FOOD REVOLUTION - chapter #7
Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food
Kimchi
DECOUVRIR LES RECETTES THE BIOCHEF
Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food ": this is how, in the third century before Christ, Hippocrates already recognized the close relationship between nutrition and the health of the individual.
Today, after the complete sequencing of the human genome, the study of the interactions that nutrients and dietary compounds have with cellular compartments and with the complexity of biochemical reactions has opened an unprecedented, complex and fascinating front: understanding the two-way link between nutrition and DNA.
Nutrition can contribute to disease pathogenesis or appearance either directly or indirectly. Nutrients and foods usually interact with genes in a benign manner, but sometimes this interaction can have fatal outcomes
Humans are affected by both environmental and genetic factors; both factors must be considered equally to maintain normal health condition of the individual. And nutrition can maintain normal and stable body homeostasis at the level of the cell, tissues, and organs.
One important help arrives from a very natural source: probiotics, good bacteria, generated from fermented food. Probiotics can be a powerful ally in the fight against a range of health challenges, including: allergies, arthritis, asthma, cancer, depression, heart disease, and gastrointestinal problems
Fermenting is one of the oldest techniques for food preservation. Human has been fermenting foods for centuries. Foods that are fermented go through a process of lactofermentation in which natural bacteria feed on the sugar and starch in the food, creating lactic acid. This process creates an environment that preserves the food and promotes beneficial enzymes, B vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids, as well as various species of good bacteria. Fermentation takes one type of food and transforms it into another kind. For instance, cabbage becomes kimchi, soybeans turn into miso, vegetables into pickles and milk can be made into yogurt and kefir.
Kimchi ~ king of the fermented foods
Kimchi is a fermented food based on brassica rapa pekinensis, commonly called Napa cabbage or Chinese cabbage. Of Korean origin, it is mainly eaten as a side dish or condiment and accompanies almost every meal. Kimchi has a slightly spicy flavour, with slightly sour notes.
Cabbage Kimchi, baechu kimchi (배추) is traditionally made from Chinese Cabbage, Sea Salt, Chili Powder, Daikon Spring Onion, Carrot, Garlic, Ginger, Fermented Fish Sauce. It can be fermented for a few weeks, fresh kimchi or for several years, mugeunji
However, there are more than 100 versions of kimchi that use different ingredients: cucumbers, daikon, spring onion, tomatoes, perilla, garlic stalks, roots, and more as main components.
These ingredients make this dish rich in beneficial properties.
As a fermented food, kimchi contains a significant amount of good bacteria, or probiotics:
· Leuconostoc mesenteroides, citreum, gasicomitatum, kimchii, inala
· Weissella Koreensis, Cibaria
· Lactobacillus kimchii, plantarum, sakei, delbrueckii, buchneri, brevis, fermentum
· Pediococcus acidilactici, pentosaceus
Kimchi is an excellent source of Vitamin C and Vitamin K. Vitamin C is a powerful natural antioxidant that plays a vital role in the immune system and in the growth and repair of skin, bones and other body tissues. human. Vitamin K is also beneficial for bone health and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease. In addition to these two vitamins, kimchi provides a wide range of fibres and other vitamins and minerals.
Eating kimchi prevent disease, increasing immunity and disinfecting the organs. Kimchi can reduce the risk of atopic dermatitis; it is a good source of isothiocyanates which inhibit the activation of carcinogens. Kimchi contains polyphenols, has a protective effect against oxidative stress. Kimchi can lower fasting blood glucose levels and helps to clear blood vessels, leading to better blood circulation. Various lifestyle diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension can also be avoided. Kimchi enables the whole body to maintain good health, which raises immunity and stabilizes biorhythm.
Kimchi origins
It is quite impossible to state when kimchi has been created, since there are many kinds of kimchi. The definition of Kimchi is ambiguous as any fermented vegetables with seasoning can be kimchi. In fact, the original name comes from a Chinese word Chaejeo, which means fermented vegetable. However, an approximate date, according to history traces, tell us that kimchi is 3000 years old, at that time chopped cucumbers where marinated and let fermented.
The cabbage kimchi is known to have originated from the ancient times, even before the era of The Three Kingdoms. The kimchi we know today became at the beginning of the 1600’s, as chili was commercialized
To preserve food from going bad, Korean ancestors used the technique of drying food. Later a more sophisticated method was discovered, fermentation: that’s how kimchi was created. They needed to store vegetables for the winter when vegetables were not accessible. Initially, kimchi was dipped in salt inside a ceramic jar, then buried underground for more complete fermentation. Having rice as their main food, carbohydrate was the main nutrient obtained by Koreans during that time period. To supplement other vitamins, vegetables were highly desirable. By satisfying both the conditions of long shelf life and nutrition, kimchi production and storage became common practice.
In the past, Korean families used to make kimchi in large quantity at the beginning of autumn, in preparation for cold months. The taste of kimchi is quite different as every Korean family has its own traditional recipes, often driven by the regional flavors of their hometown and family traditions.