Fermentation: Sisters Are Doing It For Ourselves!

First batch: fermenting carrots

I've been eating fermented foods (primarily raw sauerkraut) for most of the last year of my food journey. It's (generally) a cheap and good source of beneficial bacteria for gut healing and overall digestive health.
For me, fermented foods deliver several rewards: (1) they must reduce inflammation because I get less puffy and smaller when I eat them; (2) my food desires are much clearer, so I don't graze the fridge as I try to find the nutrient my body  hungers for; and (3) I seem to digest my food much more thoroughly, and (likely as a result) have a lot less hunger.
Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride, creator of the Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) food/nutrition plan, has been a major cheerleader for the benefits of fermented foods for mind and body health. Whether or not you subscribe to all of her assertions, research is showing us that poor gut health and inflammation are not only linked to one another, but also to numerous chronic illnesses (e.g., diabetes mellitus, depression, anxiety, arthritis, and heart disease).
I'm the first to admit, however, that sauerkraut doesn't top the favorite foods list for most people (including me). A fellow writer introduced me to fermented ginger carrots, and they are definitely the exception to the nasty food rule: crunchy and chewy, sweet yet tart. Last week I bought some, but at $8 for a small jar of the stuff, I didn't think I'd be eating it often. When I looked at the ingredients, however--carrots, water, and ginger--I decided to embark on my first foray into the world of fermentation.
I found a simple recipe at 6512andgrowing, and tried it out. It will take about three days for the fermenting to finish. Although I do have some concern about the jar exploding and/or me getting botulism or some other food-jockey illness,  I'm hoping for the best.

Interrupting Insulin Resistance

Merritt Wellness (led by Dr. Marlene Merritt) has several YouTube videos on the challenges of sugar (and other carbohydrates), insulin resistance, and diabetes. I value them because they are clear, no-nonsense, and short.
Here's Merritt on what we can do to interrupt insulin resistance. And yes, the solution does include reducing carbs.

Updated: Should I Eat Sucralose While Low-Carbing?

The answer, for me, is no: sucralose makes me hungrier and less satisfied with the food I eat. I also feel swollen when I consume it.

In my recent review of Dr. Bernstein's The Diabetes Diet, I mentioned that he was a big user of artificial sweenteners, and that they--particularly liquid sucralose--featured prominently in several of the book's recipes. I like sweets, and am trying to keep my carbs low, so bought a smallish bottle of liquid sucralose (the powders, such as Splenda, contain a small amount of dextrose, a sugar; the liquids, such as DaVinci syrups, do not) at a local discount store. 

This was not my first time at the sucralose rodeo. I used it last year, mostly in cups of tea. At the time I was eating a fair amount of carbs, so I didn't notice whether the sweetener (which the body does not digest) was affecting my weight or the way I felt.

Da Vinci syrup.

Artificial sweeteners are a contentious issue among low-carbers. Here, the Hardcore Chef (in a bit of a glib manner) lays out some of the pros and cons; note, especially, the reports of sucralose's effect on gut flora. Sucralose, even in a flavored syrup, tastes nothing like sugar, and the taste isn't particularly satisfying. My mouth feels cheated whenever I consume an artificial sweetener ("But where's the sugar?!?" it seems to be saying).

This week, I've used sucralose in tea (again) and an avocado-based mousse (which is normally sweetened with mashed dates). I've already noticed several changes after I started using it. First, my body seemed congested, swollen, as if I was having some systemic inflammation. And I was hungrier and not (as I have been) satiated by medium-fat and -protein meals. In fact, I craved carbs. Yesterday, I exceeded my daily carb limit (but about 15 grams). I've also not lost any weight.

I trust my body: No more sucralose for me.
6/22 Update: Ack! I forgot that I made a recent batch of salad dressing with sucralose. After just 4 bites of the salad (and mind you, I used less than 2 tablespoons of the dressing on it) I started getting a headache and--this was weird--begin feeling like my body was swelling or thickening. Then my stomach began to get funky.
This was all very curious--until I remembered the Hardcore Chef's mention of headaches as problem for some who consumed sucralose.
So, down the drain went the salad dressing. I drank a lot of water, took some taurine and B-vitamins, and will soon be eating some sauerkraut to boost gut flora likely decimated by the sucralose.
I'm especially pissed, however, as I'm doing my weekly weighing tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure the news won't be good.

Book Review: The Diabetes Diet

Richard K. Bernstein, M.D. The Diabetes Diet: Dr. Bernstein's Low-Carbohydrate Solution. Little, Brown & Company, 2005.

Unlike the American Diabetes Association, Richard Bernstein, a medical doctor with Type 1 diabetes, believes the path to health for diabetics--and overweight nondiabetics like me--is an extremely low (low) carbohydrate food plan. He lays it out in The Diabetes Diet.
One of the book's strengths is his clear description of why high carbohydrates are fat magnets (they 1. boost insulin; 2. efficiently store carbs as fat and 3. turn off an enzyme that helps the body burn fat) and harmful for diabetics and non-diabetics alike.

Low-carbing, Bernstein says, saved his life. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 12, way back in 1967. Diabetics died quite young, and high-carbohydrate food plans were the norm. In addition, blood glucose meters were very expensive and sold only to hospitals.
As an adult, Bernstein didn't like the diabetes-related health problems he experienced, nor his doctor's inability to do much about them. Bernstein did so research, and got his own glucometer, then saw that blood sugar levels--and need for insulin--were significantly lower when he consumed fewer carbs. (He notes, here, that the ADA long opposed access to glucometers for people with diabetes, and still opposes their use by diabetics who don't use insulin.) Bernstein kicked his doctor to the curb, went to medical school himself, and started a practice serving those with diabetes and/or excessive fat. He has thrived for 64 years with Type 1 diabetes
A reader would be wrong to think Bernstein's is just like other better-known low  carbohydrate food plans and diets. Unlike Atkins, South Beach, and the Sonoma diets, for example, there are no phases in Bernstein's food plan: you get low and stay low. That makes sense to me. I mean, what's the point of getting off of sugar and other carbohydrates only to reintroduce them?(In contrast, however, see the results of this study.) He also scoffs at the value of the glycemic index, and rejects it.
Bernstein's plan is pretty simple: