Pickles are Toxic!
Photo by Mockup Graphics on Unsplash
Have you read the ingredients on a pickle jar lately? Pickling has been around for thousands of years to store food for a long time and make it delicious. You can purchase many pickled foods such as eggs, vegetables, cabbage as in sauerkraut, and of course, the cute cucumber.
Pickled cucumbers are versatile as they can be eaten by themselves and put into other foods. They are crunchy and wonderful to eat any time of year.
The original pickling process has to do with fermentation. Put vegetables in a container and add water, salt, and pressure to start the pickling process. This process creates a brine that ferments the cucumbers and makes them taste so amazing. Fermenting vegetables is popular in Asian countries and Macrobiotic diet. Fermented foods are high in beneficial bacteria/pro-biotics, which are important for our bodies to build B vitamins and help to prevent harmful organisms from getting a foothold.
However, if you go to a typical grocery store in the United States, you will find pickles on a store shelf with many more ingredients, most of which are not very healthy. It is challenging to find fermented pickles. Looking at most pickle jars in the store, you will see questionable ingredients, including added sugar, artificial flavors, artificial colors (especially Yellow #5), Polysorbate 80, Calcium Chloride, Alum (aluminum potassium sulfate), Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, and more.
I am not sure why companies think that our pickles have to have these ingredients in them? Why do we need to add Yellow food coloring? Is it because the cucumbers are not the right color to begin with? Are they grown in a way preventing the color from looking appetizing? And why add preservatives when these pickles have vinegar in them which is known to preserve the pickles effectively? And why add artificial flavors? Naturally fermented pickles taste great — maybe these companies need a new recipe to begin with.
Pickles are also high in sodium. Salt is acceptable if companies add salt rich in other minerals such as Real Salt, Celtic or Himalayan salt, but unfortunately, plain de-mineralized salt is used. Our bodies do need sodium and potassium in balance and trace minerals, which help connect electrical impulses in our bodies and allow vitamins and other functions to work correctly.
In addition, most pickles are made in vinegar, so they are not fermented in brine. Although vinegar is touted as a healthy, I don’t promote it. I have found vinegar throws off the digestive balances in the body and tends to feed fungus environments. Maybe it is because I work in the Pacific Northwest, where these conditions are more prevalent. I tend to recommend vinegar as a tool when needed instead of having people take it all the time, as many alternative practitioners do.
Recently, I noticed that some companies are adding turmeric for coloring instead of artificial colors, which is a step in the right direction.
The best place to find fermented pickles is in the refrigerated section. if your store doesn’t carry them, let the store manager know you are interested. Claussen and Bubbies are two brands fermented in brine and are great. Give them a try, and your tummy will be happy!
About the Author
Kasara is educated as a Mental Health Therapist, Master Herbalist, Traditional Naturopath and Energy Worker with over 35 years of helping thousands of clients find alternative health options that work. She writes articles on Medium, and on her website http://truhealth.com/. You may subscribe to her Medium account or her newsletter to stay connected.