GlutenWatchers

Food cultures & traditions across the world are rich with healthy, natural ways of eating. Our ancestors also knew that in order to survive, they will need to extract the maximum nutrition out of their foods, especially when food was not as plentiful nor healthcare as advanced. And so one will find fermented foods abound in every major culture. What are your favorite fermented food recipes?

Why are fermented foods important today, you may ask? Well, as our ancestors discovered, fermented foods are easier to digest and provide greater nutrition. For celiacs, however, fermented foods are even more important as they supply the body with probiotics. According to Dr Alessio Fasano of the Center for Celiac Research at the University of Maryland School of Medicine: “..a growing body of evidence suggests that virtually the same trio of factors underpins most, and perhaps all auto-immune diseases: an environmental substance that is presented to the body, a genetically based tendency of the immune system to overreact to the substance, and an unusually permeable gut.” – Surprises from Celiac Disease, Scientific American, Aug 2009.

So science now can affirmatively tell us that a leaky gut is involved in all celiac disease. In the same article, Dr Fasano goes on to say: “Why do some individuals show no evidence of the [celiac] disorder until late in life? In the past, I would have said that the disease process was probably occurring in early life, just too mildly to cause symptoms. But now it seems that a different answer, having to do with the bacteria that live in the digestive tract, may be more apt. These microbes, collectively known as microbiome, may differ from person to person and from one population to another, even varying in the same individual as life progresses….. Hence a person whose immune system has managed to tolerate gluten for many years might suddenly lose tolerance if the microbiome changes…If this idea is correct, celiac disease might one day be prevented or treated by ingestion of selected helpful microbes, or “probiotics’.

Now isn’t that exciting? Ok, so while the research moves along, it seems to me that we could do ourselves a favor by eating probiotic foods & giving our gut bacteria a boost. Here’s where our food traditions come in. Mankind has known yoghurt, kefir, dosa, idli, sauerkraut, kimchi etc for centuries. We are sure you have some fabulous fermented food recipes stored away in the recesses of your mind or your kitchen. Come share these with fellow celiacs so that we may all learn from each other. Please add your recipes in the comments below.