LB17/Fermented Food helps with digestion, immune, blood circulation and skin healing especially sores.

LB17/Fermented Food helps with digestion, immune, blood circulation and skin healing especially sores.

What is LB17/Fermented Foods: 

 Fermented Food (previously LB17) is produced from over 70 natural and organic ingredients such as: 

	seaweed		Kombu, Fucus, brown algae, Hibamata from Norway
	mushrooms		Shiitake, Maitake, Agaricus brazei murill
	vegetables		Kale, Cabbage, Broccoli, Komatsuna, Mugwort, young leaves of Barley
	medicinal herbs		Nihon-yama-ninjin or Japanese ginseng
	grains and cereals		soya bean, unpolished rice
	cultivated and wild fruits		apples, oranges, berries, lemon, persimon, guomi, akebi, Chinese matrimony

lactic acid or good bacteria is added to begin the stimulate and begin the fermentation process

The above ingredients are allowed to ferment naturally for a period of 3 years. Due to the way that the fermented food is exposed to extremes in temperature (summer and winter) during the fermentation process, any good bacteria present is potent, resilient and able to stay alive for up to 3 years at room temperature without the need for refrigeration. Any bacteria is live and viable and does not need to be revived, better than most other probiotics particularly those that are"freeze dried"!

Prior to encapsulation with a vegetable gel cap, Perilla oil (high in Omega 3 EFA) is added to provide Omega EFA (essential fatty acids). Fermented Food does not contain any preservatives, additives, colouring, or artificial flavouring.

Fermented Food is suitable for vegans as well as the "raw foods practitioner". It is very useful to the lactose intolerant and milk protein (caesin) sensitive individuals. The bacteria that may be present helps to break down all nutrients consumed into smaller molecules so that they can be better absorbed by the body.

The concentrate in each vegetable softgel capsule of Fermented Food may contain bacteria, digestive enzymes, amino acids, vitamins and minerals.

How can it help with digestion: 

There are many benefits to incorporating fermented food/LB17 into the way you supplementation. In the recent months, more and more attention has been given to the importance of the micro-biome: that is, the colonies of trillions of bacteria we carry around in our guts that control myriad processes within the body. 

Fermented foods introduce additional beneficial flora to the body, which helps bolster our existing colonies. In particular, eating a variety of fermented foods improves the variety of flora living in your gut, which further bolsters gut health. Also, because fermented foods are powerful chelators, which means they draw toxins out of the system, they help detoxify and remove waste more efficiently.

Why a Healthy Microbiome is Important

A healthy microbiome, supported in part by fermented foods, has been shown to improve not only mood, immunity and metabolism, but digestion, too. The bacteria present in fermented foods provide helpful enzymes – which support digestion – in addition to doing a little of the work for us. Foods that have been cultured arrive to us slightly broken down: less work for the GI tract means easier digestion.

Considering so many people report having digestive issues, foods that help support better digestion – no pills, no surgery, no complicated elimination procedure – could be a pretty delicious revelation.
If you struggle with slow digestion, whether from a diet high in raw foods, low energy, medication or just a stubbornly slow GI tract, fermented foods might be a simple addition that could make a big difference. 

How can it help with immune: 

 Three recent studies highlight the importance of maintaining a healthy gut to avoid disease and optimize your health. The first, published in the journal Cell, shows that "host-specific microbiota appears to be critical for a healthy immune system.

According to Medical News Today:

"Human microbe-colonized mice have gut immune systems that look essentially identical to germ-free mice," said Dennis Kasper of Harvard Medical School. "Even though they have the same number and diversity of bacteria, their immune systems don't develop properly.

... The results might have implications for understanding the health consequences of our shifting diets, our excessive use of antibiotics, and our modern-day obsession with showers and antibacterial household cleansers, the researchers say.

"Because the intestinal microbiota can regulate immune responses outside the gut, the absence of the 'right' gut microbes may conceivably shift the balance toward disease in individuals genetically predisposed to autoimmune diseases," they write, noting that our relationship with our gut microbiome today may be threatened by a combination of heavily processed foods, frequent treatment with antibiotics, and advances in hygiene.

... Although modern medicine and technology may offer alternative ways to fight disease, Kasper says, "the current prevalence of autoimmune diseases - such as asthma, multiple sclerosis, and inflammatory bowel disease - may be, at least in part, the consequence of the increasing vulnerability of the coevolved human-microbe relationship."

You've probably heard that about 80 percent of your immune system resides in your gut, and the next study underscores this fact. It also provides yet another clue as to the kind of constant pressure your gut bacteria is under to keep your immune system humming. 

