Sandor Katz: “With Fermented Foods, Your Life Can Change”

Sandor Katz is a food fermentation activist and travels the world to share the techniques he has learned from this culinary practice and its benefits.

His books Pure Fermentation and The Art of Fermentation are the fruit of this interest . For him, fermentation is healthy, simple and … transformative, because it has allowed him to improve his health and get closer to nature.

Sandor Katz’s healthy passion for fermented foods

Sandor Katz was born 54 years ago in New York, although his family comes from Belarus. Food was always important to him.

The AIDS virus made him change his life: he moved to a community in Tennessee, where he lives with his partner, worked his garden and became interested in fermented foods. Today this passion leads him to give lectures all over the world.

In this interview he tells us his story and encourages us to discover the benefits of fermented products.

“How did you get to the fermentation?”
“I went to live in a town in Tennessee, and in the first season I took care of the garden, we had a surplus of cabbages.”

I decided to learn how to make sauerkraut and started making wine, yogurt, sourdough. Then I came across a book by Bill Mollison ( The permaculture book of ferment and human nutrition ), which opened my eyes to the global phenomenon that is fermentation.

And in this way, fermentation became a personal obsession. My friends made fun of me, I went with my ferments everywhere. Then, over time, they invited me to give a workshop on fermentation and I felt that I had a mission, which I continue to this day.

“It seems like it was a minority then.” It must not have been easy to find other sources of information … “”
There is a lot of information on fermentation, but it is very scattered.

I read a lot of cookbooks, and actually learned how to make sauerkraut from a very famous book in America, The joy of cooking , and I also read about how to make wine or bread.

– What health benefits would you highlight from fermented foods?
—I have been living with the AIDS virus for 25 years, which has made me pay close attention to nutrition from an early age.

Fermentation has multiple benefits: it predigests food and breaks its nutrients into simpler components, making them easier to assimilate.

Helps the availability of minerals; breaks down certain toxic compounds found in food, such as oxalic acid, phytic acid, and cyanide; generates other B vitamins, vitamin K2, and all kinds of unique micronutrients that are just being identified and researched.

“Fermentation predigests food and breaks its nutrients into simpler components, making them easier to assimilate”

—I’ve read that you place a lot of importance on bacteria…
—The main benefit of fermented foods is the community of bacteria itself, because they are probiotic organisms that help restore the biodiversity of our intestine and improve overall digestion and functionality. of our immune system.

There is even evidence that we can improve mental health with them.

—However, in our society, microorganisms are feared …
Contrary to the information that many of us have grown up with, bacteria are absolutely essential for our well-being.

Eating fermented foods is a great way to obtain probiotic bacteria and restore the biodiversity of our intestinal system. Although you have to know that not all fermented foods have live bacteria: you have to look for those that are not cooked or processed.

“Do you know people who have improved their health by consuming fermented foods?”
—A lot of people email me or come up to me after my lectures telling me that their lives have been changed by these foods.

I do not want to sound like a charlatan: I do not tell people that eating ferments will reverse their aging or that they will be cured of all diseases.

“Who do they benefit the most?”
—The ferments are particularly beneficial for people with chronic digestive problems, such as gastric reflux, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome …

The simple act of incorporating these live bacteria into the diet improves digestion and daily well-being.

In addition, there is scientific data that supports the idea that these foods can improve our general immune function, which means that we are less susceptible to diseases and that, if we fall ill, our bodies will be able to fight them better by making our symptoms less severe and last. less time.

“Have you been cured?”
– In my book Pure Fermentation, I explain that, being HIV-positive, I considered fermentations an essential part of my healing. Some assumed that I had cured of AIDS with them, and no.

I take antiviral medications every day and I am very thankful that my health continues to be good. I have known people who suffer from digestive problems because of the use of these drugs, and yet I have never experienced them, which tells me that the foods I eat are helping me stay healthy despite having HIV.

“I have known people who, due to the consumption of antivirals, suffer from digestive problems, and yet I have never experienced them.”

“Any recommendations to start fermenting at home?”
-Do not be afraid! You can ferment any vegetable, the one you like the most, the one you have in excess. There is no precise way to cut them, they are cleaned only with water, never with soap, chemicals or vinegar.

And there is no magic number for the process to work, so salt to taste, season however you like. Fermenting vegetables is a flexible and versatile process. Just try not to worry.