Fermented Vegetable Juice Day 11-Through-16

Hey everyone, sorry for being so MIA. My health and my life has been crazy lately! But have no fear, the experiment... for the most part, continues on. Due to a few unforeseen issues, I accidently missed 3 days but I've been contemplating going to the doctor over some chronic and excruciating back problems I've had ongoing this passed week or two. In either case, I am still consuming the lovely fermented juices and in the next couple days, something very exciting will happen... I'll get to open another bottle, a different flavor... yay! I am so excited because to be honest, the Beet Juice has a pretty overpowering flavoring and I am starting to get a touch bit bored with it. I'm excited for something along the lines of the Sauerkraut Juice because I am having fantasies of soaking some vegetables in it and having myself a lovely "Pickled" platter, lol. I just ADORE the fermented flavor, even if the undertones of what is fermented may or may not be my very favorite. I think I will truly enjoy getting a new flavor because for a little over two weeks now, it's been Beets, Beets, Beets and while it's been lovely, I'm ready for a little change.
As you can see, Day 11 I missed due to not being able to stand/walk or hardly move from back pain. Day 12 I took it like a shot, perhaps one of the quickest ways to get it in me. Day 13 same as day 11. Day 14 I had a delicious piece of Chicken in some lovely Chicken Broth with lightly sauteed Lettuce and Tomatoes, 1 teaspoon of the Fermented Beet Juice (which is what gives it that amazing color!) and a Tapioca Flour roll on the side, Mmm yummy! Day 15 I had it like a shot, 1 teaspoon of the juice with a tablespoon or two of water and drank it plain. Day 16 (this morning) I had my 1 teaspoon Fermented Beet Juice in a glass of mixed, fresh juiced juice that contained - Pears, Apple, Green Grapes and a Lemon. I strongly suggest if you try this, drink the Beet Juice as a shot and then drink the juice afterwards because the combination kind of reminded me a bit of dirt flavor.

How am I doing? All in all, my constitution is no longer doing so good, perhaps due to the missed doses but I just haven't been well enough or had enough free time to drink my fermented juice. I do part time work for a volunteer magazine and business has been hectic lately. Meetings, manuals, etc. I also have a condition that causes regular intestinal issues and this is probably just part of that. There isn't much to update about but I am very excited to announce the next flavor and give it a try!

Do you have a suggestion for what type of Fermented Juice to open next? Sauerkraut Juice, Red Cabbage Juice, Carrot Juice or Daikon Juice? Feel free to leave your suggestion in the comments below.

Until next time, I wish you Peace, Health and Happiness!

Fermented Vegetable Juice Day 5 - 10

Hello everyone, sorry I have been AWOL for a while but life got really hectic and then I was sick for a while with a head cold and some sort of stomach bug. Either way, I am back and fear not, I've still been doing the Fermented Vegetable Juice Experiments!
So far it's been going great, the burning that usually accompanied consuming it at first... is now gone. I have tried taking it in many ways. Day 5 it was in a Smoothie of Pureed Banana, Orange Juice and Almond Milk. Day 6 it was in a Smoothie of Pureed Banana, Applesauce and Almond Milk. Day 7 it was in a Smoothie of Pureed Banana and Orange Juice. Day 8 I had my Fermented Beet Juice in a Pureed Banana.

I haven't upped my dose due to the being sick and getting caught up in other things, so I'm doing an extra week at 1 teaspoon. Day 9 - I had my Beet Juice mixed in with some Broccoli Chicken Soup, Mmm, Yummy!
On Day 10 - I tried doing a shot of it slightly watered down. That would be the image of the dark reddish fluid, I put the 1 teaspoon Beet Juice in with maybe a tablespoon of water. Not bad.

I haven't yet had my dose today, which will be day 11! I have been alternating taking it mornings, afternoons and nights. Either one seems to work just fine.
Official Report:  I truly and firmly believe that drinking the Fermented Juice was a HUGE part of why I didn't get very sick. Everyone else around me was miserable for days but mine was fairly mild, I only had one truly bad day and then I was pretty much fine. I actually think this is helping and making a difference in my digestion and health. I have even been a lot more productive lately, though you'd never guess that from the fact that it's been about a week since I've posted, lol. I am very sorry about that, it was just really hectic here.

Questions? Comments? Stories?

Please feel free to share with us in the comments, we'd love to hear from you.

Until next time, I wish you Peace, Health and Happiness!

Fermented Vegetable Juice - Day 4

 Today my Fermented Beet Juice was served in a smoothie along side my breakfast. How appropriate that on Valentines Day it would tint my little smoothie such a lovely shade of pink.  -  This smoothie contains one pureed Banana, 1/4 cup Orange Juice, 1/4 cup Pineapple Juice and 1/4 cup Almond Milk with my added 1 teaspoon of Fermented Beet Juice. It was undeniably delicious, I cannot even tell you how much I am loving this stuff. I tasted my smoothie before adding the Fermented Beet Juice and quite frankly, I think it tasted better AFTER I added the Beet Juice. Yum, yum!

Breakfast: Pineapple Chunks, A Banana and
 My YUMMY smoothie!

In all honesty, I thought incorporating this was going to be a lot harder than it actually is. 
While it is still too soon to tell, I think this may be doing my digestive system quite well. The one and only downside I have experienced thus far is the extreme sugar cravings and the hypoglycemia that I had beat... is now back. I am not certain why this is but I attribute it to possible die-off. If the good bacteria is getting in there and kicking the bad bacteria butt, in particular - Yeast, it may be causing them to cry out for sweets in their dying hour. This is of course just a simple hypothesis. Other then that, things are going great in the experiment so far. I certainly think this little endeavor is very promising indeed.                                                                                                                                                      

Any questions or comments? Feel free to post in the comments below. 

Peace, Health and Happiness to all and to all a great day!

Fermented Vegetable Juice - Day 3

Today's dose of Fermented Beet Juice was served in an interesting way. I initially wanted to have a salad but alas there was no lettuce. So I hard boiled an Egg, I washed, peeled and shredded a Carrot, washed and quartered some Cherry Tomatoes, sliced some Black Olives, diced the Egg White and reserved the Egg Yolk. From there I mashed the Egg Yolk with a teaspoon of Walnut Oil, a teaspoon of the Fermented Beet Juice, some Black Olive Juice, some of the Tomato Juice from cutting the Tomatoes and a splash of Almond Milk, this made a very tangy and tasty "dressing" for my "salad" - All in all it wasn't a bad "salad" and the Fermented Beet Juice really put some tang in my "dressing."

I have noted increased energy with each dose upon first taking the juice and it lasts about an hour. The mild tummy discomfort it caused on Day 1, has not been back since Day 1. Both Day 2 and so far Day 3 have been Gastrointestinally uneventful, lol. Though there is still a mild burning sensation in my stomach and while I cannot say for sure that it is the juice, it did begin the day I started taking it. I assume this is much like the effect Fermented Apple Cider Vinegar has, it too causes a mild burning sensation when ingested. Fear not though, this is a good thing! It's an indication that your body has adequate Hydrochloric Acid for proper food digestion. I thought today we might take a look at what makes Beets SO darn healthy!

Beets are a root vegetable with a plethora of benefits. They have been used for many, many purposes through history and modern times. In the past Beet Leaves were used for binding wounds and Beet Root was used to treat a whole host of ailments. Beets contain a strong color pigment called Betalain that has Antioxidant, Antifungal and Anti-inflammatory properties. It is useful in detoxification and may help support Cancer recovery. The Leafy Green part of Beets is high in many vitamins, including Vitamin K, Vitamin C, Vitamin, Iron, Copper, Potassium, Magnesium, Sulfur, Calcium, Choline and Silica. Though you should be warned that consuming large amounts of Beet Juice or Beets in general, may cause your stool and urine to darken or redden. Beets are quite high in naturally occurring Sugar, so I suggest taking it easy on them, maybe just a few ounces of Beet Juice a week or just a couple servings of Beets per week. 

Of course you may eat them as often and as you see fit, I have read that too much can be not so good. So like anything else, everything in moderation. Beets are especially healthy Raw because Oxalic Acid can become somewhat toxic when cooked. Though if you have eaten cooked Beets for years now, you probably know more than me, so just keep doing what you're doing. These are merely guidelines and some helpful information for folks who may not know a lot about our friend the Beet. Juicing is another wonderful option, especially if you Juice the whole Beet, greens included because the greens contain much of the nutrients in a Beet. Raw Beet and Beet Juice consumption have been show to help with Arthritis, Cancer, Eye Problems, Kidney Stones, Varicose Veins and Cardiovascular health as well. It's also been indicated that Beets and Beet Juice may help with Stomach Acid Production and improve the function of many organs.

- Any questions or comments? Feel free to leave me a message in the comments below. I'd love to hear your stories or input on Probiotics or Fermented Foods.

Until next time, Peace, Health and Happiness!

Fermented Vegetable Juice - Day 2

So tasty! So Nutritious! So Red and Green and Festive looking!

 Today I had my one teaspoon of Fermented Beet Juice in soup! -
It was delicious! I was surprised by how that 1 teaspoon really punched up the flavor of this simple Broccoli Chicken Soup. Yes, very simple, because that is a whole piece of chicken in chicken broth with cooked broccoli.