The study, featured in Genome Research, looked at a common set of viruses linked to gut bacteria in humans. These viruses, which feed off bacteria, are called phages, and they pose a constant threat to the health of the bacterial community living in your gut. 

Phages can actually outnumber bacteria 10 to 1, which in itself is a testament to the power of your beneficial gut bacteria (and by extension your immune system) to keep disease at bay. But it also helps explain why just a few days of careless eating can sometimes make you feel a bit listless, or why chronic poor health is at such epidemic levels. 

Between chemical assaults, inadequate nutrition, excessive sugar consumption and an overabundance of natural viral "co-hosts," your microflora has one heck of a job to maintain order and balance... And as soon as that balance is thrown off kilter, it will begin to reflect in your immune function.

How can it help with blood circulation: 

Most people know that fermented foods can help to support healthy digestion, but few people realize that they can also boost immunity, reduce IBS symptoms, and even support circulation and healthy blood pressure. 

Fermented foods improve pancreatic function; the lactic acid-fermented foods are already broken down or pre-digested, so it is easy on the pancreas. 

Traditional fermented foods will help lower glucose levels by slowing down the speed with which the stomach empties.

In one study, the glycemic index of sourdough bread, which is fermented grain bread, turned out to be 68 on the glycemic index, while non-sourdough bread is 100 – on the glycemic index table.

More recently, German scientists were working with a strain of lactic acid bacteria found in sourdough bread, and found it to be more effective in killing microbes, which were resistant to most antibiotics.

Early civilizations knew that to preserve food – fermentation was a necessity. Today, we know that the concept of using naturally occurring good bacteria will help eliminate harmful types. This is why we find a diet that includes fermented foods helps eliminate candida; lowers the risk of certain cancers, and supports overall health.

How can it help with skin healing:

How altered gut function impacts the skin

Intestinal permeability (a.k.a. “leaky gut”) causes both systemic and local inflammation, which in turn contributes to skin disease. In a study way back in 1916, acne patients were more likely to show enhanced reactivity to bacterial strains isolated from stool. 66 percent of the 57 patients with acne in the study showed positive reactivity to stool-isolated bacteria compared to none of the control patients without active skin disease. In a more recent study involving 80 patients, those with acne had higher levels of and reactivity to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) endotoxins in the blood. None of the matched healthy controls reacted to the e. coli LPS, while 65% of the acne patients had a positive reaction. Both of these studies suggest that increased intestinal permeability is an issue for a significant number of acne patients. 

Speaking of permeable barriers: most of you have heard of leaky gut by now, but what about “leaky skin”? The main function of the skin is to act as a physical, chemical and antimicrobial defense system. Studies have shown that both stress and gut inflammation can impair the integrity and protective function of the epidermal barrier. This in turn leads to a decrease in antimicrobial peptides produced in the skin, and an increase in the severity of infection and inflammation in the skin. 

The gut flora also influences the skin. Substance P is a neuropeptide produced in the gut, brain and skin that plays a major role in skin conditions. Altered gut microbiota promotes the release of substance P in both the gut and the skin, and probiotics can attenuate this response. The gut microbiota influences lipids and tissue fatty acid profiles, and may influence sebum production as well as the fatty acid composition of the sebum. This may explain why a Russian study found that 54% of acne patients have significant alterations to the gut flora, and a Chinese study involving patients with seborrheic dermatitis also noted disruptions in the normal gut flora. 

Fermented Foods improve skin conditions

Another line of evidence suggesting a connection between the gut and skin is the observation that fermented foods improve skin conditions. Fermented foods have been shown to decrease lipopolysaccharide, improve intestinal barrier function and reduce inflammation. The first formal case report series on the value of using lactobacilli to treat skin conditions was published in 1961 by a physician named Robert Siver. He followed 300 patients who were given a commercially available probiotic and found that 80 percent of those with acne had some clinical improvement. In a more recent Italian study involving 40 patients, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum in addition to standard care led to better clinical outcomes than standard care alone. And another recent study of 56 patients with acne showed that the consumption of a Lactobacillus fermented dairy beverage improved clinical aspects of acne over a 12-week period.

The beneficial effect of probioitics on skin may explain why pasteurized, unfermented dairy is associated with acne, but fermented dairy is not. I haven’t seen any studies on raw dairy and skin conditions, but my guess is that it wouldn’t be associated either. Orally consumed fermented foods reduce systemic markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, both of which are elevated locally in those with acne. Fermented Foods can also regulate the release of pro-inflammatory cytokines within the skin. The fermentation of dairy reduces levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) by more than four-fold. This is significant because studies show that acne is driven by IGF-1, and IGF-1 can be absorbed across colonic tissue. This would be particularly problematic when increased intestinal permeability is present, which as I mentioned above is often the case in people with acne.