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The evidence that ones gut flora is way more important then previously thought just keeps growing and it seems that it's really come into the public consciousness now with diet books etc hitting the shelves.
I've been interested in this for a while having had gut problems caused by long term NSAID usage.
I've been messing around with making kefir and sauerkraut and am about to give kimchi and kombucha a shot.
if you don't know, kefir is a fermented milk product popular in E.Europe and Asia, a bit like yoghurt but whereas yoghurt has one or two strains of bacteria, kefir has more like 30 plus yeasts. It contains a lot of live organisms and they're proven to make it to the gut alive. It's got a pretty decent nutrient profile with protein, lowish carbs, vitamins B, K and D.
There are a lot of health claims that you'd expect with natural foods like cancer reduction and all that crap but ignoring that, the evidenced effects seem worthwhile. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3833126/ It craps on store bought probiotics as far as I can work out.
Making it is an easy and never-ending cycle as it keeps making more of the "grains" that you add to the milk. Let it sit for a day and that's about it other than sieving out the grains for the next lot. I make a batch every couple of days and use it in my morning smoothie instead of milk, it's kind of sour but the other ingredients balance it out so it's nice.
Likewish sauerkraut is pretty damned easy too. Shred your veg, salt it and let it sit in the jar for however long you want to. I'm find it that one a bit more of a taste challenge.
Anyone making their own fermented foods?
Michael Mosley, the guy who did the 5:2 diet book, has done a book on it called Clever Guts: https://cleverguts.com - it's quite interesting, providing lots of evidence of just how important the balance of gut flora is in health and how shitty western diets trash it and how it's implicated in health issues including metabolic disease, obesity and so on.
I realise in the forum that most of us are interested in building muscle and recovering from martial arts and not so much about health but the anti-inflammatory effects might help with getting over your 2 hour sparring session. So have at it!
I've been interested in this for a while having had gut problems caused by long term NSAID usage.
I've been messing around with making kefir and sauerkraut and am about to give kimchi and kombucha a shot.
if you don't know, kefir is a fermented milk product popular in E.Europe and Asia, a bit like yoghurt but whereas yoghurt has one or two strains of bacteria, kefir has more like 30 plus yeasts. It contains a lot of live organisms and they're proven to make it to the gut alive. It's got a pretty decent nutrient profile with protein, lowish carbs, vitamins B, K and D.
There are a lot of health claims that you'd expect with natural foods like cancer reduction and all that crap but ignoring that, the evidenced effects seem worthwhile. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3833126/ It craps on store bought probiotics as far as I can work out.
Making it is an easy and never-ending cycle as it keeps making more of the "grains" that you add to the milk. Let it sit for a day and that's about it other than sieving out the grains for the next lot. I make a batch every couple of days and use it in my morning smoothie instead of milk, it's kind of sour but the other ingredients balance it out so it's nice.
Likewish sauerkraut is pretty damned easy too. Shred your veg, salt it and let it sit in the jar for however long you want to. I'm find it that one a bit more of a taste challenge.
Anyone making their own fermented foods?
Michael Mosley, the guy who did the 5:2 diet book, has done a book on it called Clever Guts: https://cleverguts.com - it's quite interesting, providing lots of evidence of just how important the balance of gut flora is in health and how shitty western diets trash it and how it's implicated in health issues including metabolic disease, obesity and so on.
I realise in the forum that most of us are interested in building muscle and recovering from martial arts and not so much about health but the anti-inflammatory effects might help with getting over your 2 hour sparring session. So have at it!