Pork, Sauerkraut & The Emergency Room?

On the way home from teaching lacto-fermenting to Clients, I usually pass by a certain barbeque restaurant that is very popular with the locals. It is interesting to note that I have seen an ambulance with lights flashing parked out front more than a few times. Now to be fair I pass by lots of different restaurants, but it seems that I don’t see the emergency crews at the others that often. I have not seen any studies done on this but I do have an idea why barbeque could be such an issue and what can be done about it.

Pork… Thicker Than Blood

Over the years many of us have heard that pork may not be healthy. Why? I have heard many different ideas and studies about why! I personally feel it goes back to that old saying, “You are what you eat!” And in this case what you eat does affect you and your blood. In 2011 Beverly Rubik published a study on how pork affects the blood of people after eating it.

The down and dirty of the study found that after people consumed pork the red blood cells clumped together (extremely coagulated). Wow! Normally red blood cells are free flowing and loosely grouped, so oxygen can easily be transported throughout the body. When the blood gets thick the body has to work much harder to do the same jobs it normally does. Beverly to be fair even used a high quality pastured pork in her tests.

You many have experienced a similar strain on your body from thick blood, ever been very thirsty and gotten a headache or just plain hurt? Drink some water and you start feeling better. Well in the case with pork, it is oxygen that the blood is having issues transporting till the body cleans the problem up. Be very thankful for your kidneys and liver. Maybe this helps explain why I saw the rescue crew at the barbeque restaurant often. If one’s health was not on the upside to begin with, a lowered ability to transport oxygen is not going to help.

Two Fixes For Pork

Well before you get all upset and run the pig off, let me share what else Beverly discovered!

She found that if the pork was marinated the red blood cells did not coagulate (clump) together at near the extreme levels of un-marinated pork. In fact when samples of the blood were taken it looked near normal after consuming marinated pork and Beverly also found the same lack of occurrence when uncured pork was consumed.

I know for a lot of you this is great news since pork is a very enjoyed meat. Are you ready for fix number two?

Let me ask you a question. What is normally eaten on or with bratwurst? Hint: Think of this eaten in a bun like a hot dog… Did you say sauerkraut? Beverly followed up her initial testing of pork in 2013 with a second study. This time she looked at what the red blood cells did when pork was eaten with a commercial cultured (lacto-fermented) raw sauerkraut, not that canned stuff. Hold onto your seat for this one. (That is a strange saying if you think about it, anyway…) The results came out about the same as when the pork was marinated, there was very little clumping of the red blood cells and it looked about normal when compared to the blood samples before the pork and sauerkraut were consumed.

Super news since marinating pork is time consuming and much harder than just throwing some lacto-fermented sauerkraut on the pork or your plate.

Bonus Fix… Number Three

Eating lacto-fermented sauerkraut with cooked meats increases the bodies ability to digest these cooked foods. It works like this. All foods need enzymes to help in their breakdown. Bananas turn brown and get mushy because the enzymes they contain help them to breakdown. These enzymes are killed when meats are cooked. Our bodies have to supply the absent enzymes in order to digest these cooked meats and in turn use more of its energy. I don’t know about you, but that could be energy I wanted for play, healing, etc.. Notice I left out work ;).

Lacto-fermented sauerkraut in case you did not know is a raw fermented sauerkraut with all the nutrients and enzymes left intact. Sauerkraut sold in the stores is heat-treated to some degree for long shelf life and never will be the quality of homemade.

Bonus Fix Three +Plus

Yes there is yet another bonus of lacto-fermented foods. The lacto-fermented sauerkraut in this case also displays a hydrophilic effect with our body’s digestive juices by attracting them to itself, while cooked meats tend to have a hydrophobic effect, by repelling digestive juices. Lacto-fermented foods when eaten with cooked foods supply enzymes and attract digestive juices, helping the body to pull all the nutrition out of the food. And did I mention that lacto-fermenting foods enhances their vitamin and enzyme count. If you want to read more about that see, 7 Reasons I Will Never Stop Eating Fermented Foods.

If you are interested in learning about lacto-fermenting do read more of the articles on this website and we also offer a great eCourse, Lacto-fermenting Book, Lacto-fermentation Air-lock System, and Fermentation Weights.