Re: Fermentation

Excellent and intelligent question, I'll take a note and do a You Tube video on this one.

There is a big difference. Candida albicans has the ability to ferment sugars in aldehyde, alcohol. Aldehydes create toxicity in the body and account for many of the "unexplained" symptoms many experience with candida overgrowth.

"Production of ethanol (alcohol) by C. albicans in the gastrointestinal tract can be clinically relevant, and has even been suggested as a drunk-driving defense" - see link - http://pathway.candidagenome.org/CALBI/NEW-IMAGE?type=PATHWAY&object=PWY3B3-8...


Candida consumes Sugar to proliferate by way of fermentation, whereas fermented foods do not do this, they are foods which have been preserved by way fermentation (a process which uses salt, certain set temperatures and generally a low oxygen environment) which increases their digestibility and nutritional value. For example, vegetables that have undergone lactic acid fermentation (like sauerkraut and kimchi) often see an increase in the activity of vitamin C and vitamin A. Souring grain foods reduces their content of phytic acid, which allows the body to access minerals more easily from these grains. And yogurt, one of the best of all cultured foods when consumed (sorry, not a fermented food (;-) will ensure you get plenty of folic acid, as well as vitamins B1, B6 and biotin.

Fermented foods are in my opinion perhaps one the most important of foods a person can consume in terms of digestive care. Donna Gates (Body Ecology), one of the foremost authorities in the area on fermented foods, bacteria and healing explains more about the virtues of these foods in great detail in her book. Fermented and cultured foods supply a rich source of beneficials such as lactobacili, various enzymes, are an alkaline food source, contain various vitamins and minerals.

I used to test patients quite often for LGS (leaky gut) years ago with a gut permeability test (lactulose/mannitol) and discovered that the ones who healed their leaky gut the quickest and who resolved their food allergies more quickly than others, were the ones who consumed fermented foods.

Years ago, most folks like my grandparents in Holland would eat these kinds of foods because they had no real way of preserving foods (no refrigerators), and this was also before the discovery of Antibiotics . Those were the "pre-candida" days too no doubt, because Sugar was very expensive.