Gut health is at the heart of bone health

How do we support bone health and gut health? Here’s an easy way that only has 3 ingredients; sauerkraut. Let’s dive into this traditional food and all it’s healing qualities.

“Your gut is said to contain over 100 trillion microorganisms or “gut flora,” which is more than 10 times the total number of cells in your body [1]

Unpasteurized sauerkraut contains probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria that act as the first line of defense against toxins and harmful bacteria. They can also improve your digestion and overall health.[2, 3, 4]

Probiotics like those in sauerkraut can help improve the bacterial balance in your gut after it has been disturbed by the use of antibiotics. This can help reduce or prevent antibiotic-provoked diarrhea.[5, 6

Research also shows that probiotics help reduce gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and symptoms linked to Crohn’s disease and ulcerative “colitis Probiotic supplements may contain anywhere from 1–50 billion colony-forming units (CFUs) per dose. In comparison, 1 gram of sauerkraut may contain 1,000–100 million CFUs.

Different probiotic strains may provide varying advantages. Thus, consuming a wide variety of strains may give you a broader range of health benefits.

In this regard, sauerkraut may have the advantage. Research has reported that one serving may contain up to 28 distinct bacterial strains.

Like most other fermented foods, sauerkraut contains a variety of enzymes, which help break down nutrients into smaller, more easily digestible molecules.”

- Healthline

3 Ingredients:

1. 1 head of organic cabbage (either green, purple or combination of green and purple)
2. 1 Tablespoon of kosher sea salt
3. 1 Quart glass ball jar with lid

Preparation:

1. Remove the outer layer of the cabbage but do not wash the cabbage
2. Slice in cabbage in half
3. Remove the core
4. Then thinly slice the two halves
5. Add your sea salt
6. Massage the sliced cabbage for about 10-15 minutes (until liquid comes out when you squeeze the sliced cabbage).
7. Pack into glass ball jar
8. Continue pushing down the cabbage allowing the liquid to rise to the top
9. When finished place the lid on the top but do no seal
10. Twice a day pack down the cabbage (morning and night)
11. 5-7 days you sauerkraut is finished
12. Place in the fridge and eat a tablespoon daily

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Transcript:

00:00:00 This is Irma Jennings from food for Healthy Bones. And I’m here with my kitchen mate, Vicki Sarnoff. And of course, Skelly is here because Skelly is a skeleton that lives in us all. What we’re about to explain and show and demonstrate today is sauerkraut. And why does that matter? Because our gut health is the vital aspect of all health, bone health, heart health. Overall health is good health. Sauerkraut is a wonderful, probiotic and natural probiotic to support good health. Vicki is gonna tell us about it, the nuances of it.

00:00:34 And then we’re going show you how to make it. How easy this to make it. Could tell me about sauerkraut, where did it come from and where did it originate?

A lot of people think that sauerkraut really came from Germany or in that area because of its name. But it really originated in China. China? Yes. When they were building the Great Wall of China, the workers would eat, especially during the summer. They would have rice and cabbage, and in the winter months, they decided they needed to keep it from going bad.

00:01:03 They added rice vinegar, to it, and they really created a fermented food. Eventually, when Genghis Khan was conquering the world, sauerkraut was brought to Middle Europe and it settled into Germany. And that’s where it got its name.

Who knew? So I always thought it was a German or American hot dog. No. Okay, it really came from China. So tell us more about sauerkraut. What is going to be your your process? What are we going to do today? We’re gonna pick a green cabbage.

00:01:38  I want you to wash your hands first before you start working, and then remove that outer layer, which is sort of the dirty layer of the cabbage. But we’re not going to wash the cabbage because we’ll need the bacteria that comes from the soil, which is eventually going to make the Lactobacillus brevis and  Lactobacillus plantarum that we need to ferment. This is organic cabbage. 

Absolutely. Start with organic cabbage, okay, because you don’t want the creepy crawly. You know the herbicides, pesticides or any of those things.

00:02:07 We take our cabbage, cut it in half and cut out the core. And once the core is removed, you can start slicing the cabbage.

00:02:19 I say thin slices. Maybe the width of a dime really works. Well. Doesn’t matter.

00:02:26 It doesn’t really matter. You could even have thicker ones. If you ever eat kimchi, it’s often very similar process, just different spices.

00:02:34 For my very much perfectionist clients who want to make sure that it’s exactly right, that’s not necessary, I just want to cut it up.

00:02:45 Absolute. Just nice slices, OK, Once you sliced your cabbage, put it in a nice sized bowl that you can maneuver with.

00:02:53 The only other ingredient we’re going to use is salt. And you should really use a kosher sea salt, which is a chunkier salt.

00:03:02 Uh, but it’s wonderful. So for a nice size cabbage, you only need one tablespoon of salt.

00:03:08 Now, I don’t like a lot of salt, right? What would I do? I would cut that down a little bit.

00:03:14 I used 3/4 of a tablespoon. Salt is absolute.  You need that salt which will draw the liquid that we need to create the fermentation process.

00:03:22 Once you coat your cabbage in the salt, we then spend 10 to 15 minutes massaging that cabbage, and it can be done as a very meditative process.

00:03:33 You can just really get into massaging and rubbing that cabbage together, and we do that until the liquid start flow from the cabbage and it’s going to drip.

