Fermented Foods
If I were in charge of medical school curricula or required reading for doctors, I would recommend some anthropology and medical history. Doctors need to have a good grasp on how people lived in the past…..the distant past….because our patients still have bodies that were designed for 10,000 years ago. We are just beginning to learn the importance of our relationship with bugs. For too long, we have been waging a war against all bugs. While we need to avoid some pretty dangerous ones, some our practices have destroyed many of the good bugs we need. Overexposure to antibiotics, processed foods, and year-round closed ventilation systems are a few reasons for our bug problems. Our lungs, our skin, and our guts need some bugs. Having the right exposure to good bugs, and at the right times in our lives, help prevent all sorts of allergic and autoimmune problems plaguing affluent societies now. In addition, recurrent vaginal infections have become a common problem. Often times, I tell my patients suffering from recurrent vaginal infections to eat more fermented foods. Probiotic pills are not as good as eating fermented foods. Your gut is looking for food, not a pill.
Here is a list of foods we should incorporate into our weekly diets:
Cabbage
pictured below: Vietnamese Banh Mi sandwich with Asian slaw
Sauerkraut
Kimchi
Miso
Tempeh
Soy yogurt or almond milk yogurt
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