hard to find in the '50s, is now everywhere and more people are returning to home made sauerkraut.  This very readable book explains the science behind these healthy trends.  It also mentions some of the developing uses of probiotics in the food and ag industries.

            How do probiotics do their magic?  The answer is fermentation, a process which lowers the pH (i.e., makes more acidic) the food in question, be it milk or cabbage or something else, to where the harmful bacteria cannot survive.  For a definition of fermentation, see the box below.  The other benefit fermented food offers us is the help it provides, using enzymes, in digestion.  That is, some of the work is done for us.  The protein in the fermented soy product tempeh, for example, is broken down into its amino acids and therefore easier for us to absorb.  This is why fermented food is recommended for people with compromised digestion.

            Half the book is devoted to yogurt and its many proven -- and some conjectured -- benefits not only to digestive health but also to retarding bone loss, discouraging tumors, raising HDL/cholesterol,  and lowering LDL/cholesterol.  Furthermore, bifido-bacteria are credited with synthesizing B vitamins, an important adjunct for vegetarians who aren't getting Bs from meat.

Which yogurt to buy?  It's very important to check the label for the words "contains live cultures."  "Made with live cultures" won't do, as that claim allows re-pasteurization after culturing, which kills the bacteria.   Which bacteria do you want?  In order for yogurt to be called yogurt in the U.S., culturing must involve at least (lacto)bacillus bulgaricus and  streptococcus thermophilus.  All the brands I've looked at also contain acidophilus and lactobacillus bifidus.  Stonyfield adds lactobacillus rhamnosus, which the author reports as improving immune responses in those with intestinal inflammation. (See chapter 8.)

            After a nod to other cultured milk products like kefir, the book goes on to lacto-fermented vegetables like sauerkraut.  This fermentation is called "lacto" from the Latin for milk because the acid in question was first identified in milk.  No milk is involved, however, in making sauerkraut or kimchi or tempeh or miso.  How does fermenting vegetables differ from culturing milk?  The vegetables "do not require inoculation with a bacterium to ferment...[they] depend on a free and unpatented bacteria present in the air" (p.125) -- and, I would add,  on their leaves, grains or roots.

            For the vitamin conscious, here is an interesting tidbit.  Vitamin K-1 (good for blood clotting) and vitamin K-2 (good for moving calcium into bones and teeth) come from leafy greens.  Want a bonus?  The lactic acid bacteria that produce fermented food also produce K-2 when you eat that food.  If you're worried about your bones or your teeth, it might be time to start making your own sauerkraut -- it's easy and you'll know the bacteria haven't been pasteurized out of existence.  For a recipe go to my website: www.nutrition-matters.info.

            On both sides of the Atlantic research  into probiotics points to a correlation between certain gut flora and obesity.  Fat people have more of one kind, thin people of another.  Correlations do not posit cause and effect, but you can be sure the researchers are following up on this lead!

            Helpful books to look at if you want to ferment your food are:

Nourishing Traditions, Fallon & Enig, New Trends, 2001.

Making Sauerkraut and Pickled Vegetables at Home, Kaufmann & Schoneck, Books Alive.

Probiotic Foods for Good Health: Yogurt, Sauerkraut, and Other Beneficial Fermented Foods, B.T. Hunter, Basic Health, 2008

Wild Fermentation, S.E. Katz, Chelsea Green, 2003.