Last November, I added ferments to my diet in a big way because I heard it could help my chronic pain. I did not know at the time that ferments are also associated with elevated mood, but I have noticed in myself that I feel more “up” without having to work at it so hard. This graphic shows the interactive nature of the gut and brain. Since eating ferments heals the gut, it is easy to see why it would also improve mood and other brain functions.
This article summarizes five decades of study into the gut’s “brain” — known technically as the enteric nervous system (ENS). The gut brain manufactures more than 30 neurotransmitters, including serotonin, that are identical to those in the brain. Healing a dysfunctional gut has been shown to relieve major depression and even autism.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201110/your-backup-brain
This article discusses one woman’s experience with severe anxiety that resulted from a common genetic mutation. This mutation, which affects close to one in five people, causes a shortage in B-vitamins which, in turn, can produce a huge range of problems from mood disorders, multiple miscarriages, strokes, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and many other illnesses. The good news is that the potential treatment — a B-vitamin called folinic acid — is cheap, relatively easy to find and free of side-effects. Fermented foods are particularly rich in B vitamins.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/lifestyle/sa-lifestyle/how-a-vitamin-cured-my-anxiety-elisa-blacks-story-of-lifelong-struggle-and-new-hope-for-the-future/story-fnizi7vf-1227251037624
Fermenting food not only preserves the nutrients in food, but also makes them more easily digestible. For example, many people cannot digest the lactose (milk sugar) in milk, but can digest fermented milk (kefir), because the fermentation process turns the lactose into lactic acid. Fermentation also creates new nutrients, particularly B vitamins, including folic acid, riboflavin, niacin, thiamin, and biotin (but not B-12 which is only found in animal products). Some ferments have been shown to function as antioxidants, scavenging cancer precursors known as “free radicals” from the cells of your body, and to help remove toxins from the body. Lactobacilli create omega-3 fatty acids, essential for cell membrane and immune system function. Some foods (like cassava) must be fermented before they are safe to consume, because the fermenting process removes toxins (like cyanide).
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/cultural-rehabilitation-the-health-benefits-of-fermented-foods/
polination.blog 
Sometimes my food is so nutritious, delicious and PRETTY that I have to stop and take a photo before I dig in! This bowl started with fresh, organic, baby greens with a smitch of apple cider vinegar and olive oil on the bottom. Then I sauteed some tempeh in coconut oil, black pepper and turmeric and dumped that on top of the salad, adding some of my own fermented pineapple and fermented red cabbage, plus some fresh red bell pepper and green grapes. Man oh man was it goooooooood!
LikeLike
That looks really delicious. Like something Milady Webworker might whomp up. And possibly will, after she sees this.
(“Whomp up”: that’s a specific technical culinary preparation term, for any non-chefs out there.)
We have many times photographed our breakfasts, where we actually sit at a table and the sunlight is good and the settings can look nice if you frame it right. @@ That is, I encourage Milady to employ her excellent photographic skills on her own plate while I go ahead and dig in. (Wait. Did I just type that out loud?)
It had been my thought to post our more photogenic breakfasts on the website, with description if not recipe, but “technical difficulties (please stand by)” have thwarted my efforts to get any of them posted timely, and it seems like, after a day, the dish has gone cold. “We’ll post the next one.” Ended up only posting breakfast once, thirteen months back, a turkey and cheese omelet and toast, which wasn’t even that colorful (saved by the chili verde). (Nor even that good a photo. Oh, I see, I took that one.)
LikeLike
So yeah … not a great photo, but my mouth is watering anyway. 🙂
“Whomp” is a good way to describe my methods in the kitchen. I am what you might call “recipe challenged” … I have a really hard time following anyone else’s ideas about what should or should not be in my food. I had to follow directions to learn how to ferment properly, but now that I’ve had a lot of successes and one important failure (it’s good to know what NOT to do), I am in my element “whomping up” mixtures based on my imagination and taste buds.
Today, I mixed up a fresh bowl of sandwich spread with a batch of kefir cheese, a ripe avocado and hmmmm … some of this, some of that. I think I ended up with salt, garlic powder and turmeric. It’s delicious and such a pretty color!
LikeLike
How is the pain coming along?
LikeLike
Much better, thank you! I had maxxed out on pain meds, waiting anxiously for the next time I could take a dose. I still need them, but I often realize that I have started to hurt only hours after I could have taken a dose.
Less pain obviously leads to better sleep, which leads to more energy and less time laying on the couch trying to endure. I have a very active mind and am the child of an athlete who didn’t sit still much. Even an hour more a day is a blessing, but the ferments have given me several more hours a day and I am so so grateful.
LikeLike