Health Benefits: Sauerkraut

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A genius must have thought of this wonderful way of preserving the goodness of cabbage for months on end.
In traditional European sauerkraut, raw cabbage is finely shredded and layered in a stone crock, with sea salt and spices such as juniper berries.
Each layer is pressed firmly down.
By the time the crock is full, the cabbage juices have fermented to produce that soured taste which you either love or loathe.


All over Europe for many centuries sauerkraut was a dietary staple of the poor peasantry, a good way of preserving the autumn glut of cabbages so that they could go on being eaten through the lean months of winter.


Sauerkraut can truly be called a wonder-food, since the enzymes and vitamin C of cabbage are well preserved in it, it must have saved millions from death or debility from scurvy.
It was Sauerkraut that made possible the long voyages of Captain Cook.


Apart from its value as a source of vitamin C, Sauerkraut is also rich in calcium, a boon for poor people who could not afford quantities of milk and cheese in their diet, and in potassium, vital for the efficient functioning of our cells.

Sauerkraut is traditionally a medicine as well, both preventive and curative.
Dyspepsia, arthritis, colds, indigestion, stomach ulcers, skin problems, all were treated with Sauerkraut and it was often extraordinarily effective.