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The Probiotic in Fermented Vegetables That Helped Protect Thousands of Infants
Forget everything you think you know about vegetables, because something remarkable happens when you culture them.
With a simple jar of vegetables, salt, and time, you can create a food teeming with beneficial microbes—and what these cultured vegetables can do still amazes me after all these years.
I feel like I’ve been standing on top of a mountain singing the praises of cultured vegetables for twenty-five years. Some people listened, some didn’t, but I always believed there would come a day when we would begin to understand just how powerful these foods really are. I think that day is finally here.
My own life changed dramatically because of a jar of cultured vegetables filled with billions of beneficial bacteria. Even now, after decades of making and eating them, I’m still filled with wonder at what fermentation can do.
Cultured vegetables are part of my everyday life. I eat a spoonful regularly, and we always have a jar in the refrigerator—although, if I’m being truthful, it’s usually six or more. I like variety! And the wonderful thing is that properly fermented vegetables can keep for months in the refrigerator.
Over the years, I’ve also reached for cultured vegetables many times when someone in my family had an upset stomach, stomach rumbles, or digestive distress. A spoonful of the vegetables or even a little of the cultured juice has been one of my favorite foods to turn to.
But this story is much bigger than what I’ve seen in my own kitchen.
Scientists have been studying some of the very microbes found in cultured vegetables, and the findings are extraordinary. One particular bacterium, Lactobacillus plantarum, has been involved in research surrounding everything from the gut and immune system to respiratory health—and even a remarkable study involving thousands of infants at risk for sepsis.
That is where this story gets truly fascinating.
Powerful Lactobacillus Plantarum
Saving Thousands Of Infants
There was a study done 1 on the special probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum). These probiotics are made abundant when you culture your veggies. L. plantarum has saved thousands of infants from sepsis which is often a deadly massive immune response to bacterial infection that gets into the blood. Six hundred thousand infants die annually from sepsis, primarily in developing countries, and researchers have been trying to find a way to stop it for the last twenty years. Dr. Pinaki Panigrahi, a pediatrician at the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health who led the study, was searching for answers. They screened 280 bacteria strains until one day they found the healthy strain L. plantarum isolated in the diaper of a healthy Indian baby. They started giving infants L. plantarum, the kind of lactic acid bacteria found in fermented vegetables and found in my veggie starter culture Cutting Edge Culture. They also added the prebiotic fructooligosaccharide (in Prebio Plus) “to promote growth and sustain colonization of the probiotic strain.” After one week of giving the babies the cocktail of pre- and probiotics, deaths from sepsis dropped by 40 percent, from 9 to 5.4 percent. 2
Respiratory infections dropped
But something else happened that they didn't expect. The probiotics also began to help with other types of infections, including those in the lungs. Respiratory infections dropped by about 30 percent. "That was a big surprise because we didn't think gut bacteria were going to work in a distant organ like the lung," Panigrahi says. They actually stopped the trial prematurely since it was working so well. "We were planning to enroll 8,000 babies, but stopped at just over 4,000 infants," Panigrahi says.
Pascal Lavoie, a neonatologist at BC Children's Hospital in Vancouver, British Columbia, says, "These beneficial bacteria can push out harmful bacteria in the baby's gut by changing the environment or simply using up resources. They also produce a compound that strengthens the wall of the intestine. It acts as a barrier to prevent the bad bacteria from going through the wall into the blood. The probiotic bacteria can jumpstart a baby's immune system. Probiotics can be much more powerful than drugs. "
Asthma And Cultured Veggies
I've gotten letters and stories from people whose lives have been changed in dramatic ways. One such story was from a woman who found herself in a terrible wind storm. She had severe asthma and couldn't get to her inhaler. She just so happened to have a jar of cultured veggies in a cooler in her car. Within minutes of swigging the juice she could breathe again. She was so shocked and amazed that it worked and will never underestimate the power of these vegetables again. She became a believer in this food that works like medicine.
Cultured veggies are loaded with vitamin C and this will boost the immune system, fight pathogens and give the body a powerful boost to help with many ailments including asthma. More and more studies are showing that L. plantarum can help regulate the production of adenosine by immune cells like regulatory T cells do. All this while also tempering inflammation throughout the body, thereby reducing asthma and many other inflammatory diseases.3 Read more.
Something You Should Know
These veggies are powerful, but here is something you should know - this particular bacteria (L. plantarum) is a transient strain of bacteria. This means it doesn't last more than a few days in the body so you're going to need to consume them often.
This is not a problem since one jar can last months on end in the refrigerator, perfectly preserved and getting more flavorful with time. Cultured vegetables are also loaded with lots of Vitamin C which helps to boost your immune system too!
Recipes with L. Plantarum
Here are some of my favorite cultured vegetable recipes and I have many more.
Check out the recipe page. All of them are loaded with Lactobacillus Plantarum.
Make them, eat them, and they will make you a believer in their power! You've gotta have a jar in the fridge to give you the help you need. So let me teach you how easy and delicious they are to make.
Check Out The Recipes!
Listen To My Podcast
Forget everything you think you know about vegetables and let me tell you what happens when you culture them. Grow your own probiotics in a jar of vegetables, and you’ll be shocked and amazed at all they can do.
Tune in to learn more!
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