Want to tackle inflammation and joint pain??
Inflammation is fucked. It is mood-altering and can dictate what you want to do and where and how you live your life. I get it. Most with autoimmune diseases do.
I started taking drugs for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) several years ago, and it has helped with joint pain and mobility, which I am grateful for. That said, I know that the drugs are masking underlying health issues that need to be addressed, and for that, I look to my food diet and its effect on my microbiome and gut health.
I've written about this before, the three days I had a virus and didn't eat. I drank only water sparingly, slowly introducing fluids until eventually settling on peppermint tea and honey until I felt better and regained my appetite. By the 4th day, the inflammation in my joints had gone, along with the pain. It was only when I started eating again that the pain came back. I hadn't been diagnosed with RA yet, and I was surprised that food could affect my overall well-being. So profound was that experience on me that I started investigating what would eventually turn into my business, Dark Forest Beverages.
The healing properties of fermented foods have been widely reported on and known for millennia, but they weren't in my world. As a modern Australian woman working in the corporate world of Sydney, slow-fermented foods didn't come into my orbit. Of course, fresh food did and I consume them thinking I was doing the right thing for my body. Unfortunately, raw fresh food - vegetables, fruits, juices, salads, and grains, are tough for me to digest. Who knew!
When I did eat quickly, and on the run, I felt terrible afterwards, my tummy would balloon, and I would feel sluggish. It wasn't until I found fermented, bioavailable foods that my world opened up, and my body could use the nutrient-rich fuel I was giving it. Kimchi, water kefir, and kombucha are all tasty and easy to digest.
The fermentation process breaks down the foods, making it easy for your system to get the nutrients it needs. That makes sense, right? It's like the food has been pre-digested for you. I certainly felt better straight away and know you will too.
Consume fermented foods daily, and with every meal - natural yoghurt - milk kefir yoghurt (the tangy kind), kimchi (from the fridge) and yes, kombucha and water kefir (from the refrigerator), will help your digestive system make the most of what you are feeding it and assist with processing anything else you might be eating along with it. Think hamburger and Kombucha, sausages and sauerkraut. I'm not suggesting you give up all your favourite foods; I don't think that is sustainable #potatochips; but introducing some foods that are alive and unpasteurised, so you have half a chance of helping your body heal and rejuvenate, now that makes sense!