Fermented Cabbage for Stomach Varices and Liver Health
There is a jar of rotting cabbage sitting in my little back porch. If guests were to see the pale mixture, they might assume that a mad scientist had taken up residence at the farm. See, the lid has a small hole in the top where a test tube looking thinga-mabob is placed to allow air to escape. To me, it represents health and doesn’t even closely resemble brains, even if my granddaughters think so. I’ve made fermented cabbage for varices and liver health part of my liver loving diet.
Yes, dear friends – I will have you know that Fermented Cabbage is actually good for you! I’ve always loved sour Kraut and have missed it since going on a low sodium diet. I didn’t even know that it was packed with probiotics!
908-245-7328 Danny’s cell phone for any questions!
After my TACE chemo, I ran away to Julie’s ( my loving, earthy, spiritual Goddess, cousin, friend) Sedona, Arizona was just the place for healing. I was a large heap of pain and in deep need of girlfriend time. My first full day in town we ended up at Tlaquepaque near Oak Creek. While strolling through the farmers market, I happened upon a display of empty jars. Sitting behind the table was a man who had no idea what he was getting into when he asked how he could help me.
I answered him by giving a short history of liver disease in general, and esophageal varices in particular. We introduced ourselves and within minutes, he convinced me that I was a candidate to learn the process of fermenting food for the probiotic effects. Yessiree! Step right up and hear about the goodness of natural probiotics for stomach and esophageal varices. I had found some interesting research about probiotics for Hepatic Encephalopathy (HE) and was ready to hear more!
I know what most of you are thinking: Aren’t probiotics sold in capsules in the refrigerator section of a health food store? Who in the heck would take a head of cabbage and make it go sour? On purpose.
Ok. Ok.I realize that cabbage has a pungent odor straight from the garden. The very idea of trying to make it smell worse just seems wrong. And yes, we can get probiotic effects from much sweeter products like yogurt and honey. I had just always wanted to do this. And I missed sour kraut.
I was a fermenting virgin. So when Danny walked around to the front of the display and began to discuss the bowel benefits, I kept looking around self-consciously to see if anyone was listening.
Just so you know, I ask questions much like a machine gun. Especially when I’m extremely curious about something – like how to keep from bleeding to death. Daniel retaliated with quick responses which is perfect! I was taking notes.
When a blond woman breezed into our conversation, it seemed so natural to discuss my stomach with her. Natural. Yes, that is how I would describe Laura. She had the Sedona look. An earthy glow that came from living a healthy lifestyle. Her thick blonde hair floated around her face like a halo shining in the sun. She suggested that Danny teach a private class on fermenting. Before I knew it, we were setting a date to meet at Julie’s house!
Danny and Laura arrived promptly at 10:00 A.M. with jars and food processors and organic cabbage. Julie had Himalayan salt which was fine for everyone else, but not me. I needed mine to be low sodium. Turns out there is a starter powder, which Laura gladly supplied. What happened next was a total blast from start to finish. Danny narrated and led us through each step of making fermented cabbage.
We rinsed our head of cabbage and then set aside several of the large outer leafs for later use.
After quartering the cabbage, we ran it through Laura’s food processor. You can chop it all with a big knife on a cutting board just as easily. It doesn’t have to be too fine. I actually like mine chopped kind of course.
For the no sodium blend, you mix the culture starter powder with warm water and honey and let it sit for about 10 minutes. It’s a lot like mixing up yeast. For those who add Himalayan Salt or sea salt, now is the time.
With about 8 cups of cabbage in a bowl, Danny told Laura and me to start massaging. The cabbage, not each other. We pinched. We squeezed. We were tossing it around in the bowl. Within minutes, Laura’s salt had begun to extract liquid from the chopped cabbage. My poor little bowl was still pretty dry. Danny didn’t seem bothered by it. He said to just keep mixing. As I worked it, the cabbage shrunk almost by half!
We used this time to get acquainted a little better. Laura was planning her first hike into the Grand Canyon. She trained every morning by walking in the mountains surrounding Sedona. I practically gushed while asking her if she would let me tag along. We agreed to meet the following morning for a hike. We woke up the sun together several times during my stay. She watched out for me and my varices by making sure I didn’t get my heart rate up too high. I’ve made a lifetime friend. xo
Danny kept bringing us back on task as he spouted information about the bazillions of probiotic strains that our work would produce. (whole ‘nother blog on that) After about 10 minutes, Danny declared the massaging was complete.
