Local artists

A short cycle ride to Am Birlinn for a coffee, cake and look at cards and crafts, a pleasant hour with plenty of chat and a few purchases, a sample of cards bought shown above. It was a cold ride - about a mile - with a positive feel good factor. Partly due to chatting with people we haven’t seen for a while and also to be out on the bike. (Bear in mind it’s an e bike, don’t be impressed).

Due to a health issue John has become interested in fermented food, initially sauerkraut - not too keen but could cope - but in recent days we’ve made Kombucha tea and Kefir, a thin yogurt drink - both need a starter with a Scoby for the tea and Kefir grains for the drink. This time I used goats milk for the Kefir although normally not readily available, in future I will have to order either organic cow or goats milk for it to work.

In recent weeks we have listened to several programmes on fermented food, not something I’ve considered although a way of life in parts of Europe. The benefits are to promote good bacteria in the gut and thankfully both are acceptable as a drink. John has made a number of visits to the doc, pills and more pills, more recently blood tests but no mention of trying the above. We will see and can’t believe it will do any harm, hopefully it might help resolve the issue.

If you are interested - taken from the Internet.
Fermented foods are foods that have been through a process of lactofermentation in which natural bacteria feed on the sugar and starch in the food creating lactic acid. This process preserves the food, and creates beneficial enzymes, b-vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, and various strains of probiotics.

Natural fermentation of foods has also been shown to preserve nutrients in food and break the food down to a more digestible form. This, along with the bevy of probiotics created during the fermentation process, could explain the link between consumption of fermented foods and improved digestion.

Cultures around the world have been eating fermented foods for years, from Sauerkraut in Germany to Kimichi in Korea and everywhere in between. Studies have even shown the link between probiotic rich foods and overall health. Sadly, with the advances in technology and food preparation, these time-honored traditional foods have been largely lost in our society.