Just like Jordan -- the tongue totally helps!

Yogurt, sourdough bread and beer — what do these all have in common? Aside from being “things you’re likely to find in Brianna’s refrigerator”, they all are products of fermentation. I’ve written before on yogurt and again touched on some other varieties of fermented dairy in a recent post.

While the fermentation in beer produces alcohol and in sourdough creates carbon dioxide to make the dough rise, the bacteria in fermented dairy and vegetables provide what are known as probiotics. Don’t confuse these bacteria with the kind that can cause colds, as probiotics can aid in digestive health. Mark’s Daily Apple had this to say:

For one, fermented foods introduce helpful probiotics to our guts. There are tons of possible benefits to adding probiotics (whether by supplement or by fermented foods like dairy) to your body, including protection from colon cancer, relief from lactose intolerance and rotavirus diarrhea, reduction in children’s cavities (more vindication for Weston Price), and prevention of reoccurrences of inflammatory bowel disease. The vitamins (like K2) in fermented foods like kefir become more plentiful or more concentrated (either by breaking down the food or by virtue of the bacteria outputting more nutrients), and more bioavailable. Also, the improved digestion that accompanies a healthier gut means more nutrients, vitamins, and minerals are absorbed (and if you’re eating a usually phytate-rich food, the fermentation can really break down the mineral-binding phytates), thus allowing even better absorption.

Sandor Ellix Katz, the author of the book Wild Fermentation, had a more biodiversification view of eating probiotics:

By eating a variety of live fermented foods, you promote diversity among microbial cultures in your body. Biodiversity, increasingly recognized as critical to the survival of larger-scale ecosystems, is just as important at the micro level. Call it microbiodiversity. Your body is an ecosystem that can function most effectively when populated by diverse species of microorganisms. By fermenting foods and drinks with wild microorganisms present in your home environment, you become more interconnected with the life forces of the world around you. Your environment becomes you, as you invite the microbial populations you share the earth with to enter your diet and your intestinal ecology.

Now while that description gets a little too “hippie world peace” for me (sorry Becky), I will say that I love the taste of sauerkraut and like the fact it’s beneficial for me to boot. Robb Wolf had been talking up eating kraut with his meals and I saw when one of the trainers at his gym posted about making her own. This bumped a sauerkraut crock to the top of my list of desired kitchen gadgets and I have my first batch brewing right now.

Try adding some culture* to your life and see how you like it!

(* — Sorry Brian, beer and sourdough bread do not count)

WOD 04.23.11

Bench Press 3×5 or Wendler

AMRAP 15:
10 Burpees
2 Rope Climbs
20 Kayaks