Now it was time to pack the cabbage into the jars. I say pack, because Danny wanted it compacted in as tight as we could make it. This is what prevents air pockets. Using wooden spoons and potato mashers, we pushed the cabbage down and adding more until the jar was full. You want about 1 inch space left at the top.
Taking the large loose leaves and folding them, we put them on top of the chopped cabbage. It acts as sort of a lid. Some people use ceramic discs that are made just for this. This is what keeps the chopped cabbage covered with water.
Finally, we filled it to the top with water to make sure all of the cabbage was submerged and then put the lid on. This is where the little gizmo at the top does it’s work. It allows water to escape, but no air can get in. See, the salt (or starter) draws moisture out of the cabbage. The liquid then rises and can spill over. I put the whole jar in a bowl to catch any drip.
You want to keep it out of direct sunlight for several days while it ferments. After that, I put it into 5 pint jars in the fridge. You can just leave it in the container though. The fermenting process stops once you put in in the ice box, but it will retain it’s probiotic goodness for months.
You can start by eating about ¼ cup per day. Just a couple of bites in the beginning especially. This keeps you from bloating and gas. Your gut may not be used to being so healthy!
There are a many variations on the recipe. I add apple and pear and all kinds of stuff now. The benefits are SOO numerous that I’m actually writing another blog about it. I’ve uncovered research about Hepatic Encephalopathy in addition to stomach and gut health. When you think about it, the doctor who treats liver disease is a gastroenterologist. They specialize in your gastrointestinal system which is related to – your liver.
You are going to be amazed at how munching on fermented veggies helps you feel better. Be sure and comment with any questions or let me know how your experience goes. Check out the recipe here. Xo Karen:)
19 thoughts on “Fermented Cabbage for Varices and Liver Health”
Hello . I m was wondering how this helps with bleed various Veins I’m sheduled for surgery for the various Veins .. an asking for advice . Please anything u have will help .
You’re going to be fine. Please read this blog about getting veins taken care of. Also you can check on my website for the Best Friends Start Here and it will show you many links to blogs about it.
https://www.ihelpc.com/hepatitis-c-esophageal-varices-banding/
I know you are frightened. It is never easy, even after several bandings, I still get nervous. My heart n thoughts are with you. xo Karen:)
I have liver chirrses for a long time how to improve by eating sauerkraut
Hi!
Fermented vegetables are high in probiotics. That means that good stomach bacteria are helping you to digest food. This makes your liver work a little less harder to process food. Be sure and check for sodium content. My recipe has no salt in it. Let me know how it turns out!
xo Karen
Hey there on my phone so excuse typos or autocorrect. I am amazed by your post. I had a 3 year old cousin who keep getting polyps in his throat. My Aunt found a support group who said cabbage juice would help. They would boil cabbage to make cabbage juice. He had had several operations to remove polyps before they found this. Every 6 months polyps came back til he started daily cabbage juice. The next checkup there were less and less til there were none. I hope this story makes sense. The screen is small. Bless you Karen.
Hi there, I am going to try this as soon as I can get the “starter” and a lid.
I wanted to mention that I have been doing finding that there is some research going on regarding the gut and the brain.
Prebiotics and Probiotics are good for the brain.
I have pasted some links under Cirrhosis on MH, I thought you might be interested.
I am back to taking the Prebiotics and Probiotics. I am not sure why I ever stopped. I was taking them about 2 years ago and they really seemed to help me recover from the HCV treatment. I guess as time went on I felt better so I just forgot, gotta love that brain fog. So…about 2 weeks ago I started again and I can feel is working to clear my head. It seems to be reducing anxiety as well.
Thank you for sharing all of this information. I think, after seeing how cabbage juice helped my little cousin; I am going to look and see what other things cabbage is go for.
Again, thank you my best friend 🙂 XO
I find this interesting. Fermenting is what is done with alcohol and alcohol is BAD for the liver. So it’s almost contradicting in information. Does this cabbage taste like sauerkraut that has been rinsed of the salt? Do you use the liquid that comes from it? Like in a soup? Is it eaten raw? Warmed up? I’m just wondering about all of this. It’s all new to me. With NAFLD I’m trying really hard to avoid cirrhosis (which when I was diagnosed (Aug 2014) the doctor told me he guaranteed I would have the “beginning of cirrhosis” in the next 10 years). I have not had any alcohol in probably 30 years.
Great questions Janis! The difference here is actually about fermentation vs pickling. It IS safe for the liver. http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/the-crucial-difference-between-pickled-and-fermented/ This explains a lot.
