Yes!! I Found a Book to Help Autoimmune Sufferers

[jenny2008]

thanks for your response.. will i still get some benefit with the sauerkraut and apple cider vinegar?
and i guess also if i can find the pastured meat and eggs..what happens if i eat a piece of cake? it is like starting completly from scratch?? thanks so much!
Also...
How soon on the diet did you find relief in your eye dryness??

[jenny2008]

also.. you say not to take b12 supplements?? where else can you get b12? from any veggies/??

also, i guess on this diet you cant really go out to eat??? or do you? what would you order?

Am I just wasting my time drinking the apple cider vinegar and making my own sauerkraut if i continue to eat unpastured meats?? i thought it would still help break down the enzymes in the meat...????? Please please let me know ...!!!! thank you!!!

thanks again! i hope you an help.

[Guest]

Ok... after researching botulism, I am reasonably certain that my odds of making myself sick from homemade sauerkraut are low, so starting my first batch right now! Should be a fun experiment!

[Guest]

Ok.. first batch is percolating haha

Just in case anyone is wondering, I'm not doing this because I think it will cure my LASIK-induced dry eyes... but for other health issues (food intolerances, rosacea, auto-immune-ish stuff that worries me etc.)

Anyhow, at the very least, I hope I like this sauerkraut!

Hmmm... I might just try homemade apple cider tomorrow - I have a big bag of fresh apples from a co-worker's apple tree that I was trying to decide what to do with...

You've gotta love experiments like this that have the potential to be yummy!

[littlemermaid]

US 'pastured meats' means UK 'free-range', does it? Ie animals which have eaten their choice normally from pastures and woods and thus their meat and products contain nutrients? Rather than animals kept in barns and factories and fed grain and recycled unmentionables and pumped with drugs, antibiotics and hormones? We always eat 'free-range' just now but not 'organic' label?

[Guest]

Just thought I'd update you all - I made my sauerkraut exactly as instructed in the book "Wild Fermentation" - just the plain recipe with cabbage and sea salt.

Since I was in a hurry, I left it to ferment on my kitchen counter and it's already turned into sauerkraut - to be honest, it's the best darned 'kraut I've ever tasted - I can't believe how fresh tasting it is when it's, well, fresh! I've never, ever, made my own - the store-bought stuff I only like after it's cooked well - but this stuff is yummy as can be totally raw! Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm! It reminds me of pickles... except it's cabbage!

So, if anyone with dry eyes due to auto-immune-type stuff wants to try Annesse's strategy of eating fermented foods, don't let the unknown of making homemade sauerkraut stop you - it is seriously ridiculously easy - WAAAAY easier than canning stuff since you don't have to worry about sterilizing everything - and it doesn't take long at all. If her diet fixes you, fantastic. And if it doesn't fix your health issues, and you like sauerkraut, at least you'll get THAT out of it

[jenny2008]

SAAG i started my sauerkraut on the 4th -i better check it.. i did buy some raw unpastured from the health food store--$9.00. expensive. but its red cabbaage and so yummy.i eat with all my protein..
how else are you following her diet? are you only eating unpastured meat?just curious!!!

[Guest]

Honestly, I haven't changed anything yet - I have to be in the mood to do any major diet changes haha So far, I'm just adding snacks of sauerkraut to my diet, everything else is the same.

I'll probably go a bit more hard core on this as an experiment eventually, but like I said, I have to be in the right mood to give that a go.

For now, I figured I'd just pop in here to let everyone know how insanely easy it was to make this stuff - way easier than trying to figure out where to buy some (couldn't find anyone to ship it here, and haven't found anyone locally that sells it) - it's just as well though - making my own is super cheap, and I know I'm sounding like a broken record here, but it's super easy!!!

(From what I can tell as long as you follow a proven recipe that has a high enough salt content to prevent the botulism bacteria from growing, you should be good... once the fermentation starts, the pH will be too low for botulism to grow... seems to me the biggest risk would be starting it with too low of a salt content... I'm no expert though, so please do your own research!!!)

[spmcc]

Hi SAAG,

Have you noticed any rosacea symptoms/flares from your fermented food experiment?

I have typical rosacea -- I flare after eating/drinking certain things. It's so obvious for me that I know I can't, for example, drink wine/alcohol, drink hot liquids (tea, coffee, soup), eat spicy foods, tomatoes, citrus fruits, FERMENTED FOODS, yoghurt, aged cheeses, foods with sulfites, nitrates/nitrites, acetic acid, and much more. My immediate symptom from exposure to these things is flushing. My delayed (hours or the next day) symptoms are acne/pustules and ultra-sensitive facial skin (swelling, redness, itching, etc.). I also get mouth sores.

Anyway, I just wanted to know if anyone with rosacea who tries this fermentation diet sees an increase in their rosacea symptoms.

Thanks.

[Guest]

I've been wondering about that too... but I indulged in some chocolate today, and that always induces some rosacea symptoms (burning face is the most obvious sign)... will try to lay off on the chocolate completely for the next while to see if sauerkraut alone will bring it on or not.

Just finished a big bowl of my sauerkraut - it's so darned good!!! (I'll stop overdoing it... really, I will... but I'm just totally enjoying this stuff!)

