you drink what!?

My body has some interesting stuff going on... I'm not great at science – so I don't understand all the details – but I am very practical, so I know what to do: cut some foods from my diet, replace with others. Sounds easy, except if you've never heard of the foods you need to start eating.

So I've entered the land of sauerkraut, kombucha and kimchi. If you don't know what they are, you aren't alone, I didn't either until 2 weeks ago... but now I'm pretty much an expert.*

These fermented foods are good for many reasons, but particularly good for the gut. There are two types of guys living in your gut: good guys (nothing to do with the home appliances company) and bad guys. You want lots of happy good guys and less of the bad guys. Fermented foods make the good guys living down there happy!*

Because I want a happy gut (who doesn't!?), I've been eating (and drinking) lots of these types of foods. They've been around for thousands of years, but as my doctor said, I grew up a good Aussie girl so I've never heard of any them. I think he was saying it as a negative, but I'm happy that I grew up as a good Aussie girl!

So, I've done lots of research and started making them myself.

In my cupboard, I have kombucha and kimchi fermenting away. Yes, they have live cultures in them. Kombucha is a fermented tea drink, which is a bit fizzy and a bit sweet and can be flavoured with whatever you like. Kimchi is a Korean dish of fermented veggies. I haven't tried it yet but I hope it's nice as I've made a large jar of it! I'm really hoping my experiments are working!

The steps of making kombucha (clockwise from top left): make some tea, cool it down with a few more cups of filtered water, get your SCOBY and starter, add it to the tea, cover with a tight weave cloth and leave to ferment.

I could explain more but I'm not really an expert.* If you want to know more about kombucha check out The Whole Daily – she has a free ebook called Love Your Guts, or Wellness Mama, or I Quit Sugar's article: 17 Reasons You Should Drink Kombucha (and it even contains sugar, so it must be good!).

If you're in Sydney and want to have a go at making kombucha yourself and get some more info, head along to this WORK-SHOP event on Thursday night (2 days time).

There is heaps more information on the internet about fermented foods and easy ways to make them. Keep an eye on my Instagram feed (@thearlegirl) to see if my kombucha and kimchi work... fingers crossed!


* Does googling a topic make you can expert?
* If you ever need me to simplify any complex topics for you, happy to help out ;)
* I think the answer to my previous question is no.