Kombucha - Home-Made, Fermented, Probiotic, Health-Boosting Joy!

In the past I was always a bit nonplussed when it came to kombucha. I didn't think I liked the taste, and I was sceptical of the claimed health benefits. But now I've found out more about it, and discovered how easy and fun it is to make at home, I'm definitely a kombucha convert!

Kombucha is a fermented drink made from tea. It is made using a 'kombucha mother', also called a 'kombucha scoby' (or sometimes 'the tea beast'!) which is a gelatinous colony of bacteria and yeast. The mother is added to a container of sweet black tea, and over the period of a couple of days to a couple of weeks the bacteria and yeast feed off of the sugar, and produce a range of nutrients which fortify the tea.

Health Benefits

Kombucha is credited with anti-viral and anti-fungal properties. Like all ferments, it is a 'living' substance, containing healthful 'friendly bacteria', which are essential for immunity, digestion, and nutrient absorption. It also contains vitamins and amino acids. In ancient China it was called the 'tea of immortality'.

Using & Brewing Kombucha

The only difficulty to start with is getting hold of a komucha mother. You could try asking around your local health-food shops, or look on eBay where there are often some for sale.

A kombucha mother can be reused indefinitely. Each new batch is started with about a cupful of mature kombucha saved from the previous batch, and some new (cooled) sweet black tea. One or 2 teabags and a handful of sugar to a small saucepan of water seems about right, but the quantities are very variable.

The best vessel for brewing your kombucha is said to be a bowl with a large surface area, but I find it easier in a large jar. Cover with a cloth to keep out flies or dust but don't seal closed as this would cause a pressure build up.

Once it's ready, the komucha is kept in the fridge and drunk as it is. It is slightly fizzy, slightly acidic, and to my mind, has a taste not unlike cider. The taste changes day by day as the complex fermentation processes develop. Young kombucha still tastes more like tea and is slightly sweet.

Very mature kombucha is not at all sweet, with a strong vinegary taste. Kombucha connoisseurs often seem to like it quite vinegary, but I must admit I prefer it a little milder, and normally stop my kombucha before it gets too strong.

Every batch you make also produces a new 'mother', so you end up with 2. At first the existing mother that you put in sinks to the bottom. After a day or 2 you can start to see a film appearing on the surface of the kombucha. Don't be afraid - this isn't mould, but the beginnings of a new mother.

After another couple of days it will be thicker, and will resemble the original mother. Once you have finished, you can use each of your mothers to make 2 separate batches of kombucha, give one away, or compost it. A mother will also keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge in a cupful or so of mature kombucha.

You can also kombucha other liquids. I mentioned that to me komucha tastes a little like cider, so I recently tried komucha-ing some apple juice, and it was delicious! It is claimed that using liquids other than tea will eventually harm the mother, but I haven't yet found this to be the case.

As a new mother is created each time I find it best to keep one regular batch of kombucha tea on the go at the same time as an experimental brew, so that I always have one mother that I know will be ok.

So... I'm a kombucha convert, is anyone else with me?

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Why Are Fermented Vegetables Good For You?

Fermented vegetables, also known as raw cultured vegetables, have been around since ancient times and across all cultures. The fermentation process was originally done to preserve foods as the process enabled foods to be kept for months without spoiling. Specifically, its where foods are either left whole or chopped and left to sit in their natural juices, which are drawn out then used to preserve the food.

In ancient times, fermented foods were considered quite the staple food source, thus very instrumental in getting the masses through the long winter months. Today, we know and appreciate more of the nutritional benefits of fermented foods. For starters, they promote digestive health. Their acidity kills harmful bacteria and pathogens, removes toxins and anti-nutritional compounds and produces antibiotics, which improves immunity and overall health. Moreover, the new cultures that are created from the fermentation process create folic acid, niacin, riboflavin, thiamin and biotin, which are all part of the Vitamin B complex. B Vitamins promote healthy skin, increase metabolism, reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, help the body make hormones and enhance immunity among other things. So as you can see fermented vegetables have an abundance of benefits to us.

Now, if you're not too familiar with what fermented vegetables are exactly some well-known examples are pickles, salsa, soy sauce, sauerkraut, sour cream, sourdough bread, water kefir and more. On the other hand, if you know of yet just aren't too keen on eating fermented foods, but still want to reap the benefits there are a variety of ways to eat them. For instance, sprinkling some sauerkraut on your salad or eating some with crackers will make a tasty snack or meal. Then, if you're a bread lover you could trade white bread for some sourdough. You could even add some fermented fruit to a nice, cold smoothie. Meanwhile, there are even some healthy fermented beverages that you can enjoy such as kefir, which can be found at your local health food store.