[Annesse]

Hi SAAG~Wow! I am really impressed. I didn't get started on making my own for some time. Just as you said though, it really is so easy and delicious. Here is a link to some good organic raw sauerkraut that ships if anyone is not quite ready to make their own.
http://farmhouseculture.com/

Hi Spmcc~When I started eating sauerkraut, my lupus facial rash that I had for 10 years literally disappeared in 10 days and has not returned. I think the lupus rash and rosacea both share a common denominator- abnormal peptides. Researchers have found that in rosacea, this is what the immune system is targeting. Here is something on this from our book.

"An article in U.S. News & World Report titled “A New Front in the Fight
Against Rosacea,” discussed findings that Rosacea was associated with
abnormal proteins (MSNBC, 2007). Following is an excerpt of the article.

"In a study published in the online edition of Nature Medicine, research is
pointing the way to potentially better therapy for rosacea. We spoke with
its author, dermatologist Richard Gallo of the University of California-
San Diego. Dr. Gallo stated, 'In rosacea, PEPTIDES are made abnormally.
One hundred percent of the rosacea patients we looked at made more
antimicrobial peptides than normal. And the peptides were processed
into an ABNORMAL form that we found only in rosacea patient’s skin,
not in normal skin. This abnormal form triggers the body’s inflammatory
immune system, which normally activates when you have a cut or an injury.'"

Here’s where peptides come from: Dietary proteins are broken
down by proteases into amino acids and into peptides (short chains of
amino acids). The inability to properly digest proteins due to a lack of protease would lead to the formation of abnormal peptides. This would then trigger the body's inflammatory immune system.

Sauerkraut does contain protease and DNase1. If you eat sauerkraut with your proteins, this will allow your body to properly form normal peptides.

Hi Jenny~I wouldn't be too concerned about falling off the wagon and eating something not super healthy. It was a gradual change for me. Some things you may want to address immediately though, such as trans fats. They are really harmful. I really prefer my new way of eating over my old diet now. Just take it at your own pace.

[spmcc]

Hi Spmcc~When I started eating sauerkraut, my lupus facial rash that I had for 10 years literally disappeared in 10 days and has not returned. I think the lupus rash and rosacea both share a common denominator- abnormal peptides. Researchers have found that in rosacea, this is what the immune system is targeting. Here is something on this from our book.

"An article in U.S. News & World Report titled “A New Front in the Fight Against Rosacea,” discussed findings that Rosacea was associated with abnormal proteins (MSNBC, 2007). Following is an excerpt of the article.

"In a study published in the online edition of Nature Medicine, research is pointing the way to potentially better therapy for rosacea. We spoke with its author, dermatologist Richard Gallo of the University of California-San Diego. Dr. Gallo stated, 'In rosacea, PEPTIDES are made abnormally. One hundred percent of the rosacea patients we looked at made more antimicrobial peptides than normal. And the peptides were processed into an ABNORMAL form that we found only in rosacea patient’s skin,
not in normal skin. This abnormal form triggers the body’s inflammatory immune system, which normally activates when you have a cut or an injury.'"

Here’s where peptides come from: Dietary proteins are broken down by proteases into amino acids and into peptides (short chains of amino acids). The inability to properly digest proteins due to a lack of protease would lead to the formation of abnormal peptides. This would then trigger the body's inflammatory immune system.

Sauerkraut does contain protease and DNase1. If you eat sauerkraut with your proteins, this will allow your body to properly form normal peptides.

Yes, I'm familiar with Gallo et al.'s discovery of overabundance and abnormal cathelicidins in the skin of people with rosacea. But he *never* concludes that his findings point to treatment options. Have you contacted him to tell him that certain foods affect cathelicidins? That's a big gap in his research that should be filled.

For me, all I know is that, if someone has a negative immune response from a stimulus (e.g., people with rosacea who create antimicrobial peptides called cathelicidins due to an immue reaction from sun, heat, stress, cosmetics, food, drink, etc.), then that person *should not* expose themself to that stimulus.

[Guest]

For me, all I know is that, if someone has a negative immune response from a stimulus (e.g., people with rosacea who create antimicrobial peptides called cathelicidins due to an immue reaction from sun, heat, stress, cosmetics, food, drink, etc.), then that person *should not* expose themself to that stimulus.

Definitely have to be careful not to make things worse! I would imagine that it's best to just listen to one's body - if someone feels overall worse, it's probably not worth experimenting with it any further.

Me, I'm just hoping this fermented sauerkraut doesn't flare up my rosacea because I LIKE the stuff haha Would be a bummer to have to give it up so soon after discovering its yumminess!

And as you allude to in your post spmcc, there are some huge leaps of faith in assuming that just because rosacea patient make abnormal peptides in their skin, it can for sure be fixed via the gut and fermented foods. Maybe it can, maybe it can't... but that study alone doesn't prove anything in that regard one way or the other.

[jenny2008]

i made my sauerkraut and after 10 days i put it into a jar... it tastes good but kind of like coleslaw-tangy? did i make it right??? it it supposed to be more saur??? i wonder if 10 days was long enough in a warm kitchen?
how should it taste???

[shanku]

Any opinion on Bubbie's sauerkraut which I found in local Whole Food's grocery aisle; it comes refrigerated and says no preservatives:
http://www.bubbies.com/prod_sauerkraut.shtml

Also, some discussion on its biological quality:
http://www.mothering.com/community/t...nted-qualities

Also, how much of Sauerkraut to eat on a daily basis?

Thanks