Fermenting Fun

Showing how fermented salsa is made. Lots to sample!

Friends gathering to taste while I concentrate on a question.

Today at our 'Home Base' in Olympia, WA, I taught another class on fermented foods and their wonderful benefits. I love teaching these classes! Over the winter I did three of them in our travels and it's so much fun to meet up with people again and hear of their successes and the benefits these foods have brought them. I love it that eating live foods brings life to the body. I love sharing this knowledge that I've learned over the years in hunting for answers to my health challenges. To see the lights go on as someone 'gets it' is pure joy! I have long been accustomed to being the odd one who doesn't eat like everyone else. I don't make a big deal out of it, it's just part of my journey. The benefits by FAR outweigh the crazy comments, sidelong looks and no food I want to put in my body at a potluck. I just bring my own food, smile at the looks and joke about being an oddball! So it's a delightful surprise when I encounter people who want to learn about what I do and why I do it, and best of all to embrace it and head off on their own journey of health and a happier gut.
  The microbiome is getting to be quite a buzzword these days. That's the name given to the trillions of microbe friends that live on and in you. They outnumber the cells of your body 10:1! They are super important and do more than was ever suspected. When I first learned about it about 5 years ago after doing the GAPS Diet (which made a huge difference for me--it's a way of healing your gut) you didn't really hear about it. I did find some great books talking about the research on the microbiome and the importance of nurturing my gut microbe friends. (See the list on my Class Notes page). Now that I eat to keep them happy, they return the favor by keeping me healthy and happy. And, yes, keeping your gut happy is more effective than antidepressants.