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Fermented foods shaped human biology

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21–30 of 65 posts

Re: Fermented foods shaped human biology

#21
This is an excellent article. Currently fermented foods are fashionable amongst those that care for such things, and this article spares the reader of the hype, hype which could be horse manure.

The Yakult company of Japan make these fermented foods things, calling the yogurts is a joke considering the ingredients. For decades they have been getting themselves banned by advertising standards for claims regarding beneficial bacteria that can't be backed up with science. Their product is marketing, yet millions believe their product works wonders - a placebo, if ever there was one.

I have an ongoing nutrition experiment, to cut processed foods and animal products from my diet. As a result, I cook from scratch at all times, even making my own bread. I don't use a fridge or a freezer since I don't buy anything that needs to be kept that cold.

What has surprised me is the absence of mold and decay. Before my experiment, I would regularly have to throw out lots of food that had gone bad, but now I don't have these problems. I thought modern preservation techniques made food last for longer, however, this has not been the case and I simply don't waste food.

In the article much is written about inflammation. Allegedly fermented foods help with that. But so does removing free sugar from the diet, along with processed foods and animal products. Therefore, before worrying about fermented foods, it is worth considering removing the junk first, as in all of it, to not eat HFSS (High Fat, Sugar and Salt).

A healthy gut is a huge upgrade to life and I don't think mine was healthy before my little experiment, but I knew nothing different, so I was not to know.

My advice for getting there is to cut the junk and cook from scratch, mostly, if not all, plants. Order should be restored to the gut microbiome with such a move, in a matter of days, no fermented foods needed.

Re: Fermented foods shaped human biology

#22

I read about fermented foods being good, like the old days. Sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, kefir. None of which sounded like something my celtic ancesters eat. Beer, cider, bread maybe. I see a disconnect.

>kefir. None of which sounded like something my celtic ancesters eat

celts consumed plenty of dairy. kefir is dairy. clotted cream is fermented and buttermilk and cheeses are fermented.

scandinavians eat fermented fish, and there was plenty of exchange and living side by side between scandinavians and northern celts.

Re: Fermented foods shaped human biology

#23
I've had this hypothesis that human bodies are kind of like cruise ships built by microbes. The larger body is not necessarily the one in control (like in the cruise ship metaphor). Maybe at some point, the vessel being built gains some control of its own - maybe this will happen with AI.

Re: Fermented foods shaped human biology

#24
post #12

Japanese eat fermented foods and have a long life expectancy.

And the highest rates of stomach cancer in the world (but maybe from fish parasites)

Plus, I don't think Japanese eat a lot more fermented foods than other cultures. It's way more prevalent in South Korea, China, Russia, etc.

Re: Fermented foods shaped human biology

#25

I read about fermented foods being good, like the old days. Sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, kefir. None of which sounded like something my celtic ancesters eat. Beer, cider, bread maybe. I see a disconnect.

Beer, cider and bread (leavened with yeast or sourdough at least) are fermented. What was your point again?

Re: Fermented foods shaped human biology

#28

I have some sauerkraut fermenting right now. It's in a kilner fermentation jar which has a water lock to keep it anaerobic. I'm also separately starting a new kombucha batch tomorrow. I started making these because I just like them - the sauerkraut is a great ingredient to have for various dishes or just to eat, and the kombucha was because I was getting bored with white wine at dinner and wanted something with a sim…

Back home in eastern Europe every household I knew (during communism when I was growing up but this continued) had a 30-50l glazed clay barrel with lid (same material) which would have a deep groove at the top where lid touched the barrel, which was filled with water to let the gasses out naturally once a bit of pressure accumulated. Usually in the cellar, and then common rooms for cellars in typical communist apartment blocks smelled accordingly (nothing bad, just matter of getting used to that).

Putting sauerkraut into barrel was a ritual for whole family - cutting cabbage heads on manual spinning cutter, then smaller person in the household would but a plastic bag on one foot/both feet and stand in the barrel, while family was adding more layers (to compress it all and get juices from cabbage out and salt in). It was mixed with some apples, spices like whole black pepper and salt. Once closed and water was put in, over time it would start regularly 'farting' out excess gasses from fermentation.

Lasted whole winter and then some, base for many nice meals but by far the best is hearty cabbage soup, tradition for not only Christmas dinner. That sauerkraut tasted/tastes much better than best bio stuff I can buy in most expensive Swiss/German shops.

Re: Fermented foods shaped human biology

#29

I have some sauerkraut fermenting right now. It's in a kilner fermentation jar which has a water lock to keep it anaerobic. I'm also separately starting a new kombucha batch tomorrow. I started making these because I just like them - the sauerkraut is a great ingredient to have for various dishes or just to eat, and the kombucha was because I was getting bored with white wine at dinner and wanted something with a sim…

For sauerkraut you don't even need a fancy jar. I use a big old coffee jar. I cut a cabbage leaf to fit over the top of the shredded cabbage so none floats up. I weigh that down with an old spice jar. The cabbage stays under the surface of the brine so the environment is naturally anaerobic.

it's easier than that. Take small cabbage heads (also works if cut into pieces, salad style). Put in some container - plastic tank, wooden barrel, glass jar, whatever - 2-or-20-or-120 liters. Add (sea) salt - 30-50g-per-liter-of-water (handwavey, can be corrected later), some grains of corn (or whole cob), a piece of apple, maybe some ginger, fill with water to cover the ingredients.. add something on top to keep things down, like river stone or heavy dish. Keep at below 15'C without freezeing (here usually in November, outside in the balcony.. until March). Once in a while have the water go up-down-up - which i do by just quickly kicking the jar for a minute.

Best eaten as salad with oil and red-pepper, and of course, wrapping pork minceballs.

nazdrave

https://www.bgfermer.bg/Article/13055366

Re: Fermented foods shaped human biology

#30
post #14

Sourdough and sunshine are all you need.

> sourdough nice, but too complicated. slice a cabbage, add some salt, pound it, stash it for 10-15 days, enjoy. easy peasy and delicious (optionally pour some olive oil, vinegar and pepper on the serving for flavour). just make sure i has enough juice to stay covered. odds are it doesn't; popular wisdom is topping it up with some extra brine. i prefer white wine.

Sourdough doesn't need to be complicated.

You get the starter by leaving flour and water at room temperature for several days. Once the starter is ready, it's just more flour and water, plus additional ingredients (salt, seeds, olive oil, etc) sitting for several hours until it's ready to go in the oven.

I've followed sourdough recipes that were extremely complicated, which required me doing task every few hours for 3 days (so no way to do it if you have a regular job). But at the most basic level sourdough is just a fermented mixture of flour and water that is then cooked.

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