Recipes for Health: Fermented Dairy
Some of the best superfoods on the planet are actually traditional foods.
These traditional foods are foods that our ancestors used for generations to heal and protect the body. Many of these foods were also used to promote fertility and prepare a woman for pregnancy.
Traditional superfoods are nutrient-dense. They are packed full of health-promoting fats, proteins, minerals, and vitamins. Many times, fermentation unlocks these nutrients or enhances an already rich nutrient profile.
The Benefits of Raw, Grass-Fed Dairy
Dairy is one of nature’s original superfoods. Consider yourself lucky if you live in a state where raw, grass-fed dairy is available.
- Many states in the United States do not allow raw dairy.
- When dairy is pasteurized, the wonderful enzymes and bacteria naturally found in dairy are also destroyed.
- Raw dairy has the enzymes lactase and lipase intact, which aid in digestion.
- Fermented dairy enhances intestinal health.
Do You Have a Dairy Intolerance?
Those who cannot handle the sugar in dairy may also find that they do best with fermented dairy, such as yogurt, kefir, cultured butter, or true sour cream. The friendly bacteria in fermented dairy consume milk sugars, such as lactose, and also help to break down milk proteins, like casein. (1)
Sometimes, we have difficulty digesting the proteins in dairy. If you find that you still struggle to digest fermented dairy:
- Follow all of the seven principles of the Body Ecology Diet and, for the time being, remove dairy from the diet.
- Use at least 2 -3 scoops of Vitality SuperGreen on a daily basis. Vitality SuperGreen has GlutImmune in it, which is especially formulated to heal the lining of the gut.
- This will give your intestinal tract the time and nourishment that it needs to heal.
- When you begin to introduce dairy back into the diet, include a digestive aid, such as Assist Dairy & Protein.
Consuming Full-Fat Dairy Is Critical
Many of us are afraid of fat because we have been taught that all fat generates heart disease. We now know that this hypothesis is wrong, and that just the opposite is true. (2) However, many people are still afraid of healthy fats. Did you know that saturated fats are essential to produce hormones in the body?
One large study conducted through the Harvard School of Public Health found that:
- Women who ate more than two portions a day of low fat dairy foods were 85% more likely to be infertile.
- Women who ate full-fat dairy foods more than once per day had a 25% reduced risk of infertility. (3)
Finding grass-fed dairy is essential. When an animal is fed corn or soy-based feed, more pro-inflammatory omega 6 fatty acids are created.
- A pastured animal that eats grass will produce a product rich in omega 3 fatty acids, which actually inhibit inflammation in the body.
- This rule of thumb applies to dairy, eggs, and meat.
- Grass-fed animals will produce golden yellow butter, or if it is a chicken, bright orange egg yolks.
Grass-fed butter, which is made from the cream found in dairy, is rich in CLA (Conjugated Linoleic Acid). CLA is another type of beneficial fatty acid.
- CLA is sold as an isolated supplement at health food stores because it is known for its fat-busting properties.
- That’s right! Eating the right fats can actually reduce fat, especially belly fat. (4)
- This is because belly fat is oftentimes the result of too many inflammatory signals in the body.
- In other words, stress can lead to accumulating fat, and healthy fats will dampen the stress response in the body.
This vitamin is not the same as vitamin K1, which does not convert into vitamin K2.
- Researchers have found high concentrations of vitamin K2 in the brain (the brain is full of fat!).
- Vitamin K2 plays a significant role in bone health and heart health. (5)(6)
- The darker and more yellow the butter, the more vitamin K2 it contains.
Make Real Sour Cream at Home
Making your own sour cream at home is incredibly simple. With homemade sour cream, you can stir in dried herbs, finely chopped dulse, or Celtic sea salt to create a wonderful dip for veggies.
Steps to make homemade sour cream:
- First, acquire a pint of raw, grass-fed cream.
- Pour the cream into a quart-size jar and whisk in a packet of Body Ecology Kefir Starter Culture.
- Allow this mixture to sit somewhere warm for 1–2 days.
- Smell and taste the cream, making sure that it is “sour”. This ensures that all the milk sugars have been consumed by the beneficial microflora. Depending on the temperature of your home, the time for this process will vary.
- Place the fermented cream in the refrigerator. Use or allow it to ferment longer in the refrigerator, if you wish.
- To use, briefly whisk the cream until it thickens. You can also thicken the cream by simply shaking it in the jar.
Homemade Cultured Butter
If you would like to make your own cultured butter at home, use a jar of cream that you have already fermented.
- Pour the fermented cream into a blender and blend until the butter solids separate from the buttermilk.
- At this point, the butter solids will look yellow in contrast to the buttermilk surrounding it.
- Separate the butter solids from the buttermilk. Save your bacteria-rich buttermilk! You can use it later for soaking grains.
- Next, continue to press the butter solids together by hand with a spoon. This will press out more buttermilk.
- Wash the butter by adding cool, clean water to the butter solids and continue pressing the butter together.
- Continue adding water, washing, and pouring off the liquid until the water runs clear.
- Collect the butter into a solid mass and store in the refrigerator. Washed butter will store longer than unwashed butter.
What to Remember Most About This Article:
Nutrient-dense superfoods are full of beneficial fats, proteins, vitamins, and minerals. Fermentation also helps to unlock and enhance the nutrient profile of food.
Raw, grass-fed dairy is one of nature’s best superfoods. Many times, those who are lactose intolerant can still enjoy raw dairy since it is full of enzymes that break down lactose in milk. Eating full-fat dairy is important since saturated fat will regulate hormones in the body. Studies have shown that women who eat full-fat dairy more than once a day have a 25% reduced risk of infertility.
Grass-fed dairy and grass-fed butter are the best choices. Grass-fed dairy is rich in omega 3 fatty acids to cool inflammation in the body. Grass-fed butter is rich in CLA, a beneficial fatty acid that can actually help to reduce belly fat caused by stress.
You can make your own delicious, fermented, full-fat dairy products at home with the Body Ecology Kefir Starter Culture!
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- Mayo B. The proteolytic system of lactic acid bacteria. Microbiologia. 1993 Dec;9(2):90-106.
- Smit LA, et al. Conjugated linoleic acid in adipose tissue and risk of myocardial infarction. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Jul;92(1):34-40. Epub 2010 May 12.
- J.E. Chavarro, J.W. Rich-Edwards, B. Rosner, and W.C. Willett. A prospective study of dairy foods intake and anovulatory infertility. Advance Access published online on February 28, 2007 Human Reproduction, doi:10.1093/humrep/dem019
- ST Larsen, et al. Dietary conjugated linoleic acid changes belly and bacon quality from pigs fed varied lipid sources. J Anim Sci. 2009 Jan;87(1):285-95. Epub 2008 Sep 26.
- Vitamin K and the prevention of fractures: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Arch Intern Med. 2006 Jun 26;166(12):1256-61.
- Dietary intake of menaquinone is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease: the Rotterdam Study. J Nutr. 2004 Nov;134(11):3100-5.