GUT HEALTH
The health of your digestive tract and gut flora directly correlates with your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.
The connection between gut and health has been overlooked in the past 50 years; however, it is increasingly gaining attention. Populations are experiencing increased instances of diet-related gut issues than ever before:
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Weight struggles & obesity affects 1 billion people
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Malnutrition & hunger affects 1 billion people
Studies conducted by the Dannon Company in 2007 showed that:
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Nearly 90% of Americans deal with occasional problems with digestion
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70% of women say digestive concerns negatively impact their daily lives
Digestive concerns aren’t a fun topic of conversation and many suffer embarrassment, worry, and discomfort over their rumbling and gurgling stomachs, cramping, bloating and gas, and constipation or diarrhea.
CLEANLINESS
In an era of digestive issues, we also live in a world preoccupied with cleanliness. Antibacterial soaps, sprays, creams, and pills are a constant presence.
Biocides, commonly known as “life-killers,” such as pesticides, fungicides, and antibiotics:
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Infuse our fresh produce
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Saturate our meat and dairy products
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Contaminate our city water
While these chemicals may kill some harmful bacteria, they also take a toll on our immune system by killing many of our life-sustaining good bacteria. The truth is that microscopic bacteria and fungi, including yeasts and molds, are in every breath we take and every bite we eat. Without them, there would be no life!
MICROORGANISMS
An estimated 100 trillion microorganisms—more than 500 different species!—inhabit every normal, healthy digestive tract. These microbial cultures are essential to life’s processes. Eating and drinking fermented foods increases the biodiversity of good bacteria present in the body.
Diverse, good bacteria boost immunity and fight off harmful bacteria, including:
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Parasites
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Viruses
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Infections
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Disease
Even though most of our favorite foods and beverages were traditionally fermented—beer, wine, chocolate, tea, cheese, bread, and more—many commercially available fermented foods are now pasteurized, which means they have been heated to the point that all microorganisms die.
This process renders the food “lifeless.”
PRESERVATIVES & DIGESTION
Preservatives, often synthetic, are introduced after processing to ensure a standardized, commercially-ready product that extends the product’s shelf-life. The pasteurization process destroys precious enzymes and eliminates any health benefits of “live” foods.
Live, unpasteurized, fermented beverages carry beneficial bacteria directly into our digestive systems where they exist symbiotically:
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Breaking down food
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Increasing nutrient content
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Aiding digestion
Fermentation alone is a form of pre-digestion. It allows microbial cultures to begin breaking down the food and beverage even before we consume it. Thanks to these microbes, the digestibility of such foods actually doubles. Microbial cultures in fermented beverages also create B vitamins—including B12!—which provide energy.
PROBIOTICS
Daily consumption of probiotics has been proven to help the treatment of:
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Parasites
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Diarrhea
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Crohn’s disease
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Irritable Bowel Syndrome
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Female urogenital problems—such as bacterial vaginosis, yeast infections, & UTIs
While probiotic supplements obtained from health food stores contain selected bacteria that promote healthy digestion, you can become more resilient to area specific illnesses by simply ingesting fermented beverages made with ingredients from your local environment.
Stated simply, the “good” local bugs usually know how to fight the “bad” local bugs better than some other “good” bugs that are bottled and sold to you from another country—or even another town or city.
DIET + GUT + IMMUNITY
As we increase our understanding of the connection between diet, gut health, and the immune system, it seems increasingly clear that science is figuring out what folk medicine known for generations: Sometimes a little “sour” is just what the body needs!