Sauerkraut question page

[JackieKessler]

Really dumb question, sorry: Is sauerkraut primal/paleo? I'm doing a Whole 30 this month, and I was wondering if it's OK. Thanks in advance...

[Ann1217]

Yes, sauerkraut is definitely okay!

[Pamsc]

If you are buying sauerkraut try to get unpasturized, with all the good probiotics. Even better, make your own, though you may want to wait until fall if you don't have a cool cellar or other reliable cool place. Get good organic cabbage and it requires nothing but cabbage, salt, and a container with a setup to keep the cabbage submerged under the brine. I use as a weight pressing down on the cabbage a flat-sided glass food storage bowl and a brick that fit into a glass crock I bought at a craft supply store. Use sea salt with color (Real salt, Celtic salt, Himalayan or Hawaiian salt) and you will have something healthier than what you buy in the store.

[scottts]

Bubbies Sauerkraut is supposed to be high in probiotics.

[JackieKessler]

Thanks so much, everyone!

[healthseekerKate]

One note of caution about Bubbie's brand: the stuff really *is* packed with probiotics! I had been following a paleo diet for ~1.5 years, and regularly taking probiotic/prebiotic supplements in capsule form. I always use high-potency supplements, so I figured that I was doing a good job augmenting my digestive system, even though the one health issue I've been trying to solve, was never improved by any amounts of probiotics I took.

I decided to give Bubbie's pickles a try, thinking that they'd augment my probiotics intake. All I ate was one small pickle, and within a few hours, I experienced a bout of vomiting every hour, on the hour, for 6 hours straight. And, no other aspect of my diet etc. had changed, except for that one pickle, and I wasn't at all sick with a cold or flu (and, in fact, haven't/hadn't been sick for 15+ years, before that!). I read up, and concluded that I must have been experiencing a healing crisis:

The Healing Crisis

After my ~36 hour bout of nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and general fatigue passed (during which I fasted), I was back to 100% normal, and feeling better than ever.

So, I'm definitely not discouraging you from trying Bubbie's, but just consider gradually working it into your diet, rather than expecting to eat a normal-sized serving right away.


Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who created the GAPS diet for gut healing, has the following advice for introducing fermented and probiotic foods into the diet:

"Probiotic foods are essential to introduce right from the beginning. These can be dairy-based or vegetable-based. To avoid any reactions introduce probiotic foods gradually, starting from 1-2 teaspoons a day for 2-5 days, then 3-4 teaspoons a day for 2-5 days and so on until you can add a few teaspoons of the probiotic food into every cup of meat stock and every bowl of soup."

GAPS diet - the diet for helping with learning disabilities, psychiatric disorders and physical problems, such as autism, hyperactivity and attention deficit, dyslexia, dyspraxia, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive diso

[Drumroll]

It's a-ok, just make sure that IF you are watching carbs, don't binge on it since they ferment it in sugar and some is usually still left over in the final product.

If you're not watching carbs, forget that caveat and have at it!

[Ann1217]

One note of caution about Bubbie's brand: the stuff really *is* packed with probiotics! I had been following a paleo diet for ~1.5 years, and regularly taking probiotic/prebiotic supplements in capsule form. I always use high-potency supplements, so I figured that I was doing a good job augmenting my digestive system, even though the one health issue I've been trying to solve, was never improved by any amounts of probiotics I took.

I decided to give Bubbie's pickles a try, thinking that they'd augment my probiotics intake. All I ate was one small pickle, and within a few hours, I experienced a bout of vomiting every hour, on the hour, for 6 hours straight. And, no other aspect of my diet etc. had changed, except for that one pickle, and I wasn't at all sick with a cold or flu (and, in fact, haven't/hadn't been sick for 15+ years, before that!). I read up, and concluded that I must have been experiencing a healing crisis:

The Healing Crisis

After my ~36 hour bout of nausea, vomiting, muscle pain and general fatigue passed (during which I fasted), I was back to 100% normal, and feeling better than ever.

So, I'm definitely not discouraging you from trying Bubbie's, but just consider gradually working it into your diet, rather than expecting to eat a normal-sized serving right away.


Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, who created the GAPS diet for gut healing, has the following advice for introducing fermented and probiotic foods into the diet:

"Probiotic foods are essential to introduce right from the beginning. These can be dairy-based or vegetable-based. To avoid any reactions introduce probiotic foods gradually, starting from 1-2 teaspoons a day for 2-5 days, then 3-4 teaspoons a day for 2-5 days and so on until you can add a few teaspoons of the probiotic food into every cup of meat stock and every bowl of soup."

GAPS diet - the diet for helping with learning disabilities, psychiatric disorders and physical problems, such as autism, hyperactivity and attention deficit, dyslexia, dyspraxia, depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive diso

Wow, that's a crazy story! I've never heard of a healing crisis before...

But don't be scared of Bubbie's! I eat some Bubbie's sauerkraut or just drink a shot glass full of the brine pretty much every day, and I've never had any problems!

[JackieKessler]

It's a-ok, just make sure that IF you are watching carbs, don't binge on it since they ferment it in sugar and some is usually still left over in the final product.

If you're not watching carbs, forget that caveat and have at it!

Ah, whoops! OK, good to know going forward. Well, I don't think I binged; I think I wound up having 3 teaspoons' worth of sauerkraut. And dang, it was good. (Had it with two of Applegate Farm's Super Natural Uncured Beef Hot Dogs, with a bit of spicy mustard. Yum!)

[Drumroll]

When I have it, I try to keep to about 1/2 cup. Three teaspoons (one tablespoon) is probably fine.