WE HAVE A pretty fixed view of what makes up the human body – cells, blood, tissues, bone and so on. But, did you know that inside your gut you carry around a whopping 2kg of microbes, which consists of over 1,000 different species of bacteria that outnumber our cells 10 to 1?
Most of us are aware that these bacteria play a hugely important role in the digestion process (breaking down food, absorbing nutrients etc), but science is increasingly viewing the microbiome as a new, unexplored and possibly intelligent organ in its own right.
Scientists are now asking: what’s the connection between the health of our microbiome and our overall health? What role does the microbiome play in mood, depression, diabetes, autism, autoimmune disease, inflammation, food allergies and cancer?
Your gut bacteria
Though it’s an emerging field, scientists seem to agree that a diversity of gut bacteria is good for our health and that (not surprisingly) what we put in to our bodies has a huge impact on our microbiome.
Diets high in processed foods are thought to have a huge impact on our gut micro-organism levels. Dietary sugar and fat encourages bad bacteria and reduces the level of the virtuous ones. Excessive antibiotic use is also a concern – a study co-led by researchers at the Universitat de València found that antibiotic treatment causes significant and sometimes irreversible changes in our gut community.
Specifically, the study found that the gut microbiome shows less capacity to absorb iron and digest certain foods during antibiotic treatment.
There are major health claims being made about fermented foods in relation to gut heath, some of which we should probably treat with caution. They are purported to improve intestinal tract health, enhance the immune system, improve absorption of nutrients and reduce the risk of certain cancers.
Scientists agree that the bacteria in fermented foods help to pre-digest food components, making it easier for your gut to handle and for nutrients to be absorbed.
Fermenting food
When I first started fermenting food at home, I was just as interested in how they could help me to ‘store’ food as I was in their potential health benefits. Kimchi and sauerkraut, for example, are centuries-old methods (in Korea and Germany respectively) of preserving cabbage.
From a culinary perspective I think kimchi is the more exciting of the two. In Korea there are thought to be literally thousands of kimchi recipes and it was traditionally stored in clay pots buried underground to keep them cool and slow the fermentation process.
My version below adds carrot, beetroot and shallots as well as the traditional garlic, ginger and chilli-pepper to give it a kick. I have got into the habit of eating a small bowl of kimchi each evening before dinner (or sometimes as a side dish).
Potential gut health benefits aside, it’s a delicious way to deal with a glut of homegrown veg. Read more about the microbiome and health here.
Given the short days and the fact that we are already seeing the first C*****mas ads on the telly, it’s easy to forget that the season of harvest is still upon us.
Many GIYers will still have tomatoes, peppers, chili peppers, salad leaves and herbs in their polytunnels/greenhouses and of course outside we are in the full bloom of fabulous hardy crops like carrots, parsnips, celeriac, leeks, beetroot, turnips, spinach, cabbage, kale, artichokes, brussels sprouts, swede and apples.
So forget about C*****mas (I can’t bring myself to write the word yet) for another few weeks and focus on nature’s bounty instead!
Though it’s traditional to have coarsely grated cabbage in kimchi, I like the veg to be finely grated.
This recipe produces enough for two large kilner jars, but a lot will depend on the size of the head of cabbage!
Ingredients
Directions
Make the brine by adding the salt to the water and stirring. Put the cabbage, beetroot and carrot in a large bowl and add the brine. Put a plate on top to keep the veg submerged and leave 3-4 hours or overnight.
Drain the veg the next morning, retaining the brine. Put the shallots, chillis, ginger and fish sauce and blitz with a hand-blender until it’s like a paste. Pour over the veg and mix really well to ensure all the veg is coated in the paste. Put the veg mix in tosterilisedkilner jars and pour the brine over so it’s covering the veg.
Cover and leave to stand at room temperature for 3-5 days. It will start to bubble and ferment. Then pop it in the fridge where it will continue to ferment (but more slowly).
You can enjoy it straight away and it will keep for about a month (though it never lasts that long in our house).
You can and should divide rhubarb plants every four or five years to give the plants more room and reinvigorate them. The best time to do this work is when the plant is dormant so November to February will work.
Dig the rhubarb using a fork to lever the crown carefully from the soil, trying to avoid as much as possible damage to the roots. Once you have it out of the ground remove any rotting sections from the plant and give it a general clean up.
Then using a sharp spade, press down heavily and divide the crown in three. Ideally you want each section to have a crown, a large amount of root and at least 4 or 5 pink buds. Then dig a hole for the divided crowns and place one crown in each roots downwards, with the top of the crown roughly an inch BELOW the soil surface.
You can pop some well rotted manure or compost in to the hole first if you want to add some nutrients. Backfill with soil, firming in gently. New plants shouldn’t be harvested too heavily in the first year.
Michael Kelly is a freelance journalist, author and founder of GIY.
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