Cultured Food
Get flash to fully experience Pearltrees
When making naturally cultured vegetables, fruits or condiments, recipes will often call for a variety of ingredients including salt, whey and salt, or even just a freeze-dried culture. How do you choose the best culturing medium for your project? Can one be substituted for another? What if you are dairy-free but your recipe calls for using whey (a dairy-byproduct)? Is purchasing a starter culture really necessary?
Comparing Salt, Whey and Starter Cultures for Fermenting Vegetables, Fruits and Condiments
Prebiotics are non-digestible food ingredients that stimulate the growth and/or activity of bacteria in the digestive system in ways claimed to be beneficial to health. They were first identified and named by Marcel Roberfroid in 1995. [ 1 ] As a functional food component, prebiotics, like probiotics , are conceptually intermediate between foods and drugs. Depending on the jurisdiction, they typically receive an intermediate level of regulatory scrutiny, in particular of the health claims made concerning them. Roberfroid offered a refined definition in the 2007 Journal of Nutrition [ 2 ] stating:
Prebiotic (nutrition)
Kombucha
Probiotic-rich, enzyme-filled cultured vegetables and fruits are some of the best foods you can eat to improve your digestion and strengthen your immune system. I use to have terrible indigestion and acid reflux on almost a daily basis and cultured foods help heal my digestive system and made me feel like a new woman! The recipe I’m sharing with you today is one of my favorite go to recipes from my new cookbook Deliciously Holistic which is coming out in March 2013!
cultured apple goji berry compote — A Harmony Healing
Tibicos
Fermented water kefir with grains on the bottom and a floating piece of grapefruit peel Tibicos grains average 5 mm in size. Tibicos , also known as tibi , water kefir grains , sugar kefir grains , Japanese water crystals and California bees , and in older literature as bébées , African bees, ale nuts, Australian bees, balm of Gilead, beer seeds, beer plant, bees, ginger beer plant, ginger bees, Japanese beer seeds and vinegar bees, [ 1 ] are a culture of bacteria and yeasts held in a polysaccharide biofilm matrix created by the bacteria. As with kefir grains, the microbes present in tibicos act in symbiosis to maintain a stable culture. Tibicos can do this in many different sugary liquids, feeding off the sugar to produce lactic acid , alcohol ( ethanol ), and carbon dioxide gas, which carbonates the drink.
Kefir
Kefir (pronounced /kəˈfɪər/ kə- FEER [ 1 ] ) (or alternatively kefīrs , keefir , kephir , kewra , talai , mudu kekiya , milk kefir , búlgaros ) is a fermented milk drink made with kefir grains and is believed to have its origins in the Caucasus Mountains . It is prepared by inoculating cow , goat , or sheep 's milk with kefir grains. Traditional kefir was made in skin bags that were hung near a doorway; the bag would be knocked by anyone passing through the doorway to help keep the milk and kefir grains well mixed. [ 2 ] Marco Polo mentioned kefir when recounting his travels. [ 3 ] [ further explanation needed ]Our Health Topics section includes hundreds of articles on nutrition, diet, and health. The menu at left groups related articles into convenient categories, or you can use the search engine to quickly zero in on a topic of interest. ABC's of Nutrition : Fat, protein, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, and more. Ask the Doctor : Holistic advice for treating various ailments
Health Topics
Fermentation in food processing is the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohols and carbon dioxide or organic acids using yeasts , bacteria , or a combination thereof, under anaerobic conditions. Fermentation usually implies that the action of microorganisms is desirable. The science of fermentation is also known as zymology or zymurgy. The term "fermentation" is sometimes used to specifically refer to the chemical conversion of sugars into ethanol , a process which is used to produce alcoholic beverages such as wine , beer , and cider .
Fermentation (food)