Fermented Foods….Nature’s Gift of Life

Not feeling well? Dodgy tummy? Down with the flu? Sniffles coming on? Feeling moody, hormonal, unbalanced, unnatural, ungrounded, lack of energy, aches and pains….or just plain not with it? Weeelllll…..

Any of these (and perhaps all of these!) just may have a little to do with a complete and utter lack of (enough) living organisms within (your gut) and without (your skin) to see you through proper digestive processes, immune function, detox pathways and all else that needs to go on in our bodies.

So without further ado – here is some more of what I have been up to for these past few months but this time, with an added dimension. I wasn’t satisfied to just have the usual fermented foods….I wanted something with a twist LOL.

A few weeks ago I placed some veggies into one of my trusty demi-johns (it has a wide mouth – perfect to work with vegetables and fruits) along with some of my goat’s whey and water to see what I would get.

To be honest it was a pure experiment in taste. For years I have not really been all that ‘gone’ on some of the fermented foods, (I really love some things, but dislike the taste of others) so I really just wanted something that tasted, well, nice enough to eat.

The vegetables I used were beetroot, carrot, courgette, red onion, garlic and dulse seaweed….these were all grated and then placed in the glass jar along with ¾ cup of goat’s yogurt whey, a little sea salt and water.

That’s it.

I left them covered (sealed with the cap for the demi-john) for more then 2 weeks or so – but I tasted them every couple of days to see how they were progressing. And with each taste, they changed a little bit more – until the day arrived when I was happy with the taste.

Then I scooped them out and placed them into jars for the fridge. Right now the vegetable mix tastes sort of fresh, a tiny bit salty, a little sour/tangy/vinegary and lovely! I hope to have a couple of tablespoons on my plate each day with my meals.

My digestion feels better already! LOL

April

Fermented vegetables - ready for the fridge

Water is Life

I don't know if I could ever say enough about water - it is everything for us here as humans and I have changed my life as a result of it. Today is the start of my 10 day Master Cleanse for August, the last one that I committed to doing and of course, I am thinking a lot about water.

In the last few years I have gone to great lengths to find clean sources of water for drinking and cooking whenever we have not had access to a well in our house. Where ever we go, we bring our own water and I think that I started a trend (amongst Nutrition students) years ago by using only glass jars for my drinking water. 

When I completed my masters thesis, the only topic that interested me and I wanted to study, was water - so I ended up undertaking a research project on the bottled water industry. At the time it had reached a peak and was then in decline because of the ban on plastic products in some areas. 

My interest in water has not waned, but has only gotten stronger over the years since. Now with following and living The Pagan Diet, water is a huge component of detox and cleansing, while real water makes an enormous difference to the taste of your cooking and the nutrition in food.  

Of course, I make a distinction between tap water (or any other form of treated, bottled and commercial water) and water that comes directly out of the ground, which to me is real. There is simply no substitute for clean untreated water in your diet and for your body in general.

Water has many interesting properties as well and I believe makes our food taste far better when we use water that is living. Even the bible mentions 'living water' - which to me has come to mean alive with minerals and nutrients from the earth and not processed in the manner of tap water. 

So, why is water so important? First of all, we can live perfectly well for quite some time without food, however we cannot live without water. It makes up more than 66% of our body cells and perhaps as much as 73% of brain tissue. 

Athletes (remember the recent Olympics?) build up muscle cells which store even greater amounts of water necessary for hydration during training and competition. Breast milk for human babies is also nearly 88% water - showing us how much of a vital substance this is for all growth and development. 

Water is the Universal Solvent (for those of us doing regular detoxes and Master Cleanses) this fact tells the story of all that water means for us. More substances are dissolved in water then any other. This is why we take showers with water and not any other liquid! LOL 

Water cleans our bodies inside and out - loosening up embedded debris, toxins and pulling out built up by-products of digestion and metabolism. I would never even consider drinking anything other then the cleanest water, right out of the ground. 

So, for the next 10 days, I will be drinking my Master Cleanse juice, which is mostly water, while I allow my body to empty out another layer of toxins, clean up, balance and heal. 

Following a 'processed food free' lifestyle also includes removing sources of manufactured water which is full of chemicals, medications, pollutants and other contaminants. All sources of toxins must be considered here if we want to do this properly and clean up our bodies. 

Perhaps it's time to take action where water is concerned in your life?

April

Water droplets collect on Lady's Mantle in my garden