Fermented foods are a blessing to the world. They are a rich source of nutrients and for all the nutrients they pack they are relatively inexpensive whether you buy them fermented or do it yourself. Either way you look at it, you definitely get the bang for your buck and the nutritional benefit that you get is well worth your time and indulgence. Yet, from a broader perspective, fermented foods provide a means for feeding more of the worlds poor. So just as our ancestors realized the immense benefits of this food source so might we. There is much wisdom to be gained from ancient practices such as fermentation, which should not only be honored for what they did for us in the past, but more importantly for what they can and will do for us in the future as food security and the purity of our food is being threatened more and more each day.

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The Nutritional Benefits Of Cabbage

The nutritional benefits of cabbage are instrumental especially for people that have diabetes as well as dealing with a weight problem. Cabbage is known to reduce the risk of developing diabetes and assist in weight loss along with many other leafy green vegetables, some of which include spinach and broccoli.

Studies have shown that a person that includes more than one serve per day of leafy green vegetables into their diet can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 15%.

Cabbage contains a rich source of vitamin C, which reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes; cabbage is also very low in calories and high in fibre, which in turn helps promote weight loss. Red cabbage has a natural pigment that can boost insulin production and is rich in anthocyanins. Be aware that sauerkrauts are high in sodium, but the fermentation of this cabbage has higher levels of anti-cancer compounds.

The nutritional benefits of cabbage are tremendous for all of us, but can be very helpful for people that have diabetes.

Following is a recipe that can be incorporated into your diabetes diet:

Sliced Apples with Red Cabbage

Ingredients:

1 apple cored and sliced

4 cups of red cabbage, finely sliced

1 small onion diced

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

1 chicken cube stock crushed

teaspoon of allspice

Sprinkle of pepper

cup of water

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

Photo: Simplyrecipes.com

Method:

Combine all the ingredients except for the water and brown sugar into a saucepan, mix and then add the water. Cover and simmer for around 20 minutes or until the cabbage is tender, finally stir in the brown sugar until completely combined.

The other nutritional benefits of cabbage is that it has the capability to lower blood sugar levels which is one of the main objectives when you have diabetes.

A study conducted in women found that those that included cabbage, Brussels sprouts and broccoli in their diet actually had a 45% lower breast cancer risk than women who did not include these in their diet.

If you need to lower the GI of a meal that you wish to prepare, simply combine cabbage with vinegar.

Cabbage is one of the best medicinal vegetables you can include in your diet. The remarkable medicinal compounds contained within cabbage, as we know heals cancer, however, it is also known to be a wonderful natural remedy for stomach ulcers.

The nutritional benefits of cabbage is recommended for diabetics and buy eating a handful of raw cabbage each day, adding cabbage to your salads, or by drinking a cup of cabbage juice will definitely help you to achieve good health and general well-being.

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Nutritional Yeast - What Is It And How To Use It

So, you've made the jump from vegetarian to vegan. You have decided to live without dairy, but you have this huge craving for cheese! You can either ignore it or find a way to satisfy that craving. My suggestion is to satisfy it!

Now, the question is how. Maybe you have heard of a product called Nutritional Yeast. But, what is it and how do you use it?

Photo: Medsaludin.es

Nutritional Yeast is an inactive yeast that is yellow and comes in either a dry, flaky texture or a powder. It is made by culturing the yeast with a mixture of beet molasses and sugarcane. Most brands are fortified with B12, which is helpful to vegetarians and vegan since that is sometimes the hardest thing to get from our diet alone. It is also naturally low in fat and sodium.

The best thing about Nutritional Yeast is that it has a naturally wonderful nutty cheesy flavor. So, it's easy to make a great cheesy dish using this.

Photo: Pinterest.com

Where do you find this stuff? It's actually a little more common than you might think. A few groceries stores are starting to carry it, if they have a health food section. Usually, it can be found a local health food store. It's great if you can find it in bulk because it's a lot cheaper. If all else fails, there is a few places online that sell it and can ship it to you.

So, what kinds of things can you make with it? Well, you can sprinkle it on popcorn, mix it into scrambled "eggs", mixed it into mashed potatoes, put it on top of spaghetti, stir it into soups, and add it to pizza. I could go on and on. My favorite way is to make a sauce with it and make macaroni and cheese. You can use it to make nachos, pour on veggies, pour it on casseroles, lasagna, or baked potatoes. The possibilities are endless with this stuff!

Photo: Saomaicentre.info

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