What Specifically Makes Sauerkraut So Beneficial?
The intestinal tract is filled with good and bad bacteria which make up the microbiome. Feeding the good fights the bad. But, there’s more to this! Some strains make vitamins for our digestive system.
All probiotic strains are transitory, meaning, they pass through the system instead of establishing colonies and remaining. This is why it is so important to eat fermented foods with every meal. Certain strains like soil based organisms stay longer than others setting up microbial colonies.
Lactobacilli and bifido bacteria are human strains. These strains are abundantly found in a healthy tract.
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“They produce vitamin B12, B6, vitamin K2, biotin and other nutrients for us,” says Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride (30:50)author of the well known GAPS protocol for gut rebuilding.
McBride is a medical doctor, neurologist and neurosurgeon but is most well known for her GAPS protocol which heals the intestinal tract rebuilding the pathogen load relieving the person from the symptoms of autism, bipolar disorder, auto-immunity and other diseases.
“Vitamin K2 produces almost identical benefits of vitamin D,” Dr. Mercola told the American Nutrition Association (53:20). The two work synergistically.
The highest producer of vitamin K2 is natto, a fermented bean food that is known for being stinky and slimy.
The most common fermented foods are made with a cabbage base, fermenting into different versions of sauerkraut.
As the cabbage ferments different things happen.
Susan Godfrey from the Department Of Biological Sciences at The University Of Pittsburgh studied microbial succession in fermenting cabbage and found, “The early drop in pH appears to constrain the growth of acid intolerant species, the more acid tolerant Leuconostoc are seen to bloom later, but fade subsequently because they are sensitive to lactic acid, their own fermentation product, and Lactobacillus appear to dominate at the end because they have the highest tolerance of the lactic acid, they too, produce.”
In Godfrey’s study they found, “Even students sitting next to each other at the lab bench often isolate different organisms. Staphyloccocus is usually found by at least one person in the class. No one student’s data are exactly like anyone else’s, since different sets of organisms are under investigation.”
The reason for this discrepancy is each head of cabbage pulls different nutrients from the soil, is handed by different hands in the field and different hands in the grocery store. The different vitamin structures and microbes present create different strains during testing.
As they studied the strains on the day the cabbage was placed in a 3 percent salt solution they found:
* molds
* yeasts
* gram positive rods: Bacillus spp, corynebacterium spp, Arthrobacter spp
* gram positive cocci: micrococcus spp, staphylococci
* gram negative rods: (facultative) coliforms, Erwinia spp
* gram negative rods: (aerobic) Pseudomonas spp
When they studied the strains the next day, day one of fermentation, they found:
* molds were gone
* yeasts
* gram positive rods: Bacillus spp
* gram positive cocci: Leuconostoc spp
* gram negative rods: (facultative) coliforms, Erwinia spp
At day 4 when the samples were studied they found:
* gram positive rods: Lactobacillus spp
* gram positive cocci: Leuconostoc spp
On day 7 and thereafter they found:
* gram positive rods: Lactobacillus spp
It is important to not if all cabbage is not submerged under the brine while fermenting the cabbage exposed to air will possibly contain mold.
The American Society For Microbiology did a two-year study on commercial sauerkraut and found, “Phages were very stable in such a low-pH environment. Each type of microorganism is involved in the microbial succession and contributes to the final characteristic properties of the fermented products.”
When a person has deep damage in their intestinal tract where it has effected their histadine mast cells which release histamine they see adverse reactions to sauerkraut unless it is fermented for an extended period of time – 3 weeks or longer. The ascorbic acid content, vitamin C, of the kraut consistently ranked high.
The Department Of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at North Carolina State University built a fermentor to test strains of bacteria as sauerkraut fermented. They found, “The 20 lactic acid bacteria isolates taken at the 28th day were all non-gas-forming rods, typical of Lactobacillus plantarum. Enterobacteriaceae were not detected during this stage.”
Click here to learn more about the probiotic count found in sauerkraut.
To learn how to make sauerkraut at home in three easy steps click here.
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*Nourishing Plot is written by Becky Plotner, ND, traditional naturopath, GAPS who sees clients in Rossville, Georgia. Since her son was delivered from the effects of autism (Asperger’s syndrome), ADHD, bipolar disorder/manic depression, hypoglycemia and dyslexia through food she continued her education specializing in Leaky Gut and parasitology through Duke University, finishing with distinction. This is not a news article published by a paper trying to make money. This blog is put out by a mom who sees first hand the effects of nourishing food vs food-ish items. No company pays her for writing these blogs, she considers this a form of missionary work. It is her desire to scream it from the rooftops so that others don’t suffer from the damaging effect of today’s “food”.
