For the love of sauerkraut

I've known about sauerkraut being a superfood for a couple years now, but haven't gotten around to making it until now.  Well, actually I did attempt it once, but it turned out all soggy so I was rather nervous to try it again.  I do buy the Bubbie's now and then, but the kids have learned to love it so much that they were eating wayyy too much of it.  (Not too much of the benefits, but the cost was too high!)  I figured I'd better buckle down and try it again.  I do have a shredder, so the work wasn't scaring me, but just the fact that *things*can*go*wrong*, if you know what I mean.  What if it molds?  Is soggy? Tastes weird?  I looked into what causes these things and learned a few things that I'll share with you down below.

What's so good about sauerkraut anyways, you ask?  Here's a list to get you started from Probiotics- Love That Bug

"If you still need convincing on the benefits of sauerkraut just take a look at what Lactobacillus plantarum - the biggest group of bacteria in fully fermented cabbage - has been proven to do.

• Provides (lots of) Vitamin C - Captain Cook prevented his crew from catching scurvy by taking barrels of sauerkraut with them
• Reduced incidence of diarrhea in daycare centres⁴
• Especially effective in reducing inflammation in inflammatory bowel; e.g., enterocolitis in rats, small bowel bacterial overgrowth in children, pouchitis⁴
• Reduced pain and constipation of irritable bowel syndrome⁴
• Reduced bloating, flatulence, and pain in irritable bowel syndrome⁵
• Positive effect on immunity in HIV+ children⁶
• Drastically reduces the phytic acid, polyphenols and trypsin inhibitor activity in grains and soy which significantly increases the digestibility of starch and protein⁷
• Contains the antioxidants glutathione and superoxide dismustase which can help fight off free radicals.
• Turns hard to digest lactose into easily to digest lactic acid.
• Helps generate omega-3 fatty acid and GTF chromium a trace mineral that help with digestion"
• Reduces cancer too (link)

"Nature provides the most effective stomach acid regulator, which is unpasteurized sauerkraut. Sauerkraut is unique because it raises stomach acid "if" it is too low, and it lowers stomach acid "if" it is too high. Eating 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sauerkraut with meals is one of the best ways to improve digestion." (source)

Here's what I've learned about making it-

#1. Use an airlock.  These are a one-way valve that have water in them to let the oxygen out and ensure that your kraut stays anaerobic (this is the reaction that takes place that turns plain old cabbage into probiotic heaven).  You can buy them online or at a homebrew store.  I bought a couple and Greg fitted them into a plastic wide mouth mason lid with a bung (rubber stopper with a hole in the middle), that you can also buy at the same place.  Mold likes air, so keeping air out of the jar will keep it out of your kraut. (huge peace of mind for me)

#2. Make sure your cabbage is under liquid.  If needed, add a bit more water.  This is your best bet at reducing mold.

#3.  Don't get bogged down by a million different recipes.  There are MANY ways to do it, so pick one and go for it (from a reputable source, of course).  Mother Earth News, Cultures for Health have good information.

I've only made it a few times, so am no expert, but here's what I do.  I found this recipe in a book I have, and the woman said to just make sure you have at least 1 T. of salt per quart jar of kraut (that tastes right to us, but you can use up to 3 T).  Don't use more than 3 T. because you can inhibit the probiotic effect if you do.  I use a 2 qt. jar, so use 2 T. of salt.  The reason for the salt is to keep bacteria at bay until the lactic acid takes over and converts the cabbage into sauerkraut.  Non-iodized salt is necessary as iodine can change the condition of cabbage and inhibit good bacteria growth.  Sea salt or pickling salt is fine.

The whey is optional.  Yogurt and kefir (and anything with liquid whey) can be used to give your sauerkraut a jump start.  It is filled with the exact good bacteria you're looking for, so adding it speeds up the process.  I haven't used it, but you sure can.

Sauerkraut Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 medium head of cabbage
• One of the following:
  • 1 to 3 tablespoons non iodized salt or
  • 1 to 3 tablespoons salt and ¼ cup whey or
  • (A starter culture such as Caldwell’s Cultured Vegetable Starter or Body Ecology Starter Culture and salt as indicated by the instructions for the specific culture you are working with)

Instructions

Our shredder (hire your kids to do this part), a food processor would work good too

Jamming it down into the 2 qt. jar (1 medium head)

1. Chop or shred the cabbage depending on the desired consistency of the final product. Sprinkle with salt. (the salt pulls the liquid out of the cabbage, so add salt, leave it and then move onto #2)
2. Work the cabbage with clean hands or potato masher until there is plenty of liquid and the cabbage is a bit mushy. This portion of the process usually takes about 10 minutes.
3. If using whey, add the whey and mix well. If using a starter culture, add the culture as specified by the instructions that came with the culture.
4. Stuff the cabbage into the fermenting container, pressing the cabbage underneath the liquid. If necessary, add a bit of water to completely cover cabbage. (don't fill the jar more than 2/3-3/4 full as it expands over time)  I found 1 medium-large head filled a 2 qt. jar just about right. 
5. Culture for 3 to 10 days at room temperature. A longer fermentation period can be used if desired. (I did just 3 days each time, the warmer the temperature, the faster it will ferment)
6. Once the sauerkraut is finished, move to a storage container, if desired. Store the sauerkraut in the refrigerator or in a root cellar after the culturing process. Many people find that aging the sauerkraut in the refrigerator or root cellar for 4 to 6 weeks improves the flavor (it also increases probiotic activity the longer you leave it, but we end up eating it too fast!)
7.  Eat as desired.  Try to eat some with each meal (we usually forget, but try to get some in at lunch and supper if we can).  Use a clean utensil each time to keep bad bacteria out and the good stuff in.
   
