The Most Powerful Cultured Veggies

I had no idea just exactly what I was making when I created this recipe. I just thought the combination tasted good and seemed to give me spectacular results during cold and flu season, so I kept making them and giving them to my family. Fast forward many years later and one of the greatest discoveries I have found lies in this jar. I have been learning a lot about the immune system and what is actually going on inside of us. Our guts comprise at least 70% of our immune system and if your gut is healthy, guess what? Your immune system is too! Probiotic cultured foods are an important key but so is something else. Prebiotics are my new frontier of discovery, and all the things I am learning are blowing my mind.

All the forces in the world are not so powerful as wisdom that has been discovered by someone who needs it.

Cultured Veggies

What Are Prebiotics?

What are prebiotics? A prebiotic is a specific category of foods, and these foods are food for bacteria. They abide in many fruits and vegetables and even seeds, nuts, and grains. A prebiotic is made from soluble fibers that have no calories and your body cannot digest these fibers - but your bacteria can. These non-digestible prebiotic fibers make your good bacteria grow like crazy! Remember when fiber was all the craze? I never understood this, but now I do. It was feeding my bacteria and allowing it to do its job. You want lots of beneficial strains of good bacteria that you can get by eating cultured foods. I can't stress enough to you how important this is. It's changed so much in my life and body and I am pumped about it. The more good bacteria you have, the stronger and more powerful your immune system becomes. You can't mess with large amounts of good bacteria; they want to dominate, control, and kill harmful pathogens to keep you healthy. They're smart and want to hold the fort inside of you strong and keep enemies at bay. They strengthen the bowel wall, improving the body’s ability to absorb essential nutrients such as calcium and magnesium. They also produce hormones that control appetite, anxiety, and more. In a world where scary viruses are going crazy, you need cultured foods and prebiotics to keep you strong.

Prebiotics Act As A Fertilizer

These prebiotics act as a fertilizer to promote the growth of the good bacteria in our gut. This is essential to the health and function of our immune system. You want a diverse and healthy amount of good bacteria in your gut, and eating cultured foods accomplishes this. With the addition of prebiotics, you have a super-strong combination that boosts your immune system. Prebiotics also strengthen your ability to absorb calcium, magnesium, and other minerals usually lacking in our diets.

Different Prebiotics

Consuming prebiotics daily with cultured foods can change your gut bacteria in a day. Here are some of the prebiotics that help you grow a healthy gut: jicama, leeks onions, garlic, chicory root, Jerusalem artichokes, leeks, dandelion greens, asparagus. celery, the stalks of broccoli (not the florets), the peels of oranges and lemons that are fermented, red wine, nuts, seeds, honey, and some whole grains. Check out this article for more info.

Prebiotics Important as Probiotics

Different Types Of Food For Your Gut

I consume lots of prebiotics every day and what is so surprising is that this recipe has eight prebiotics in it. All the ingredients except the culture and salt are prebiotics! I had no idea when I was making this recipe that it was doing more than just giving me probiotics. It was also feeding the bacteria as well. No wonder it's so effective at keeping colds and flu at bay - it's all the prebiotics in this recipe that make it super powerful!

I am making all sorts of new recipes with tons of prebiotics and I sell a prebiotic too, in the product Prebio Plus. Prebio Plus has three of the most powerful prebiotics you can ingest. Each scoop contains, Organic Inulin, Organic Acacia, and Fructooligosaccharides (FOS).

The Strongest Prebiotics

Inulin and FOS in Prebio Plus are both a type of soluble fiber that is found in many plants. Although many plants contain only small amounts of inulin, Here’s how much inulin is in 3.5 oz, or 100 grams, of the following foods:

  • Asparagus: 2-3 grams.
  • Chicory root: 36-48 grams.
  • Garlic: 9-16 grams.
  • Jerusalem artichoke: 16-20 grams.
  • Jicama: 10-13 grams.
  • Leeks: 1-8 grams.

These prebiotics are made up of chains of fructose molecules that are linked together in a way that cannot be digested by your small intestine,; and for this reason, those with SIBO should fix their guts before ingesting Inulin or FOS.

The prebiotic Acacia, often called acacia gum, contains 86% prebiotic content. It is used as a food stabilizer and has a substantial amount of fiber and is essential for strengthening the population of good bacteria in your gut.