00:03:44 It’s gonna drip. But I want to say one thing. This is the mindfulness. Not only do you cut a cabbage in half and then you look, you look at the cabbage.

00:03:52 Don’t forget to look because it almost looks like a tree on the inside. And this is just a reminder how magnificent nature is.

00:03:58 And then we have this moment of massaging, mindful, lovingly sending loving thoughts, and this is a single test you don’t want to have.

00:04:07 Ignore what’s going on in the background. You want to be in it and feel it. Feel the juice and your hands will feel it.

00:04:13 It takes some work to do it, but it’s really very good for you. So I was just listening to an interview yesterday with Dr Lani Simpson about arthritis is how we have to move our joints.

00:04:23 And this is a great exercise for that. And what’s the next step? So once we have those juices flowing, we’re going take a quart sized bowl jar, which is a glass jar, and we’re gonna take a handful of it, and we’re going to slowly start packing it in.

00:04:41 We do a little bit of the time and keep pressing it down because there’s little air bubbles and we want to push those air bubbles up and always keep some of that liquid around.

00:04:50 Use all the liquid that we’ve created from the massaging, and we’re going to do that slowly until we fill up the jar. 

00:04:58 You need about half an inch to an inch of liquid above, because it has to grow in an anaerobic environment, meaning it doesn’t have any air, so the oxygen is not there.

00:05:10 That’s why we’re pressing all those little air bubbles and the liquid stays on top the entire time. 

00:05:18 We massage and we pack now. Once you’ve packed it, it’s not over yet. Put the lid on very lightly or you could put a piece of cheesecloth over it, and we’re gonna let that sit for anywhere from 5 to 8 days.

00:05:32 But every day you have homework to do, you have to pack it down twice a day. I like to do this in the morning, I’ll get up, I wash my hands, and then I will pack the cabbage again and just push it down because a little bit will float to the top.

00:05:49 Pack it down. Those little air bubbles will keep rising up. Put the lid lightly on it and let it sit again.

00:05:54 I do it again before I go to bed at night. It’s almost like brushing your teeth, right?

00:05:57 You do it twice, do it twice a day. I get up in the morning pack my sauerkraut and before you go to bed pack your sauerkraut

00:06:05 But you also you will notice by the next morning, and for the next couple of days you’re going to see all these little bubbles forming on the top.

00:06:12 That’s the fermentation process. That’s the exciting thing that you want to have happened. And once those bubbles disappear and it stops doing that your sauerkraut is done.

00:06:22 You can seal it up, put it in the refrigerator. Oh, I forgot one important thing. What’s that?

00:06:27 When you're done packing it, take a little piece of tape and put the date on it just so you know when you did it.

00:06:33 It’s a reminder when it’s stored in the refrigerator. You know, it’s certainly good for a couple of months.

00:06:40 But it’s nice to know when you actually created it right? So when that sauerkraut ends up in the back of the refrigerator, you can look at it and say  “I made it a month ago and I could still eat it, which is a beautiful thing”.

00:06:50 Now what’s the cost of making sauerkraut? An organic cabbage and a glass ball jar. Um, you can sometimes get the jar for a dollar.

00:07:01 So I say the whole thing, including a jar, and everything costs  $5.65 or $6 for your belly, for you gut health.

00:07:09 Isn’t that a beautiful thing? And then you should eat every day anywhere from a tablespoon to two, maybe three tablespoons. Depends.

00:07:17 You know, I like it as a side dish for things that I’m eating, like put it on food.

00:07:22 But, you know, it’s wonderful to get that bacteria in your belly. Start slowly with a tablespoon.

00:07:27 It could even be a little bit less and then work your way up. And adding it to food.

00:07:33 Thanks and on hot dogs. But some of us still eat hot dogs. Um, but on other pieces, if you’re an animal protein eater or you could put it on the side of a pork chop or even a steak.  Have you ever made it in an omelette?

00:07:48 The thing about sauerkraut is, I know that a lot of people grew up eating sauerkraut on hot dogs, and it was kept hot.

00:07:56 It was in a heated container, and they put the sauerkraut on. You’re destroying the bacteria so you don’t want to do that so I wouldn’t put it inside and out.

00:08:07 Yes, that’s the heat. The heat, right? All right. So what do you think, Do you think you’re going to try this?

00:08:12 We told you is how really simple this is. Now you can get a little bit more advanced if you want to add garlic or various kinds of seeds like caraway seeds.

00:08:24 You can add carrots. You can add turmeric or raw ginger, too. Yeah, that’s great.

00:08:30 I would just grate ginger. You could grate carrots into it.

00:08:35 You could do the ginger. I love that. Yeah. Um, and any other vegetable. If you want to put it in there, it’ll ferment with it.

00:08:42 That’s great. How about that? Okay, Irma from Food for Healthy Bones with Vicki Sarnoff signing off.

00:09:04 www.foodforhealthybones.com. There you could sign up for my 30 Essential Foods for Bone Health and you’ll receive my monthly newsletter.

00:09:13 You can also see all my blog posts. I’ve been blogging for the past 12 years on all things bones.

Resource Links:

[1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12583961/

[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4058509/

[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19584499/

[4] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30267869/

[5] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22570464/

[6]https://www.cochranelibrary.com/cdsr/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD006095.pub3/full