By making lacto-fermented soda.
Lacto-fermented soda is made by adding a probiotic culture to juice or any other sweetened drink, and letting it ferment. This transforms the drink into a fizzy, sweet and sour, nutritionally beneficial drink that tastes good.
You can make lacto-fermented soda with whey strained from homemade kefir or homemade yogurt (just stick them in a cheesecloth, and use the liquid that drips out), but we’re a dairy free home, so dairy based lacto-fermented sodas don’t work here.
Fortunately, you can make your own vegan probiotic starter culture- a ginger bug- with just 2 easy to get ingredients.
How to Make a Ginger Bug
First, I have to give credit to this post on A Life Unprocessed, as that’s where I learned how to make a ginger bug as well as lacto-fermented soda.
“The proliferation of lactobacilli … produce numerous helpful enzymes as well as antibiotic and anticarcinogenic substances. Their main by-product, lactic acid… promotes the growth of healthy flora throughout the intestine.”
Sally Fallon, Nourishing Traditions, pg 89
From Dr. David Williams’ newsletter Alternatives:
“Traditional fermented foods help balance the production of stomach acid. Fermented foods have the unique ability to.. [and] ease digestive discomfort related to having either too much or too little stomach acid.
Fermented foods help the body produce acetylcholine, […] a neurotransmitter [which] increase the movement of the bowel, can alleviate constipation problems, […] acts as potent digestive aids.
Traditional fermented foods are beneficial for people with diabetes[-] improving pancreatic function, […] carbohydrates in lactic acid–fermented foods have been broken down or “pre-digested,” […] and don’t burden the pancreas.Fermented foods produce numerous unknown compounds that destroy and inhibit the growth of pathogenic bacteria, such as cholera and typhoid… lactic acid bacteria found in sourdough bread, and discovered that it seemed to be more effective than other strains at killing microbes […] quickly eliminated the super-bugs currently resistant to most antibiotics.
Health Benefits of Ginger
- Ovarian Cancer Treatment as per study at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center.
- Colon Cancer Prevention as per a study at the University of Minnesota.
- Morning Sickness as per several studies that concluded that ginger is just as effective as vitamin B6 in the treatment of morning sickness.
- Motion Sickness Remedy.
- Reduces Pain and Inflammation-ginger has anti-inflammatory properties and is a powerful natural painkiller.
- Heartburn Relief when taken in the form of tea.
- Cold and Flu Prevention and Treatment.
- Helpful for stomach flus or food poisoning, positive effects ginger has upon digestive tract.
- Migraine Relief- it stop prostaglandins from causing pain and inflammation in blood vessels.
- Menstrual Cramp Relief
- Prevention of Diabetic Nephropathy
Are you a soda drinker? What is your favorite type of soda? Do your kids like it? Have you ever heard of lacto-fermented soda before? Have you heard of a ginger bug before? Have you ever made either? If so, what flavor did you like to make?
Does this seem like something you’d try?
Do you try to have probiotics regularly, either in pill form or via fermented foods and drinks? What do you take to give you probiotics?