I could so easily see why these Fermented Vegetable Juices would be amazing for flavor boosting and in the case of the Beet Variety, clearly some potent food coloring as well. I am dreaming of all the pink things I could make with this and that is definitely an added bonus because I am not using food coloring at all anymore. I feel it's best to use nutritious things to tint whatever I wanted colored.


How the juice experiment is going...
Well yesterday certainly got things going but I consider that a good thing. : )  - By late last night I was suffering something highly unusual for myself... I have been off refined sugar for around 6 months and I considered myself to be pretty done with the Sugar Demons. However, last night they were back with a vengeance and I could barely stand it. I ate a Banana to try and stave off the sweet cravings but it barely sufficed. Today it occurred to me, as I sat on my couch tweaking for a sugar fix... "Why am I having such bad sugar fits???" - Suddenly it dawned on me, perhaps those little soldiers, those good and friendly bacteria... are killing off some bad guys? Like Yeast, Fungi, etc. and maybe in their dying hour, they crying out for sugar to survive. Since we all know Yeast and naughty bacteria love and thrive on sugar in it's many forms. That got me to thinking, this is probably some sort of die off effect that I am experiencing. Which leads me to a conundrum, do I feed the sugar cravings somewhat safely with Maple Syrup and Fruit... or do I deny the heck out of these sensations and risk feeling like crud but maybe eventually coming out the other side feeling better?

Now todays dose did not "get things going" - so to speak and I feel my body acclimating and giving into the sugar cravings is certainly making this easier. I think resisting might be the better road though but for now I have too many things going on and I need to be able to function properly.

That's all for now, tune in tomorrow for more "Adventures In Fermented Juice!"

Any comments? Feel free to share.

Fermented Vegetable Juice and Juicing

                                                       Isn't it a beautiful sight to see all those little Organic Labels?

I am so pleased to tell you all that this past week I had the wonderful opportunity of participating in a Fermented Vegetable Juice Giveaway hosted by Jill of the Real Food Forager Blog and I won! The giveaway featured a wonderful product called Caldwell's Organic, Raw, Cultured Vegetable Juices. I cannot even begin to explain how prompt the delivery was, I am very impressed by this companies fast shipping. It arrived in a nice styrofoam cooler with dry ice packs all around the Juice, so it was already ice cold and ready to sample!

If you are interested in reading more about the benefits of Fermented Cabbage Juice, Jill at the Real Food Forager Blog put together two beautifully detailed and well researched posts called 6 Reasons To Drink Fermented Cabbage Juice. And 8 Reasons To Add Probiotic Food To Your Diet, I found them to be very informative and I learned a lot, it's definitely worth checking them out. Definitely look into her article The Autoimmune Crisis: What To Do About It because it is very eye opening and talks about the connection between gut health and autoimmune disorders. After doing research about the benefits of Fermented Vegetables and Fermented Vegetable Juices, I am excited to incorporate these into my diet. Not only to try them and enjoy their flavors but to see if I might benefit from consuming them regularly.

My prize was a variety pack that contained five, 8oz bottles of Fermented Vegetable Juices, including Beet Juice, Daikon Juice, Carrot Juice, Sauerkraut Juice and Red Cabbage Juice. Freezing these juices is perfectly safe, so I intend on freezing four of my five flavors because it is very important to start introducing Fermented, Probiotic Rich Foods and Beverages very slowly to avoid stomach upset. I am going to look at this as somewhat of an experiment, I'll be starting out with 1 teaspoon of the Fermented Juice in a glass of Raw, Fresh Juiced Juice OR perhaps as a dressing or condiment or just added to my food once cooled, on a daily basis. I'll increase to 2 teaspoons after the first week and move up from there until I reach a daily dose of 2 tablespoons of Fermented Vegetable Juice a day.

I will then report back any changes or benefits that I note and write progress report entries for my blog so you all can read and experience it along with me. I have a multitude of stomach problems and I anxiously await the prospect of this potentially easing some of those issues. I'll be starting tomorrow, Saturday, February 11th - 2012. Coincidentally this will also be the inaugural, maiden usage of my brand new Juice Extractor, so that is also exciting. Anyway, I hope you will all join me on this journey and hopefully we will all learn something and benefit as we go.

Are you interested in purchasing some of these juices for yourself? Then I have great news for you, thanks to Jill, anyone interested in purchasing these juices can get a 10% off discount coupon and place an order simply by clicking this link for Caldwell's Raw, Cultured Vegetable Products!  Please note: This offer is valid until March 3, 2012 for orders over $50. Shipping is free to mainland USA.


Also, don't forget to stop and see my friend Jill, she has a wealth of knowledge available to read on her blog.

And feel free to leave me a comment, ask questions or share your experiences with Fermented Foods and Beverages in the comments below.

Disclaimer: I am NOT receiving any kick-backs, promotions or money for you clicking the links in this article.