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Better Bones Blog
Dr. Susan E. Brown

Challenge 9: Fermented Foods

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susancircleEvery day is a new opportunity to grow and transform our body, mind and spirit.
When we slow down to listen to the wisdom within us — and in the world around us
— wonderful changes can occur.

To help you get started, I’ll share a weekly “Transformational Challenge” that can
bring both growth and joy into your life. I’ll also be focusing my attention on
the challenge right along with you, so I would love to hear about your experiences.

Yours in Health, Susan

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Take Care of Your Internal Compost Heap!

The human body has ten times more bacteria cells than human cells. These bacteria support health in many ways, and recently a healthy balance in bacteria has been associated with greater bone strength. Eating fermented foods (probiotics)  is the time-honored way humans get these bacteria.

This week’s transformational challenge is to incorporate at least one fermented food into your diet each day. This could include sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, miso, true pickles, kimchi, apple cider vinegar with mother, or aged cheeses. Here is a great mango-ginger chutney recipe from Cultures for Health.

mango_chutney_200px

 

Bonus: Try making your own ferments!

 

Milk Increases Fracture Risk
Dr. Susan E. Brown

Does drinking milk INCREASE the risk of fracture?

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istockphoto_4788466-bottle-with-milkAre you worried about bone loss because you didn’t drink milk as a child?  As I often explain to concerned clients, while calcium is an important bone nutrient, there’s a large body of evidence suggesting that milk is not central to healthy bones.  In fact, in many parts of the world where milk drinking is uncommon the osteoporotic fracture rate is very low.

Now a large Swedish study suggests that drinking three or more glasses of milk a day may actually increase the risk for fracture. Even more, abundant milk usage raised the odds of an earlier death!

What the research says

Here’s what researchers discovered in the impressive study of 100,000 women and men over more than 20 years:

  • There was no reduction in risk of any fracture with higher milk consumption.  In fact, there was a slight increase in fracture among those with higher milk consumption
  • Furthermore, those women who drank three or more glasses of milk a day had nearly a doubled risk of mortality as compared with those who consumed less than one glass a day. Specifically deaths from cardiovascular disease and cancer increased.
  • There was a positive association between higher milk intake and undesirable inflammatory markers (urine 8-iso-PGF2a and interleukin 6).
  • BUT, the use of fermented milk products such as yogurt, sour milk, kefir and cheese actually significantly reduced the incidence of hip fracture and death. For example, for every serving of fermented dairy consumed, women experienced a 10 to 15% reduction in both hip fracture and mortality. Eating  fermented dairy was also associated with a decrease in oxidative stress and inflammation.

What does this mean for you?

First, don’t spend one minute more thinking how your current skeleton might be fitter if you drank more milk in the past.

Next, while you do want a total of 1,200 mg calcium from diet and supplements together, you don’t need to get it from milk. One idea is to move to fermented dairy as an excellent source of calcium, phosphorus, protein and life-supporting probiotics. Think yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, aged cheese. What’s more, here’s a detailed list of even more calcium-rich foods.

 

References:

Michaelsson, K et al., Milk intake and risk of mortality and fractures in women and men: cohort studies. British Journal of Medicine, 2014:349, Oct 28, 2014.

Brown, Susan E. Better Bones Better Body: Beyond Estrogen and Calcium, Keats Publishing, 2000.

 

Dr. Susan E. Brown

The Wisdom of Fermented Foods

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iStock_000034329024Small

How many of you can recall your parents or grandparents making sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles, buttermilk yogurt, sourdough breads, or wine? I fondly recall that odorous crock of fermented buckwheat pancake batter sitting on our wood stove all winter long, with tangy fresh pancakes made each morning.

As a child I was simply eager to taste the results, and certainly didn’t realize that regular consumption of fermented foods is a wisdom-driven, old-fashioned culinary custom.

Did you know these facts about fermented foods?

•    The bacteria in fermented foods are essential for our well-being.  They produce vitamins, protein, and essential amino acids, enhance our digestion, increase our immunity and much more.
•    Consumption of a wide range of aged and cultured foods has provided humans with beneficial bacteria that crowded out pathogenic bacteria, supporting life in many ways.
•    Bacterial fermentation extended the “shelf life” of highly perishable milk by transforming it into much less heat-sensitive cheeses, yogurt, and butter. When fermented, cabbage and other vegetables could be stored and consumed all winter long; meat—dried, salted or aged—could last on long voyages.
•    The use of fermented foods advanced food security around the world and extended human possibilities.
•    With the introduction of home refrigerators in the late 1920s, fermented food lost favor, much to the detriment of our digestive and immune systems. In addition, Louis Pasteur’s identification of harmful pathogenic bacteria cast a shadow over the microbial world as a whole.

Fermented foods today – back in vogue!

Luckily, fermented foods are coming back into vogue.  For enrichment of health and enhanced food flavor, I suggest daily consumption of our tiny “good guy allies” in the form of kefir, yogurt, buttermilk, sauerkraut, aged cheeses, olives, kimchi, fermented pickles (made without vinegar), pickled garlic, beets or radish, miso, tempeh, fermented soy sauce, and kombucha.

What’s your favorite fermented food?

How to transform your digestion
Dr. Susan E. Brown

Osteoporosis, digestion and fermented foods

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Marinated cabbage (sauerkraut) in glass jar, selective focus

Poor digestion ranks right along with vitamin D deficiency as a key factor in the development of osteoporosis, osteopenia and needless fracture. Years ago I developed a simple 10 Steps to Stronger Digestion program that has helped countless individuals to enhance their digestion.

But I recently discovered that I overlooked an important ancient custom that can literally transform digestion — eating fermented foods.

Fermented foods bring our body’s ecology into balance, enhancing beneficial bacteria and controlling unwanted pathogenic bacteria. Fermented foods are tasty and making your own is economical, easy, and leaves you with a feeling of self-reliance. Most importantly, eating them on a daily basis can transform your digestion — it certainly has transformed mine. My top 3 favorite, easy ferment recipes are sauerkraut, pickled ginger, and kefir. I enjoy making and eating them!

Here’s how I make sauerkraut

1.    Wash the cabbage and take off the tough outer leaves (one of which will be used later).

2.    Shred the cabbage with a mandolin or knife.

3.    Put the shredded cabbage in a large glass bowl. Thoroughly mix the crushed cabbage with your hands or a wooden spoon. Add 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt for each ½ head of large cabbage. (You can salt to taste. The salt helps the fermentation process, and controls undesirable bacteria). Juice should exude from the cabbage as it is crushed.

4.    Firmly pack the crushed cabbage and its juices in a wide mouth quart size Ball canning jar. Press it down tightly with a spatula or wooden spoon. Make sure that all the air is out of the jar and the cabbage is packed in its juices.

5.    Add spring water as necessary to cover the cabbage. Then cut one of the outer cabbage leaves to fit inside the jar, providing a sort of seal.

6.    I use an air-lock jar cap which allows for release of the gases produced by fermentation without letting air into the jar. You want the process to be totally anaerobic, that is, without oxygen. You can make your ferment without an air-lock device, but using the lock solves the problem of messy overflow as the cabbage ferments. I put a shot glass on top of the leaf and screw on the air-lock cover, compressing the cabbage even further (others find this shot glass compression is not necessary to keep the cabbage covered with water).

7.    The length of the pickling session varies depending on temperature and amount of salt. I let it sit for four days and then taste. My last batch was great at five days.

8.    When you are satisfied with the taste, put a regular ball jar cover on the jar and refrigerate.

9.    Enjoy!