The “fermented” cabbage tastes just like sauerkraut (you spelled it right and I didn’t. lol) and has the same texture too. Just no salt. I get quite a bit of juice from mine toward the end of the jar and drink it right down. I eat it cold, but it could be warmed. Now you’ve got me wanting to go buy bison hot dogs! It would be great with no sodium mustard!
Congrats on working hard to avoid cirrhosis. Food is truly medicine and can help our bodies to heal. By giving your liver a break, you can avoid damage. I’m happy for you to be getting started before real damage begins.
Thanks for stopping by and watch out for more on liver loving diet. I’m working on a meal plan that is so do-able.
xo Karen:)
Excellent as always Karen! I used to run from the house when sour kraut was being made (my grandmother loved it!) as I can’t stand the smell of it BUT over the years I have learned to “juice” or “hold my nose and swallow” or do various things to foods that I don’t like but help my liver and perhaps I can do this as well. Time will tell. Thanks again for the awesome information!
Peace
Pam
Pam,
HA! I remember those sour kraut and wiener nights too. The whole house stunk! But I used to open a jar and eat the whole thing. lol
I don’t gorge myself on it, but when I get a hankering for a kraut dog, I’m glad to know that there is a low salt mustard and bison dog! Plus the probiotics is what really makes it work for me!
Great to see your comments as always. Love you girl. xo K
I’m up on fermentation, I’ve been avoiding cabbage but getting back into raw again as I can handle it. Cabbage is a great thing, so good for the skin, your body is skin, inside and out. Also, making your own, you known where your cabbage comes from (grown in dirt with nutrients?)
5 years of suffering here. Main symptom. I eat anything, and I mean anything, I’m on a liquid diet now, and within an hour my liver hurts, that symptom will ease within an hour afterwards! Yes, lower fat seems to be less pain. They said, GB, well they yanked out a healthy organ my immune system crashed, took me a year to rebuild. I’m an O-, high metabolizer, and now it’s tough to keep weight on, you resemble me regarding build/age. I give blood, don’t have any specific diseases, according to medical care system I’m as healthy as a horse, except for arthritis, but also I get gas pain in my lower intestine now the last 1.5 years. My latest course is SCD / Yeast syndrome diet but that takes awhile, believe me after 5 years little hope. I’m a small meal eater myself now. It’s hard to carry on sometimes, please give me an email, or comment back, was just glad to stumble upon your site, thanks for helping others. I’ve gone through Melissa Palmers book, does not seem like cirrhosis, but I guess it could be, would that show up in liver panels?
Calvin,
Thanks so much for the confirmation. Yes, fat always seems to lead to pain for me also. And Yes again, liver disease would show up in blood labs at some point. What’s weird is that mine didn’t show up until stage 4 cirrhosis. I had an elevated panel about 2001 and then it settled down. Weird.
The yeast thing is just not easy to beat. The fermented can really help there also though. What’s cool is that cabbage is not too expensive so it’s easy to go with organic. Amazing how easy it is to access food that’s good for you when you really want to. I hope that the liquid diet is working. I try and do protein shakes a couple of times a day. Once a day for sure!
Keep up with me about your condition and let me know how the cabbage works. With natural food for medicine, the cure is slower.
Much thanks again my friend,
Karen:)
Karen, I can’t wait to try making my own probiotics. I, too have always loved sauerkraut and gave it up due to sodium content. I can’t wait for the weekend now! I hope you are doing well now and are close to receiving a new liver. God bless you dear friend.
Joel,
Since it’s taken me so long to respond, you’ve probably eaten all of your first batch by now. If you leave a jar in the fridge for a few months, the top may turn a little brown. I just scoop it out. Still tastes delish and holds the amount of probiotic goodness! Let me know how yours turned out. kk?
xo Karen
Hey there, so funny how coincidences work, my husband came home with some Trader Joes fermented cabbage and pickles. I read where it said to start out slow so your body isn’t shocked into the Herkimier reaction, probably not spelled right 🙂
It tastes really good.
Thanks so much for sharing your information with all of us.
I really appreciate
Dee
You have shared such impressive blog. This is helpful for all people.
Martin,
I’m glad that you enjoyed it! I hope that you are eating well and getting stronger every day!
Karen:)
I just discovered your blog and what a wealth of info. Love it! Can you tell me where you get the low salt starter powder? Thanks!
Marta,
I swear I sent this to you the other day. I didn’t see it on the blog. Anyhoo – This is the lease expensive brand that I found and it only runs about $4.00 a batch. Let me know how your’s turns out!
http://bodyecology.com/weight-loss-vegetable-culture-starter.html
Love,
Karen
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