Your gut bacteria convert inulin, acacia, and FOS into short-chain fatty acids. This can bring about a number of health benefits. It will nourish colon cells and can help with weight loss and lowering blood sugar. When the soluble fibers that comprise inulin create a gelatinous substance, the gel spreads out. It creates a feeling of fullness

Prebiotics as important as Probiotics

Weight Loss and Pre-diabetes

When overweight adults took 21 grams of inulin per day, their hunger hormone levels decreased and their fullness hormone levels increased.[1]

In another study, forty-four pre-diabetic individuals consumed either 18 weeks of inulin [2]or cellulose (another type of fiber) supplementation. Each one had four visits to a dietitian to obtain a 5% weight loss, which they all achieved by week 9. Those taking inulin lost significantly more weight between 9 and 18 weeks and scored better on liver tests, blood sugar, and lipid profile independent of weight loss. There are many more studies that indicate that inulin can also help with weight loss and increasing your consumption of these special fibers helps to keep you healthy in so many ways. [3][4][5]

You can add Prebio Plus  to your kefir or veggies and it will make a world of difference.  You will notice it after the first dose. Your stomach might start to gurgle and that's the bacteria having a feast. You can put this prebiotic in hot or cold foods, so I add a little bit to my tea every morning and I also feed it to my kefir grains, and oh my, they love it. They will grow like crazy and it will also help you make your kefir creamy again after it has separated. Add a small amount of Prebio Plus, shake up the jar, put it in the refrigerator, and the next day your kefir is creamy again. Bacteria need food, too, and when you give them what they need, you will feel it in many ways. You'll feel better, lighter, elimination will be easier and more frequent, and flu and colds will be a thing of the past.

Prebiotics are every bit as powerful as probiotics. It's exciting stuff. I'm still growing and learning, and I love that I was already making recipes with prebiotics without realizing it.

🥬🥕🍊🍎 Eat your cultured foods, fruits veggies, nuts, and seeds and add prebiotics, too, and your gut bacteria can change overnight. This recipe has everything you need to accomplish the task. I just made a new jar myself! I really do love bacteria - somebody has to! They've taught me so many things and continue to do so. They've become my master teachers.

"I am still learning"Michelangelo, age 84

Flu Prevention: Cultured Veggies

These are a little spicy and a little sweet and sour. They are wonderful for digesting your food, building up your immune system, and helping your adrenals feel nourished. It is the flavor I love the best. I'm a foodie and it has to taste good! Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum) is abundant in cultured veggies and has anti-inflammatory properties. I have found it significantly helps when dealing with a cold, flu, or virus. In a large-scale study done on mice, administering L. plantarum led to a significant improvement in mouse health and inhibited the virus from proliferation in their lungs. L. plantarum improves immune function and creates resistance against colds and flu while shortening the duration as well. L. plantarum is a transient resident of your body, which means it doesn't last long. It fiercely attacks pathogenic, bad bacteria in our bodies. It helps our own native bacteria grow stronger and helps us be more resistant to future invasions of pathogens. Your immune system loves this bacteria and with good reason. It keeps order in your gut and will greatly assist you in staying healthy, or helping you recover more quickly if you do get sick. There are lots of prebiotics in this recipe. You'll get gazillions of extra probiotics as the good bacteria feed off the prebiotic foods such as jicama, apples, oranges, and garlic in this recipe. It's a superstar probiotic recipe that tastes so very good!

Ingredients

  • ¼ teaspoon Cutting Edge Cultures - or ¼ cup Kefir Whey
  • ½ small cabbage
  • 1 medium jicama
  • 1 medium apple
  • 3 handfuls spinach - fresh
  • 1 small leek - chopped
  • 1 medium carrot - shredded
  • 1 clove garlic - minced
  • ½ tablespoon Celtic Sea Salt
  • 1 large orange - zested and juiced
  • 1 scoop Prebio Plus - optional

Every ingredient with a link was selected by me to make it easier for you. I may receive a small affiliate commission if you buy something through my links. Thank you! ❤️

Instructions

  • If using the starter culture, stir the culture into 1/4 cup of water. Let the mixture sit while you prepare the ingredients—around 10 minutes. If using kefir whey, add it when the recipe calls for culture.
  • Finely shred the cabbage, jicama, apple, spinach, leek, and carrot using a food processor or a hand shredder. Add to a large bowl.
  • Add the garlic, Prebio Plus, and salt to the bowl and toss to combine. Pack all ingredients into jars.
  • Add the orange zest and juice, Cutting Edge Culture or kefir whey, and cover with water leaving an inch or two at the top.
  • Seal the container and let it sit on your kitchen counter, out of direct sunlight, for 6 days. After 6 days, place the container in the refrigerator.
  • Check the vegetables every day to make sure they are fully submerged in the water. If they have risen above the water, simply push them down so they are fully covered by the water. If any white spots formed because the veggies rose above the water, do not worry. Remember, this isn’t harmful. Just scoop out the vegetables that have the white spots on them and push the rest back under the water.

Notes

Storage note: This kraut can be kept in a covered airtight jar in the refrigerator for up to nine months.

Listen To My Podcast

Our guts comprise at least 70% of our immune system and if your gut is healthy, guess what? Your immune system is too! Probiotic cultured foods are an important key but so is something else. Prebiotics are my new frontier of discovery, and all the things I am learning are blowing my mind. Check out the podcast to learn more about how to make the most powerful cultured vegetable recipe.

Are you on the list?

Sign up today and I'll send you my free Getting Started Guide!

Each week I'll send you updates, tips, recipes, and more! You might even be a winner of my weekly giveaway! (starter cultures, memberships, and more!)

Come be a part of my cultured food family!

Click Here to Subscribe