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Fermented Food?
“The Health Benefits of Fermented Foods Are Astounding”, acclaimed a recent health article. It made me pondered, "How is it that fermented foods are touted to be the answer to peoples more complicated health issues—foods that Adam, before the fall in Eden, would never have eaten? What could there be about some other organism digesting a meal before I do, that could improve its nutritional/health quality?"
In a way, fermented food increases entropy (The idea of entropy comes from a principle of thermodynamics dealing with energy. It usually refers to the idea that everything in the universe eventually moves from order to disorder, and entropy is the measurement of that change).1 Entropy would be like baking a birthday cake, setting it on your dining table overnight and in the morning discovering that three rats had eaten tunnels through it; your cake would have increased in entropy. In my estimation, the farther you eat down the food chain the more entropy you introduce. The three rats would represent fermentation, if they were bacteria or yeast, we would just call the disaster fermentation.
A colored electron microscope picture of mature cheese struck me. What originally started out as the white product of a cow’s udder, now appeared as a dull yellow/orange sponge whose cavitary recesses brimmed to the full with the dead bodies of bacteria. What turned the white milk to yellow cheese? What turns your clear drinking water to yellow urine? And to think that this process is prized by cheese connoisseurs the world over! Eating fermented food would be like telling the above mentioned rats in the birthday cake story, please eat the cake and I’ll just enjoy having your precious droppings.
I decided to look more thoroughly into this fermentation process and discovered that there is more art in it than science. While it is true that a lot is known about the basics of the fermentation process, and it is replicable, there is also a lot about fermentation that is unknown.
Now, to give an example, we do know that the fermentation process is encumbered with unhealthy byproducts such as acetic acid (vinegar) and ethanol (alcohol).2 Incidentally, Kimchi (fermented cabbage) is alcoholic, meaning the fermentation creates alcohol!2 Take care not to eat sauerkraut before you give a urine sample or you could fail an employment sobriety test.3 Have you ever heard of Kombucha? Kombucha competes with light beer on alcohol content.4 In addition there are toxic byproducts of metabolism from bacteria, molds5 and fungi (including mycotoxins such as aflatoxin6) which are responsible for illnesses like autoimmune diseases and cancer. For example, replacing unfermented soy foods with fermented soy products increases the risk of cancer by 58%.7
So that is what we do know, but what about the unknown in fermentation? Recently, I was shocked by the findings of a new science applied to fermented foods. It is the science of metagenomic analysis. Metagenomic analysis identifies sequences of DNA in food samples that can be used to identify specific organisms. It’s like identifying a thief by their fingerprints. For example: Scientists analyzed a sample of sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) and discovered 69,464 viral DNA sequences, 50% of which were from previously unidentified viruses.8 That means that there are a lot of viruses in fermented foods which have never been identified or studied before. When your apple has a bruise and starts to turn rotten, not only do molds, fungi and bacteria invade, but also a host of previously unrecognized viruses. That’s right! And if you want some of them just purchase some organic apple cider vinegar with the mother. Oh, and I forgot to mention; it will also come swimming with vinegar eels.9 So what happened to putting biohazard warning labels on such products?
But why worry about a few viruses in your food? Scientists did metagenomic analysis of cheese and discovered many viruses which carry genes for antibiotic resistance.10 What is the significance of that? You eat the cheese and the bacteria responsible for disease in your gut are transformed so that they can no longer be controlled with the most common antibiotics. One virus, the norovirus, which is responsible for
nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, has been found in Kimchi (fermented cabbage).11 Could it be that it is the viruses and mycotoxins that make certain foods leave evil traces behind? “The patients must not be given alcohol, tea, coffee, or drugs; for these always leave traces of evil behind them”.12 “Nicely prepared vegetables and fruits in their season will be beneficial, if they are of the best quality, not showing the slightest sign of decay, but are sound and unaffected by any disease or decay. More die by eating decayed fruit and decayed vegetables which ferment in the stomach and result in blood poisoning, than we have any idea of.”13 Viruses are responsible for many diseases, not the least of which is cancer.14
Many people are in the dark in regard to the processes that many foods have gone through before they put them in their mouth. Are you eating fermented (rotted, spoiled, aged) foods? Who eats decayed fruit and vegetables? “The salads are prepared with oil and vinegar, fermentation takes place in the stomach, and the food does not digest, but decays or putrefies. As a consequence the blood is not nourished, but becomes filled with impurities, and liver and kidney difficulty appear. Heart disturbances, inflammation, and many evils are the result of such kind of treatment, and not only are the bodies affected, but the morals, the religious life, are affected.”15
Common fermented foods to watch out for are: alcoholic beverages, kombucha, vinegar, cheese, sour cream, yogurt, soy sauce, tempeh, miso, sourdough bread, pickles, coffee, tea, kimchi, sauerkraut, salami, chocolate, vanilla, brown rice syrup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, nutritional yeast flakes, Vegemite, Marmite, and Promite.