   
   

   

   These gadgets are from my applesauce maker, but they work great to put it into the jar.

   

   2 quart jar with airlock

   
   

Makes approximately 1-2 quart.

 (PS.  My photos are no Pioneer Woman's, as I'm a mom of 5 little ones.  Lucky to even get them here!)

Dental discussion - part 2

Quick update here on James' teeth.  Yesterday we had to go and get the first cavity filled.  Unfortunately the cavity was right through the nerve, exposing it.  There was no infection present, but can still happen.  The dentist ended up doing a pulpectomy (baby root canal?) and then filling the remaining area open.  I wasn't too happy to have to have this done, but didn't know of any other options.  Having an exposed nerve is not a good thing, nor is an infection/abscess.  So, that's that.

Anyhow, the dentist was wondering a few things.  All of his cavities are on the back sides of his first molars (top and bottom, both sides).  She said that she's never seen that before.  She said that most often cavities randomly show up here and there, without a consistent pattern.  These are all in the exact same spot on 4 different teeth.  The other weird thing is that the newer molars that are touching these ones are completely healthy, no decay at all.  She said that often doesn't happen either.  If a molar has a cavity between it, then the touching molar often is decayed as well.

It got me to thinking and I came up with 2 different theories.   

1)  His health problems began with jaundice at birth along with his allergies and eczema.  We did elimination diets and tried all kinds of creams, but didn't actually get any real information on what was wrong nor what to do about it until he went to the Herbalist when he was 18 months old.(Read about it here)  These first molars would have been in by then, and because his digestion was so poor, he likely wasn't absorbing near enough vitamins and minerals to maintain healthy teeth.  Thus the cavities in his 4 major molars.  He also wasn't nursing anymore, so didn't have that back up easy-to-digest nutrition either.  By the time those second molars came in, we were doing lots of specific diet changes, probiotics and digestive enzymes which helped him get a lot more nutrients out of his food.

2)  He may have had silent acid reflux as I wrote about in part 1, and we didn't know about it.  Being his digestion was so poor, this very likely could have been true, since the decay is on the back side of each molar.  Many people have silent reflux, causing stomach acid to come up their throat in the night and causing it to eat the enamel on their teeth.  Adding in the above changes may have very well taken care of it. (better digestion)

The third thing (this was mentioned to me by a friend) was to look into a Tooth Meridian Chart.  This is kind of like reflexology, in that each tooth corresponds to a body organ.  On James, his cavities are in the "liver" area.  Hmmm.  I haven't looked into this any further, and our dentist had never heard of it, but makes me wonder.  

Our bodies are simply amazing, and this tells me how much we think we know about how they work, and how much we really don't know.  What I do know is this- cavities aren't caused by brushing/flossing or lack of it.  This isn't the main cause anyhow.  We are faithful at brushing, in yet he got these 4 and the other kids have none.  Does that make sense?  This tells me that it is an internal factor in the health of the teeth.  I know sugar is a main component in many ways (bacteria decaying on the outside, calcium/magnesium/phosphorus balance from the inside (link here) )  I've quoted this before too, but it's worth repeating, from Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions, "Last, but not least, sugar consumption is the cause of bone loss and dental decay. Tooth decay and bone loss occur when the precise ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the blood varies from the normal ratio of 4 parts phosphorus to 10 parts calcium. At this proportion, all blood calcium can be properly utilized. Dr. Melvin Page of Florida demonstrated in numerous studies that sugar consumption causes phosphorus levels to drop and calcium to rise. Calcium rises because it is pulled from the teeth and the bones. The drop in phosphorus hinders the absorption of this calcium, making it unusable and therefore toxic. Thus, sugar consumption causes tooth decay not because it promotes bacterial growth in the mouth, as most dentists believe, but because it alters the internal body chemistry. Orthodox nutritionists admit that sugar causes tooth decay, although they may be mistaken about just why this is so, but their warnings to avoid tooth decay by limiting sweets are disingenuous. Most people would be willing to pay the price for bad teeth as long as they did not have to stop eating sugar. After all, teeth can be repaired or replaced. But poor teeth are always the outward sign of other types of degeneration in the body, degeneration that cannot be repaired by mechanical means."

I also know what I'm going to focus on now.  Getting healthy new adult teeth for these kids so that they can have healthy teeth for life.  Greg & I have decided to try to stay as much as we can on the diet we've been doing.  We are allowing a few grains in here and there, but have also upped our sauerkraut intake because probiotics->better digestion->better absorption of all those important vitamins and minerals.  (Sauerkraut blog post soon to come!)  Also, when the adult teeth come in, ages 12-16 are the most critical for focusing on healthy diet to avoid cavities.  This is the time when the adult teeth do the most hardening (of enamel), and if you can avoid cavities/decay during this period, you are pretty much good for life unless your nutritional status is totally low.  Greg recalls that was the age was when his eating habits were the worst, and also when his cavities all showed up too.

I regret not getting those first 2 cavities filled when they were tiny (it's a long story why we didn't), but have learned a lot about teeth since then! 

How about you?  What have been your experiences?