Homemade sauerkraut recipe

This homemade sauerkraut recipe is made from one cabbage-head and salt, and will be ready to eat in three days.

Add spring-onions, garlic and ginger and you have just turned it into kimchi; and perhaps some chili.

This very popular German-condiment is so simple to make in your own green kitchen; it's such an easy and very inexpensive introduction to adding probiotics regularly to your plate.

Fermented foods exist in every culture, initially just to preserve them but now we are realising there are many other benefits.

If you are a fast-food person and the salt content of your meals is already too high, then perhaps it is wise to choose another probiotic such as kefir.

Remember a deficiency of salt is just as dangerous as too much. We all need some so our sodium levels do not fall below normal; more about that lower down.

Whether it is because of a concern about the well-being of your intestines, or a realisation that food companies simply cannot make our nosh nearly as tasty as we can ourselves, the decision to ferment your own homemade sauerkraut recipe is absolutely sound.

You will also save a heap of money in the process for very little work.

Homemade sauerkraut recipe

Homemade sauerkraut recipe is so easy to make in your own kitchen.

Ingredients

Go for it

I recommend you start using none of the peppadew seeds; and then in successive trials gradually add more of them until you get the right amount of burn for your family. That's where much of the magic phytonutrient capsaicin is to be found.

I never follow recipes slavishly. Having made sauerkraut numerous times I love to experiment; on this occasion with spinach to top up the bottle.

Spinach obviously is much more tender than cabbage and will go squishy; so consume it fairly quickly.

Barely seen is a small bottle nearly filled with water in the main jar. It keeps the solids below the level of the liquid; otherwise a mould may form.

Refrigerate

Once your sauerkraut has reached the level of tanginess that you desire, from a few days to a couple weeks, place it in the fridge; it will keep for months. If necessary keep topping up with a saline solution; again 1tsp salt per cup of water.

You can now remove the small inner bottle and round of cabbage.

Only use clean utensils for forking out your sauerkraut.

Salt

Salt remains a controversial subject and certainly most of us who eat out regularly probably get too much.

However research shows that too little salt makes you prone to metabolic syndrome, a precursor to cardiovascular disease and high blood-pressure.

A small helping of say two-tablespoons of sauerkraut contains around 300mg of sodium.

So perhaps don't have olives, pizza or a canned soup in the same meal; it is generally recommended you keep sodium below 2300mg per day.

Salt and high blood pressure will give you some tips.

Fermentation

Virtually every culture on the planet has fermented-foods of one kind or another. That might be sauerkraut, yogurt or kefir; and of course, unpasteurised beer and wine.

Healthy bacteria and yeasts feed on the starch reducing the glycemic index and turning it into lactic-acid, alcohol and other compounds.

Fermented foods because the starch has been used up are less fattening than those which have not been processed in this way. For example, yoghurt adds less to our waistlines than milk; unless sugar has been added, of course.

In the same way researchers have shown that the fermented-cabbage in your homemade sauerkraut recipe has greater benefits for the obese and diabetic person than coleslaw.

Microbiome

It is astonishing that the happy colon contains about 2kg of friendly bacteria, yeasts and protozoa; with ten times as many cells as there are in our bodies. We are seriously outnumbered by our own bugs unless we have subjected ourselves to massive amounts of antibiotics and chemicals like artificial-sweeteners.

There is a vast amount of scientific literature now confirming that these bugs have a very beneficial effect on the whole body and in particular, reduce the incidence of conditions like Parkinson's disease, heart-attack and stroke.

In fact these friendly bacteria produce such a huge quantity of essential neurotransmitters that the colon is now being called the second brain. They also have a profoundly beneficial effect on our immune-systems.

What is more should you inadvertently eat food that is laced with pathogens, as we all do periodically the vast army of friendly-bacteria in the gut simply help outnumber the dangerous bugs that can and do make us very sick.

Frequent exposure to antibiotics and all the preservatives and other chemicals added to our processed foods, seriously deplete this microbiome as it is known. Eating fermented sauerkraut and others like kefir on a regular basis is the solution, not swallowing them in pill-form.

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Chaos erupted at a huge party to celebrate the 90th birthday of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos yesterday, with 261 friends and supporters rushed to Manila hospitals with suspected food-poisoning. Emergency rooms were inundated with patients vomiting and suffering from diarrhoea and dizziness.

- Reuters, July 4, 2019.

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Flavonoids

There are many thousands of phytochemicals known as flavonoids that researchers are discovering are absolutely indispensable to our well-being; and they are finding that they are rendered into a more absorbable form in fermented foods like your homemade sauerkraut recipe.

Vitamins

These microorganisms actually synthesise many of the B-vitamins and K whilst in our gut, supplementing those obtained from our food.

They have a role in anti-inflammatory processes in the body; and mop up free radicals reducing the likelihood of malignant tumours.

Their role is profound; and scientists have only discovered the tip of the iceberg. Rather than becoming neurotic we just need to eat more coloured and fermented foods like this homemade sauerkraut recipe.

And avoid the fast-food restaurants and the plethora of processed stuff that masquerades as sustenance; assuming you want to live long in the land!

Anti-nutrients

Another very controversial subject is the role that anti-nutrients have on the absorption of our food. Personally I don't go along with it; it would mean avoiding many of what I believe are vitally important grains, vegetables and legumes.

But anyway fermented foods like this homemade sauerkraut recipe help reduce the levels of phytates and other anti-nutrients that certainly do inhibit to some extent the absorption of minerals from our sustenance.

Digestive problems

Digestion of fibre and any starch in the food that reaches the colon by the friendly bacteria certainly does produce gas and gives some people considerable discomfort; in others it actually relieves bloating. Get to know your own body.

Fermenting that food before we eat it does contribute to a happier intestine.

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Newsletter

Our newsletter is entitled "create a cyan zone" at your home, preserving both yourself and Mother Earth for future generations; and the family too, of course. We promise not to spam you with daily emails promoting various products. You may get an occasional nudge to buy one of my books.

Here are the back issues.

The role of these friendly bugs in our colon on irritable bowel syndrome, gluten intolerance and the more serious conditions like coeliac disease is being fervently researched by the experts.

While solid proof does not yet exist, there are strong indications that fermented foods like your sauerkraut, sourdough bread and kefir have a profoundly beneficial role to play.

There is no need to wait for that solid scientific evidence; we can start benefiting from probiotics in our food even if they do not turn out to be the cure-all that we had hoped for.

On a personal note, I have suffered terribly from epigastric pain at night for fifteen years; I had to be very careful what I ate for dinner. One week after starting to make and drink kefir every day almost completely solved the problem. I now take it twice a week.

A gastroscopic examination revealed a small hiatus-hernia and a helicobacter infection that would not respond to antibiotics. The friendly bugs in my own homemade medicine overcame the pathogens in just a week. Read more about it at kefir benefits.

More about salt

New research shows that there is no scientific basis to lower our sodium intake below 2.3g per day; that is about a teaspoon of salt.

If you have high blood pressure then lowering your salt intake to that amount would have a moderately beneficial effect. Having even less however would actually increase the risk of metabolic-syndrome.

If you eat out a lot then you almost certainly exceed the recommended sodium intake by double or more; this homemade sauerkraut recipe may exacerbate the problem.

Having said that, if you are venturing into making your own homemade sauerkraut recipe, then I doubt you frequent fast-food restaurants.

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