Warning, graphic pictures in today’s post. I think they’re amazing documentation of the body’s ability to heal, but if your stomach is easily turned I suggest scrolling down til the subject turns to garlic.

Today marks the fourth week in healing the holes my pig poked and tore in my legs. The puncture in my shin is growing smaller and remains predictable, but the cut on my thigh has become infected. I host a certain strain of staph bacteria. A neglected cut at age six resulted in a  swollen foot and a course of antibiotics. The doctor explained to my mother that once staph enters our blood stream, it never really goes away. My immune system can surpress and restrain it, but when a large enough disturbance tests my biological defense systems, staph emerges. 

These large tooth wounds are the dirtiest challenges with which my immune system has had to battle in quite awhile (maybe, ever). The antibiotics prescribed by the E.R. doctors might have saved me a leg amputation, but they’ve also caused the nasty and predictable side effect of yeast overgrowth. What a joy it’s been to be in my body the last month…

Due to that cut and other non-staph related childhood infections (and their respective courses of antibiotics) I reached adulthood with a relatively low diversity of flora and fauna in my digestive tract. Antibiotics, life saving as they may be, aim to kill ALL bacteria, not just the ones causing infection.Certain science articles cause me to  believe that there are more bacterial cells in our bodies than there are self produced cells. Bacteria, the kind that don’t cause infection, aid in assimilating nutrients and in other process we as yet know little about. If the right bacteria aren’t performing their roles, optimal health is unobtainable. I experienced marked health benefits when I began adding fermented foods to my diet. More energy, fewer and less intense seasonal colds, and regular bowel movements are among the benefits anyone can gain by regularly ingesting relatively small amounts of live cultures.

Due to my immune systems recent need for extra assistance (with the yeast party in my crotch, and the flesh eating bacteria stubbornly colonizing my leg), I’ve been ingesting generous amounts of beneficial cultures, and lots of foods and herbs with infection fighting powers. One of the most effective, delicious, and popular of these super foods is raw garlic. And what better than live pickled garlic? It’s so easy!

All that’s needed is some kraut juice, or brine from any other lacto fermented food, or vinegar, or salt water. Break apart the head of garlic, no need to peel individual cloves, and submerge in the liquid (the cloves will float at first). I use a smaller jar stuck in the top of a larger jar to prevent cloves from making contact with air. This helps eliminate mold. After about a week the cloves will begin to sink to the bottom of the jar, the small jar can be removed, and a regular lid screwed on.

Raw garlic is fiery, and will offend most empty stomachs. When I’m eating lots of it for medicinal purposes, I like to crush a clove on top of every meal. Another good way to get friendly bacteria and garlic in one dose is to crush a clove or two into a cup of yogurt or milk kefir. Stir in a slosh of pink kraut juice and it’s a wonderful immune booster – my  latest superdrink! Yet another way is to crush a clove onto a peanut butter sandwich. Don’t knock it til you try it, it’s actually really tasty.

It takes about four weeks for a good sized garlic clove to completely ferment. The brine softened paper skins come off easily after just a few days. Pickled garlic looks sort of transparent (cloves pickled in red cabbage brine will  eventually turn completely pink), while not yet fermented garlic is opaque.  This is a great way to store a bounty of garlic long term without the worry of molding or sprouting. The fire is tamed during pickling, and fully fermented cloves can be casually munched without the grotesque faces plain raw garlic invokes.

The anti-microbial properties of garlic are wonderfully selective about the bacteria they destroy. They are tough on staph and yeast, but leave lactic bacteria alone entirely. My superdrink contains everything my body needs to heal and find equilibrium after the latest (I always hope its the last) prescription.

Several times in my life, antibiotics have thankfully eliminated bacteria that might  have threatened my ability to survive. Fermented foods at every meal repopulate my body with bacteria I need to thrive. I’m treating my infected cut topically with honey and goldenseal (and it’s responding!), the garlic will do its work from the inside out, and the yogurt supports my digestive tract’s microbe population. I believe I can avoid antibiotics’ negative effects by fostering in my body a strong colony of beneficial microbes.

Celilo Natural Health Center has also contracted with a local expert in naturopathic insurance billing to ensure you get the most out of your insurance.

What’s up with ODS? Still no joy on that front. We applied for preferred provider status, but the company is still not adding naturopaths in Portland. If you or someone you know is on ODS, call and ask them to add Dr. Orna Izakson to their network. Their customer-service number is 503-243-3962 or 877-605-3229.

beans and oregano.

