Free ( almost ) Probiotics

My latest brew with frozen blueberries

Making my Rainbow Kraut

I had a very empowering weekend. I went to the David Suzuki Ready Summit and a Probiotic workshop.

Both these event confirms why I do what I do and that I am not alone. They also encourage me to continue and also connected me to like minded people.

The latter workshop did make some major changes within very little time. It was at the Richmond location of Galloway's Presented by Andrea Potter at Rooted Nutrition Vancouver

Andrea explained probiotics as any good organism that is beneficial to humans, they can be bacteria, mold or yeast. She also talked about how she was able to replace her expensive probiotic supplements with fermented foods rich in probiotics. When I heard that my ears perked up. She pointed out that probiotics found in natural food are more abundant, well balanced, easier to absorb and cost very little comparing to bottled supplements. She also touch upon live enzymes in the fermented foods, ENZYMES? I wonder if that could be like the digestive enzymes I started taking about 1 week ago and have already seen some improvements?

She reminded me that drink chlorinated water ( which I do not drink ) mess up the gut flora and with eating meats from animals that were fed antibiotics. I have to admit that I don't always buy organic meats. I get grass fed beef when I can and look for chicken that are antibiotics free.

She had samples of her fermented vegetables for us to try and mentioned about kombucha.

I left the workshop feeling inspired and with a jar of her Sea ‘Chi in hand.

On the way home, I picked up 2 heads of small cabbages, one green and one purple and went home and started shredding.

Since my last mini flare up in mid March, I had been really low on energy. I had gotten the bleeding mainly in control but still suffer from bloating, gas, sensitivity to cold and extreme fatigue. I had cut out all gassy vegetables and any sour foods in hope to keep the gassiness down. I was better than in March but somewhat miserable. I relied mainly on my Absorb Plus shakes and it's very unpredictable when I will eat real food or not every meal.

So that evening, I decided to add a bit of kraut juice back in my diet, just a couple tbsp with my dinner. Dinner went down well, I had steak, jimaca fried and a little bite of coleslaw. I had sips of kombucha after dinner and found my usual after dinner craving gone.

I had a bit more energy that evening after dinner probably from the caffeine in the kombucha. I slept fairly well.

The next morning, I started my morning with a sip of kombucha instead of my probiotic pill. I notice my energy level had gone from a 2 for the last month and a half to about an 8. A state I had almost forgotten how it felt like.

I had a normal lunch with real food along with my probiotic foods and drinks and continues feeling pretty great until about 2pm. By then mild bloating returned and I was cold and tired. I napped a little and took 4 Tissue Salt Ferr Phos to bring the inflammation down. By 4pm I was feeling less bloated, cold and tired.

Despite the fact that my energy didn't last all day long, I was still very impressed with how the probiotics in fermented foods made a difference in such a short time. Perhaps I ate a bit too much food for my system to handle even with my gut flora improving.

I will continue to take probiotic foods along with the pills and hopefully can build a healthy gut flora again.

Below are a few products I found to be helpful when making your own sauerkraut at home.

 



Andrea Potter Thank you for inspiring me to replace my probiotics supplements with the real thing straight from nature

Galloway's  Thank you for hosting an informative workshop