I need to go back, I just thought I'd share our dairy-free probiotic approach. We're dairy-free, have been for a year and a half and probably will be for at least another 2 or 3 years, I'm guessing. I love making fermented vegetables. In fact....
http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...ight=fermented
this thread in Traditional Foods is full of great ideas about how to ferment many, many different types of veggies. I like the section on fermented veggies from Nourishing Traditions, but it makes it seem very complicated (and it calls for whey, which is just strange) but this discusses how to really do it and have the ferments turn out.
For now, given that we can't have any dairy, I am starting to look into whether fermented veggies that some cultures have consumed in relatively large volumes (sauerkraut, kimchee, pickles, haven't gotten beyond that yet) could have a comparable effect on regulating the bacterial balance in the gut.
I can say that having kimchee and pickles 2-3x/day (after we'd taken out our allergens, for us gluten and dairy) has had a very nice effect on her poop. It was somewhat pale and falling apart a bit too much (variable depending on other things as well) but it's turned brown and formed and it looks nice.
http://www.enzymestuff.com/rtstools.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Stool_Scale
I found those helpful with the poop situation.
I haven't looked far yet into how much difference, in terms of bacteria, there is between different types of veggie ferments, but for right now, I'm trying to focus on ones we like that have a history of being eaten in volume.
Now I'll go back and read this monster thread. It looks fun.
http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...ight=fermented
this thread in Traditional Foods is full of great ideas about how to ferment many, many different types of veggies. I like the section on fermented veggies from Nourishing Traditions, but it makes it seem very complicated (and it calls for whey, which is just strange) but this discusses how to really do it and have the ferments turn out.
For now, given that we can't have any dairy, I am starting to look into whether fermented veggies that some cultures have consumed in relatively large volumes (sauerkraut, kimchee, pickles, haven't gotten beyond that yet) could have a comparable effect on regulating the bacterial balance in the gut.
I can say that having kimchee and pickles 2-3x/day (after we'd taken out our allergens, for us gluten and dairy) has had a very nice effect on her poop. It was somewhat pale and falling apart a bit too much (variable depending on other things as well) but it's turned brown and formed and it looks nice.
http://www.enzymestuff.com/rtstools.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol_Stool_Scale
I found those helpful with the poop situation.
I haven't looked far yet into how much difference, in terms of bacteria, there is between different types of veggie ferments, but for right now, I'm trying to focus on ones we like that have a history of being eaten in volume.
Now I'll go back and read this monster thread. It looks fun.
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