Kimchi - Your thoughts?
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katharineshalia
Posts: 243 Member
After reading about gut flora and leaky gut, I thought I'd introduce kimchi into my daily grub but then I get home and read on another paleo site negative things about it so now I'm confused. I've been following paleo (meat, veg, fruit & fat) for 25 days only, and the more I read the more confused I am becoming, the reason I wanted to eat kimchi is because I'm still bloated and a bit constipated after an initial great response my body is fighting back. I upped my carbs because I was feeling ill, tired and run down, that helped but now I'm constipated. Sorry if this is rambling, kimchi thoughts? Thanks.
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kimchee is just lacto-fermented vegetables in the Korean style, and it happens to be spicy-hot to varying degrees because of hot peppers.
The benefits of kimchee are because it is lacto-fermented, which provides lots of good gut bacteria. You can get the same benefits from lacto-fermented sauerkraut, carrots, and pickles. Just read labels to make sure you have a traditional lacto-fermented product and not something pasteurized, which would render it sterile and with none of the good bacteria!
Some brands and products I regularly buy include Hawthorne Valley lacto-fermented ginger carrots, curry sauerkraut, and red cabbage and Gary's brand pickles. You can google "lacto fermented vegetable brands" and find ones available near you.
Also, you can ferment your own, it's really much cheaper and not all that hard. I used to do it but I'm lazy and enjoy buying the variety. Right now, I have gingered carrots, curry sauerkraut and fermented red cabbage in my fridge, all from Hawthorne Valley Farms.
Good luck!
Rosey0 -
There are lots of great reasons to add fermented foods into your diet,especially if you are suffering from gut problems.
Kimchi is great and there are loads of others as well.
Water kefir and if you tolerate milk,dairy kefir.
It''s very easy to make all of this at home.
http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/04/what-should-you-eat-to-heal-leaky-gut.html
The link above is from the Paleo Mom and she is a scientist..
Many of the paleo blogs will talk about leaky gut,ways to heal and the benefits of fermented foods.
I refer to a great site often when there are questions about fermentation..there are several free e-books on the site with methods and recipes for fermenting
http://www.culturesforhealth.com0 -
Thanks ladies, the brand of kimchi I bought says unpasteurized and live, so I guess I'm good o go there. I'll read those sites, I do like paleomom and I appreciate your both helping me.0
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I have a fermenting crock on the way as we speak. I think there are many, many benefits to eating fermented foods and it's something that humans have eaten since the beginning imo.
I have no access to live whey so I have been using starters but I'll be experimenting more and more as time goes by.
There's lots of information, useful and not so much, out there but use your own common sense on what to apply and what not to. Try different things, observe results. Paleo isn't complicated and how one FEELS is what is REAL.0 -
Kimchi - Your thoughts?
My thoughts = YUM.
Especially if you can get it homemade! I've never tried making it myself, but I've had some friends give me some that they made and it was DELICIOUS. Maybe I need to get onboard and learn how to make it myself.0 -
I love kim chi. The more it fizzes when I open the jar, the better!0
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Kimchi - Your thoughts?
My thoughts = YUM.
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Perhaps you were reading sites that were more for specialized versions of Paleo? Fermented foods are a no-go on some specialized diet, like histamine reducing ones. That's the only time I've seen things like kimchi considered "bad." Most people agree that fermented foods are great for gut flora and healing.0
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I forget which site it was, it cited Asian countries as high on stomach cancer and blamed it on fermented foods. Good thing I didn't listen and gave it a chance after reading some of your opinions because I'm back on my game; feels great. I'll just go ahead and say it because who knows this might help someone later on, I'm back to regular bowel movements and no longer constipated or bloated. I was going to say poop, but that's because I spend a whole lot of my time with little kids. Anyway, I appreciate everyone's response to my question. Thanks0
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Kimchi is easy to make at home.
basic one is with napa. Everyone does it different...I like to dice mine into 1x1 dimension.
put all cabbage in big enough boel to mix in. Pour ample salt on it. Depends on how much napa you used. If I used a very large head of nspa j would use about cup or two of iodized salt. Let sit for couple hours and you will see the salt leeching water from napa.
when it all looks a bit limp after couple hours then you rinse it off....otherwise it will be unbearably salty and basically trash.
Now you put in sliced onion
scallions
ginger powder
garlic powder
korean red pepper powder
I also put in a tad bit of sweetness but thats me....
Mix it seal it thats it0
