HOMEMADE SAUERKRAUT
How Gut Health Affects Body Composition After Menopause
Here’s another nail in the calorie-counting coffin and evidence that supports the importance of focusing on the nutritional quality of the food we eat as we hit our 40s and beyond.
As estrogen levels drop, the balance of good bacteria and bad bacteria changes - and you guessed it, the balance goes in favour of bad bacteria. Of course it would, wouldn’t it?
Estrogen has hundreds of functions in the body and the microbiome has the role of changing its bioavailability so it can be used by all the cells that need it. So when estrogen levels drop, the bacteria that was required to process it die off, disrupting the balance and making way for bad bacteria to proliferate.
Symptoms of this include bloating, slower transit time of food passing from the stomach to the bowel and constipation.* But a lesser known issue is that the bad bacteria can actually extract more calories from food as it is digested, and if we’re not using these calories, they get stored as fat.
So, it’s really important to pay attention to the gut bacteria as we go through menopause. A healthy microbiome will help with digestion, fat loss, immune system and more efficient extraction of nutrition from the food we eat.
Fortunately, it’s really easy to improve gut health by increasing the variety of plant-based foods across a week. Dr Tim Spector recommends aiming for 30 different varieties a week. This includes all vegetables and fruit, beans, pulses and legumes, whole grains, herbs, spices and even coffee and chocolate.
Adding probiotic-containing foods to your diet is also an effective strategy and can make a noticeable difference for some people. These are fermented foods like natural yoghurt (check if it has live bacteria on the ingredients label), kefir, kombucha and sauerkraut.
Sauerkraut is eye-wateringly expensive to buy, but is quick and simple to make. It has a mild tangy flavour and is really versatile. Add to salads, soups, and stews. It is also great with cheese and works brilliantly with hummus on rye bread or pitta.
RECIPE
You’ll need a 1-litre glass jar with a lid. Sterilise it first by washing it in the dishwasher.
1kg of mixed vegetables. Hard, veg works best. First, reserve a whole cabbage leaf to use later to seal the jar. Try any combination of red or white hard cabbage, sliced carrot, radish, raw beetroot and turnip. Place in a large bowl and add 40g of salt. This seems like a lot but it’s important to use the right quantity for the vegetables to ferment, and it won’t taste salty.
Massage the salt into the veg with your hands until the veg is well coated and the vegetables are combined.
Spoon the vegetables into the jar. Fill the jar about half full, and use a wooden spoon or rolling pin to compact the vegetables into the jar to get rid of as much air as possible. Add more vegetables, pressing them down each time, until all the vegetables are in the jar. Take a small jug of water and pour into the jar until the vegetables are covered. Press down again with the spoon or rolling pin to release any air trapped in the jar.
Take the reserved cabbage leaf and press it into the top of the jar so that the vegetables are all under the water. You need to avoid air getting in contact with the veg. Seal the jar.
Place the jar on a plate. As the fermentation takes place, the liquid can rise up and spill over the jar.
Leave at room temperature for 3-4 days. A couple of times a day, open the lid of the jar to release any pressure from the fermentation building up inside the jar.
Store it in the fridge and it will last for several months.
