I think that homemade sauerkraut and other fermented veggies are the secret to my seasonal allergy relief. I used to have amazingly horrible, uncomfortable allergy symptoms. This included loud sneezes that were embarrassing at work, home and on my train commuting. We're not talking about a single loud sneeze. We're talking a three in a row, loud sneeze symphony that echoed.
This orchestra of torture annoyed my boyfriend so much that he would get upset. Come on! Did he really think that I wanted to shake down the interior structure of our home with my sneeze festival? I would say:"Come on babe. Leave me alone. I'm suffering here!".
My other symptoms included a runny nose and itchy and watery eyes. For two or three months I lived in agony. I tried all different types of over the counter allergy medications and also tried eating local honey as some people suggested. Nothing worked. By the way, does eating honey really work?
Eventually, I just gave up. I was tired of spending money on meds that were not working so, I did nothing. For years, I dreaded the idea of allergy season and wondered why is it that I have to hide from nature. I could not stand being outdoors during the spring season.
Relief came to the rescue when I started the GAPS diet. This diet helps to rebuild your immune system by eating primarily traditionally made bone broth soups, homemade fermented foods and the highly controversial but very healing saturated animal fats like lard and duck fat (more about the GAPS diet later).
I truly believe that eating sauerkraut and other fermented foods for about seven months was very instrumental for my allergy relief this past spring. It's the good bacteria and enzymes that are available in fermented foods that I feel helped to put my immune system in balance. I only sneezed about ten times this whole entire spring season! That's an amazingly huge difference from my previous experiences. This is why I'm sharing my experience with you. You might benefit from adding this superfood to your diet. It seems as though ones gut flora is related to a person's health. I had no idea!
I had not grown up eating fermented foods. I now clearly see that my immune system was out of balance, totally wacked out. I had more of the bad bacteria from sources like chemicals in food and household cleaners, toiletries and environmental pollution with no help to protect myself from this bacteria. It's kind of like they took over and I did not have enough good bacteria to fight them off or balance them out.
Here are some benefits of eating homemade sauerkraut other fermented veggies and fruits:
* Added nutrients due to the lacto-fermentation process that contains vitamins B and C.
* Helps with food absorption.
* It's a raw food that has it's enzymes intact. More enzymes than non fermented foods due to the lacto-fermentation process.
* The probiotics, (good bacteria) helps to make the sauerkraut easy to digest and also when eaten with other foods, it helps to digest those foods as well.
* Helps to add good bacteria which is needed to balance out the bad bacteria. The addition of the good bacteria helps to keep our immune system working properly. It helps to keep us healthy!
I am really looking forward to next spring season because I am still following this diet eating fermented foods. Yes. Fermented foods are in my life to stay! I predict that my allergies will be a thing of the past and I will be able to enjoy the outdoors when mother nature stars to pollinate.
Resources:
http://gapsdiet.com/INTRODUCTION_DIET.html
http://www.probiotics-lovethatbug.com/bacteria-in-sauerkraut.html#axzz2AZ1wk9Yu
http://www.easy-immune-health.com/benefits-of-sauerkraut.html
http://www.natural-pain-relief-guide.com/lactic-acid-fermentation.html
Have Fun with Fashion and a Healthy Life!
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