As I see it, if the sin of Adam, in preparing the way for the introduction of fermentation into our world, has proven a benefit to people’s health, then we owe a debt of gratitude to sin (no, sin is the source of sickness and death). I think there are many viruses and toxins in fermented food that we would do well to avoid. I do not believe we owe a debt of gratitude to sin. Much better to eat fresh whole foods than rotted (fermented) foods infested with a multitude of mysterious organisms.
Jesus was careful to avoid anything fermented. “They gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof, he would not drink.”16 At the last supper only unfermented wine was present. Fermentation is a symbol of sin and its consequences. “Christ is still at the table on which the paschal supper has been spread. The unleavened cakes used at the Passover season are before Him. The Passover wine, untouched by fermentation, is on the table. These emblems Christ employs to represent His own unblemished sacrifice. Nothing corrupted by fermentation, the symbol of sin and death, could represent the ‘Lamb without blemish and without spot.’” 1 Peter 1:19.17
“The broken bread and pure juice of the grape are to represent the broken body and spilled blood of the Son of God. Bread that is leavened must not come on the communion table. The unleavened bread is the only correct representation of the Lord's Supper. Nothing fermented is to be used -- only the pure fruit of the vine and unleavened bread are to be used.”18
What should we eat? What will be the most healthful? “Care should be taken to have all food in as good condition as possible. In the end, good food is the cheapest. Vegetables that are stale or of poor quality are likely to be unpalatable and unwholesome. So, with fruits. Ripe and fresh, they are as wholesome as they are delicious; but green, partly decayed, or overripe fruit should never be eaten raw. When cooked, unripe fruit is less objectionable. So far as possible, however, we should use fruit in its natural state. The more we accustom ourselves to use it fresh from the tree, the greater will be our enjoyment of fruit, and the more benefit we shall receive from its use.”19
1 https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/entropy
2 Jung JY, Lee SH, Kim JM, Park MS, Bae JW, Hahn Y, Madsen EL, Jeon CO. Metagenomic analysis of kimchi, a traditional Korean fermented food. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011 Apr;77(7):2264-74.
3 Musshoff F, Albermann E, Madea B. Ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulfate in urine after consumption of various beverages and foods--misleading results? Int J Legal Med. 2010 Nov;124(6):623-30.
4 Liu Y, Chan M, Ebersole B, Sy H, Brown PN. Determination of Ethanol Content in Kombucha Products by Gas Chromatography with Flame Ionization Detection: A Multilaboratory Study. J AOAC Int. 2018 Sep 18.
5 Hachmeister KA, Fung DY. Tempeh a mold-modified indigenous fermented food made from soybeans and/or cereal grains. Crit Rev Microbiol. 1993;19(3):137-88.
6 Sivamaruthi BS, Kesika P, Chaiyasut C. Toxins in Fermented Foods: Prevalence and Preventions-A Mini Review. Toxins (Basel). 2018 Dec 24;11(1).
7 Kim J, Kang M, Lee JS, Inoue M, Sasazuki S, Tsugane S. Fermented and non-fermented soy food consumption and gastric cancer in Japanese and Korean populations: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Cancer Sci. 2011 Jan;102(1):231-44.
8 Park EJ, Kim KH, Abell GC, Kim MS, Roh SW, Bae JW. Metagenomic analysis of the viral communities in fermented foods. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2011 Feb;77(4):1284-91.
9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmLT0LwCsMQ
10 Colombo S, Arioli S, Gargari G, Neri E, Della Scala G, Mora D. Characterization of airborne viromes in cheese production plants. J Appl Microbiol. 2018 Nov;125(5):1444-1454.
11 Lee HM, Lee JH, Kim SH, Yoon SR, Lee JY, Ha JH. Correlation between Changes in Microbial/Physicochemical Properties and Persistence of Human Norovirus during Cabbage Kimchi Fermentation. J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2017 Nov 28;27(11):2019-2027. 12 White, E. G. (1932). Medical Ministry. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association. p. 228.
13 White, E. G. (1938). Counsels on Diet and Foods. Washington, D.C.: Review and Herald Publishing Association. p. 309.
14 Schelhaas M. Viruses and cancer: molecular relations and perspectives. Biol Chem. 2017 Jul 26;398(8):815-816.
15 White, E. G. (1987). Manuscript Releases, vol. 2 [Nos. 97-161]. Silver Spring, MD: Ellen G. White Estate. P. 143.
16 Matthew 27:34 King James Version of the Holy Bible.
17 White, E. G. (1898). The Desire of Ages. Mountain View, CA: Pacific Press Publishing Association. p. 653.
18 White, E. G. (1897, June 22). “The Ordinances.” The Review and Herald.
19 White, E. G. (1905, July 1). “Diet and Health.” Life and Health.
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