The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates (460-377 BCE) famously said “Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food.”

Gardeners know the best way to get your veggies is fresh and organic, ideally straight from the farm or garden. But beyond simple nourishment, scientists are finding some foods specifically help prevent or reverse certain diseases. Published research from the past few months alone has shown fruits and veggies protect your heart, brain and eyes, and help fight asthma, cancer, swine flu, Alzheimer’s disease, depression, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis.

Much of the research looks at isolated constituents in the foods, although of course there’s more to fresh fruits and veggies than the isolated “active ingredients” scientists have identified so far. All the components in the plant work synergistically, and do more than just one thing.

Here’s a short list to get you started.

Eat the rainbow

Maximizing diversity is not only good for native landscapes and gardens, it’s good for your internal ecosystem, too. And it turns out the differently flavonoid colors have different health-promoting strengths. To integrate this wisdom into you diet, remember to “eat the rainbow.”

Some of the most actively healthy bits of foods are flavonoids, which color food naturally: the purple in berries and potatoes, the red in beets and blood oranges, the orange in squash and carrots. Flavonoids generally function as antioxidants, which mitigate the effects of destructive free radicals in your system. This can help protect your heart, your brain, your eyes and reduce the risk of cancer.

To make sure you’re getting enough, work toward filling half your plate with veggies at every meal. Fold them into morning omelettes, fill up the stew pot, blend them into a morning smoothie or try them under sauces instead of pasta.

Beautiful brassicas

The brassica family is a medicinal powerhouse, with members including broccoli, kale, collards, cabbage, Brussels sprouts and mustard greens. Much of the medical research into the family has looked at its ability to regulate hormones that can lead to cancers, but its strengths don’t end there.

Cabbage, specifically as raw juice, is an old-time cure for ulcers in the digestive tract. It works by stimulating protective mucous secretions, and possibly through direct action on the bacterium Helicobacter pylori implicated in many cases. The recommended dose is one cup of fresh, raw juice four times daily for 10-14 days. Some sources suggest the powdered form may also help, but this shortcut doesn’t seem to hold up to scientific or clinical analysis.

Two particular constituents in this family, indole-3-carbinol and diindolylmethane (DIM), both work to balance and promote healthy breakdown and excretion of hormones, especially estrogen. I3C and DIM are prescribed in capsules or as specific measures of cooked vegetables for enlarged prostate glands, uterine fibroids, hair loss, fibrocystic breasts and hormone-sensitive cancers including breast and prostate.

Sulforaphane, especially abundant in broccoli and broccoli sprouts, recently was found to target breast-cancer stem cells. That’s important, because standard chemotherapy drugs can’t reach those earliest cancer cells.

Finally, some of the fibrous component in these vegetables (and many others) are converted by gut bacteria into butyrate, which in turn feeds cells in the colon and reduces the risk of colon cancer. Fiber generally helps reduce cholesterol levels, fights asthma and diabetes, and helps bind toxins and get them out of your body.

Tomatoes:

August's bounty.

There’s not much better than a perfectly ripe tomato plucked from your own garden, still warm from the sun.

Beyond that bliss, the lycopene found in tomatoes reduces natural inflammatory chemicals and circulating immune cells associated with allergies and asthma. Lycopene also can help reduce risk of prostate cancer. And this is one case where processing makes a nutrient more available: Tomato paste has four times more absorbable lycopene than fresh tomatoes.

Lycopene also is found in many red fruits and veggies, including watermelon, sea buckthorn fruit, goji berries, rosehips and red bell peppers. Unfortunately, cherries and strawberries are not good sources.

Grapes and berries

Grapes have much to recommend them from a gardening perspective: Easy and productive, they thrive in poor soils and don’t pull toxics into the fruit. They also contain resveratrol, which supports heart health, lowers inflammation, help fight cancers and may reduce high blood-sugar levels. Resveratrol even helps boost blood flow to the brain — that’s the same way Ginkgo is thought to improve memory.

And, as with all the colorful fruits, grapes are high in antioxidants —in fact, they’re one of the best sources. Trendy Açaî, a berry from Central and South America, get a lot of press for its antioxidant content. Good old red grapes have more than twice the antioxidant anthocyanin content,  and wild blueberries aren’t far behind. Chokeberries and purple corn are the big winners in this category, but even and cherries outpace Açaî.

A version of this story originally appeared in In Good Tilth.