The Homely Cabbage Transforms into a Super Food
Probiotics are expensive, but for just pennies on the dollar, you can make your own. Fermented foods can turn your garden cabbage into powerful homemade probiotics.
This is a “medicine” that so easy and yet has so many benefits. We’re big on prevention, and sauerkraut has top shelf in our health chest.
The bad news: most store bought sauerkrauts do not contain the beneficial sauerkraut probiotic strains our guts need for optimum health.
The good news: you can make your own, or find the few brands that are almost as good as homemade. These are most often found in the refrigerated deli section of your grocery store.
So don’t worry. If you simply can’t—or don’t want to—make your own, we’ll share below the very best brands of sauerkraut you can buy for the healthiest percentage of active probiotic cultures.
My husband, Coleman, started making sauerkraut for us. Not being particularly fond of it, I mostly left it alone, but it seemed the more I tried to ignore it, the more I kept accidentally running into information on the amazing health benefits of sauerkraut.
Then Coleman said that after a serving of sauerkraut he feels noticeably better, almost ebullient, within minutes of consuming it. It’s no secret that sauerkraut is good for gut health due to the probiotic benefit, so I couldn’t ignore it any longer.
We’re big on growing and consuming healthy foods, so I gave in, and now consume a daily dose! I suppose it’s a cheek puckering forehead scrunching acquired taste, but one that your body loves, even if your tongue protests.
Turns out, sauerkraut could make a super foods list for all its health benefits.
Health Benefits of Sauerkraut
- Blood flow – iron content increases blood flow which elevates:[1]https://www.newhealthadvisor.org/Sauerkraut-Health-Benefits.html
- circulation
- cognition
- metabolism
- Bone density health[2]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4425157/
- Cholesterol reduction[3]https://hopkinsdiabetesinfo.org/7-foods-to-eat-to-lower-cholesterol/
- Circulatory system[4]https://www.newhealthadvisor.org/Sauerkraut-Health-Benefits.html
- Cognition [5]https://www.newhealthadvisor.org/Sauerkraut-Health-Benefits.html
- Digestive health – due to high fiber content and probiotics [6]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4058509/
- Energy boost[7]https://www.wellandgood.com/sauerkraut-benefits/
- Eyesight – antioxidant benefits decrease macular degeneration[8]https://facty.com/food/nutrition/10-super-health-benefits-of-sauerkraut/
- Heart health – except for high sodium content so check labels and with your health advisor[9]https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/benefits-of-sauerkraut#4.-May-help-you-lose-weight
- Immunity booster[10]https://cen.acs.org/biological-chemistry/microbiome/Sauerkraut-bacteria-signal-immune-system/97/i21
- Inflammation reduction[11]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8147091/
REFERENCE: Study on Anti-Inflammatory and Immunomodulatory Properties of Fermented Plant Foods[12]https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8147091/
So get started making sauerkraut with your early summer cabbage crops to boost your immune system for fall. By the time the “winter cabbage” is ready, you can make more batches to boost your system against winter ills.
Of course, once one batch is ready, it’s time to start making the next so you’ll always have some on hand. In which case we buy organic heads if we need to make some in between garden harvests.
It was recently reported that sauerkraut topped the charts of probiotics, surpassing that of over-the-counter probiotics purchased. [13]https://nourishingplot.com/2014/06/21/sauerkraut-test-divulges-shocking-probiotic-count/
“Dr. Mercola sent his sauerkraut off to a lab and reported the findings of probiotics saying, “We had it analyzed. We found in a 4-6 ounce serving of the fermented vegetables there were literally ten trillion bacteria.”
That means 2 ounces of home fermented sauerkraut[14]https://nourishingplot.com/2014/06/16/making-sauerkraut-at-home-in-3-easy-steps/ had more probiotics than a bottle of 100 count probiotic capsules. Translated this means one 16 ounce of sauerkraut is equal to 8 bottles of probiotics.”
Your homemade sauerkraut can be worth over $200 in probiotic capsules.
GardensAll.com
Probiotics typically cost around $25 per 30-count bottle for 35 billion CFUs (Less for lower CFUs – Colony Forming Unit in Microbiology). A head of cabbage from your garden is basically free, and just a portion of a serving of homemade sauerkraut would be worth over $200 in probiotics. WOW!!
Sauerkraut Probiotic Strains
By LiveStrong.com
Four main species of lactic acid bacteria are commonly present in sauerkraut: Leuconostoc mesenteroides, Lactobacillus brevis, Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactobacillus plantarum.
Sauerkraut also can contain other species, such as Weissella species, Lactobacillus curvatus, Lactobacillus sakei, Lactobacillus coryniformis, Lactococcus lactis subsp lactis, Leuconostoc fallax, Leuconostoc citreum and Leuconostoc argentinum, according to the December 2007 issue of “Applied and Environmental Microbiology.”
Each batch of sauerkraut can contain different species of gut-friendly probiotics in different proportions, making your sauerkraut a different combination of probiotics each time.[15]https://www.livestrong.com/article/413921-does-sauerkraut-have-all-the-probiotics-i-need/
