My thoughts on vegetables have been mainly as organic sources of minerals, vitamins and enzymes rather than bulk or energy so quality and freshness is critical. However, good preserving/transformation techniques are an alternative...
I have promoted sauerkraut and kefir before as i find it difficult to swallow a pill full of ten billion bacteria as if it was natural and effective. Maybe it is, i don't know, but many supplements could be money better spent on quality food. Probiotics are vital, all fermented and preserved food interest me as base materials are transformed into something more easily digestible (just like sprouting). All preserving can make suitable food for stores on board for cruising and the fact that the "good" bacteria in our gut are the same ones that preserve food for our consumption is more than coincidence. Acidopholus eat sugar-like organics and produce acids which preserve the food by excluding many anerobic bugs and especially the ones harmful to us. No surprise that olives are preserved in a similar manner and that vinegar preserving is just by-passing the bugs....
Salt helps to select the good species too.
Today i learnt something new that has other connections for this process. I was researching some of the gum and thickeners when i found this about Xantham gum (E415) which is named after the bacteria that is used to mass-produce it.....
It is naturally produced to stick the bacteria to the leaves of cabbage-like plants

Now why would a plant want to stick bacteria to its leaves?
Probably, so it can select the species that live there so they are not harmful or predatory and the plant can use their presence to ward off all the other bugs that would wish to come in and eat of the flesh of the plant. In other words it is a vital part of the plants immune system.
Reminds me of the dusty mold layer on vine grapes which is probably to stop other more aggressive yeasts from getting at all that fructose.

All makes me feel safer about eating E415 and also Gellan Gum E418 which has similar manufacture. Just need to take the "E" book to the supermarket each time...
So here's to eating the best veggies available and growing a good protective layer on my gut to keep out the nasties...

Ted

Ted


One cannot believe all one reads on the Internet...
Abraham Lincoln