Fermented sauerkraut with black seeds

 Can you ferment seeds? Yes you can!

When I started my health journey and found this stunningly charming TED talk by Bonnie Bassler about How Bacteria "Talk" (video cuts below). It was as if something clicked within me! A whole new chapter on what a human being really is opened up. I kind of saw a nexus to my bird feeders outside. If I place seeds - one sort of birds come to the table, another group of birds come if I feed fruits, a third group if I feed meat and so on. The same is it with what I eat, it feeds a certain group of bacteria, fungus viruses etc. And with the fact how much older bacteria is in mind, bacteria 3.2-3.5 billion years v.s humans 300,000 years, I started to feel that I'm kind of secondary here !😄 

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxJWvJeasSDgVf4mNn4ewurWL0kf37M5uH?si=mQ8OeBcb6T81hvE-

Shure, everybody knows that if you eat bad or contaminated foods you get sick. But to what degree can you actually build up a healthy strong microbiome, that not only effects you body positively, but also builds up your mind and a positive harmonious mood?!

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxBcT8XBUhLaz0Kaw1yPodicj5lWXm_qJR?si=zViM24_1Zb4M

Did you hear that (in the second video above); "The bacteria makes our vitamins" -so here's my "bird feeder-thoughts" so to say, its not ME eating, it's the microbiome eating what I put in my mouth! And I started to seek knowledge about what I need to put in my mouth to be in a feeling of a good health! A passion grew to understand more! And I understood that Health is more about how to "farm" the good bacteria rather than kill or avoid the bad bacteria!

You've probably heard about anti-nutrients in vegetables, and phytic acid in nuts and seeds is one of them. It can disturb our micribiome and decrease the absorbtion of nutrients in our guts, therefore the name ANTI-nutrients. But to soak your nuts or seeds, with a splash of apple cider vinegar, can minimize the phytic acid contents. Make shure that it's not a pasteurized apple cider vinegar though, choose one that is "alive", "with mother", the pasteurization kills the working bacteria and leaves only the taste of vinegar.

The plant protect their seeds, kind of just as all creatures protects their offspring. The phytic acid protects the seeds against bacteria in the soil, that gladly would eat it. It also hinders the seed to start to grow, unless its really soaked properly in water, so a "short rain" on dry land won't do, if the seeds start to grow in too dry land, it will of course die. The ground must be substantially wet, so the phytic acid is washed out. First when the seed "can be shure" there is enough water to grow a root strong enough to make a plant, then the seed is activated and can grow.

Here you can follow how much fermentation reduces phytic acid (source link below):

So, becoming somewhat like a health nerd, I also read about black seed oil and how amazing health benefith it's supposed to have. Quite recently I got the idea, I mean I use to add cumin seeds when I'm making sauerkraut, why not black seeds?! So I ordered, but lol I ordered wrong, and got black sesame seeds instead. Well, a ordered anew and got my nigella sativa (black seeds). And when I had prepared my sauerkraut I made the same misstake again and addes the black sesame seeds. Sh💥t, well.. it's just an experiment to try out the taste, so I poured in the black cumin seeds (nigella sativa) as well 😅. You can see in the photo above, that the amount of seeds is almost more than cabbage.

I had this jar with air tight lid in room temperature for about two weeks, and in the fridge unopened for another two weeks. And I was So Surprised when I tasted it, it was So Good!!

Another tip is to ferment nuts and seeds by pouring kefir wey or the brine from your fermented vegetables over them, so that the wey or brine cover the nuts or seeds.

I warmly recommend: Healing the Digestive System - Dr.Campbell-McBride:

 

Nigella sativa (aka Black Seed) Research:https://greenmedinfo.com/substance/nigella-sativa-aka-black-seed

 Black Sesame Seed Research: https://greenmedinfo.com/substance/sesame-seed-black

How to make Kefir Wey and how to use it.

Kefir is considered to be 99% lactose free. Lactose is the milk sugar and is what the living bacteria in the Kefir is eating. That's why you can't use lactose free milk, that will starve the Kefir grains (they turn brown and eventually dies). So when you drink Kefir, since the sugars is eaten, you don't get as many calories as if you'd drink the milk unfermented. 

Kefir Wey contains a lot of vitamins, such as B- and C vitamins, and especially B2 wich is good for your eyes, and also helps your body to convert carbs into energy. 

Kefir Wey helps to remove toxins and supports the white bloodcells, it stabilize colesterol levels. 

It has very powerful anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties and has been even frequently been recommended to patients by Hippocrates to heal them from a variety of illnesses 

-you know the guy that is supposedly have said: 

Further on; Kefir Wey also contains a lot of potassium witch helps muscels to contract and supports normal blood pressure. Potassium also helps to maintain normal levels of fluid inside the cells and supports the kidneys.

So: why not a splash of  Kefir Wey in your smoothie to enrich both the vitamin and probiotic content. Sealed in a glass bottle and stored in the fridge, your Kefir Wey will be fine at least a couple of weeks, I'd say up to a month, but it will have the most probiotics in it the very first days.

And lol, listen to this; Kefir Wey can even be used in a skin toner to remove any remnants of cleaning, dirt, excess oil or makeup, balance the skin's PH and moisturize. (Find recipe below)

So Here's how you make Kefir Wey:

Do your usual procedure of straining your grains. Then strain your Kefir through a coffee filter. You can let it drip in the fridge over night. The liquid is even called Liquid Gold due to it's high healing properties!

This "liquid gold" can be used as a starter when you ferment veggies. If you're used to supplement with probiotics in capsule or pill form, consider that Kefir contains 35-56 different strains of probiotics. The highest amount of different strains I have found in capsules is 25 different strains, and when I tried to sprinkle that over a batch of blueberries to be fermented - nothing happened, the berries didn't ferment at all! Another brand that I tried that with, with 14 strands of probiotics worked though, and the fermentation got going perfectly! Compare that with 35-56 different strands, and that isn't freeze dried (and might be killed by you stomach acid...), living bacteria is Much stronger! Adding Kefir Wey over your veggies (I'd use about 1-2 table spoons in the brine) to be fermented is of course to cultivating those strains in your batch. Use as fresh Kefir Wey as possible, preferably directly when you've filtered the Wey.

But of course you can drink your Liquid Gold directly out of the stored bottle too!

The Kefir "left-over" that you have in your coffee filter is called Kefir Cheese and can be use as such. Cut some nice fresh herbs, or add some salt and garlic, there's endless of options to blend in your Kefir Cheese! Use it as a spread or as a tasty (and very healthy) spice on your fish, chicken, meat or salad! I think my favourite Kefir Cheese must be with finely crushed fresh rosemary and some salt!

Best of Luck!!

Source: https://youtu.be/IOZL1UrL5ns?si=aFGfV5YeAFfzpBaN

Kefir Whey Facial Toner, Recipe: https://www.culturedfoodlife.com/recipe/kefir-whey-facial-toner/