In Tim’s book 4HB, Tim discusses Dr. Weston Price’s research of the consumption of fermented foods, (i.e. sauerkraut, cheese, kimchee, unsweetened plain yogurt to name a few), by various indigenous cultures and the benefits of doing so. Tim also mentions that: “Fermented foods contain high levels of healthy bacteria and should be viewed as a mandatory piece of your dietary puzzle.” Tim also mentions that he eats five forkfuls of sauerkraut in the morning and adds kimchee to most meals.

I can see the benefits of adding fermented foods with lots of active bacteria to your digestive track; but the truth of the matter is that many of these foods contain little or no active bacteria; the key word here is “Active”! I speak as someone who has studied and made many of these foods. Once the fermentation or culturing process nears completion, unless the process is stopped or slowed, usually by refrigerating or freezing (like they do with yogurt); the little critters usually end up dying off, or going dormant. This is usually due to the bacteria’s food source being completely consumed, or because the by-products they create themselves, (such as acids, alcohol, etc…), produce an inhospitable environment for their continued existence. Yogurt is probably the best candidate to have a lot of active cultures since the culturing process is usually halted or at least slowed, by refrigeration, before the bacteria reach the tipping point and begin to decline. Most cheeses, including most “fresh” cheese, and certainly all hard or aged cheese, have completed their life cycle and are often cooked or pasteurized in the cheese making process to kill off the active bacteria, stopping the production of their by-products, and thus stabilizing the end product.

Unless foods can be purchased while still fermenting and in an active state, such as yogurt, and as I believe kimchee often is in Asian markets, there are little or no active bacteria to speak of. Products such as sauerkraut are usually canned or bottled, and therefore would be pasteurized or treated with preservatives in order to create a stable product. Thus, there are basically no active microorganisms in virtually all pasteurized or aged products; essentially being sterile or near sterile products. The exception would be products that have been specially processed to maintain viability of the cultures, like refrigerating or freezing as previously mentioned; or by specialized processing, such as low temperature concentrating or drying. And as with all microorganisms, specific storage conditions are essential to maintain the bacteria’s viability; let them get too old, pasteurize or let them get too hot and all bets are off!

I would imagine that many of these foods that Dr. Weston Price studied were being consumed while they were still fermenting, and therefore contained beneficial amounts of bacteria. This is not to say that many of these foods that have completed their life cycle, and thus contain little or no active bacteria, don’t have any nutrition value or benefit; just that the benefits may have more to do with many of the by-products of the fermentation an not necessarily the “active” cultures themselves.

My question is, after my dissertation above (my apologies), is it necessary to obtain these foods in their active (fresh) state, particularly as it pertains to the sauerkraut, in order to derive the benefits that Tim discusses in his writings?

Thanks for sticking with me!
Randy

just ordered the book btw – so if all this information is covered in the text then let me know.

thanks,
mj

I have Tim Ferriss’ book here, I really want to give the slow carb diet a go but I’m alergic to Pulses – Anyone know if this will work minus the beans?

Thanks,

Jules