by Mike Adams
(NaturalNews) Raw, fermented foods are brimming with health-promoting probiotics and have been staples of the human diet for thousands of years. One such ancient food is sauerkraut, produced simply by covering cabbage with water and letting it sit for several weeks. Naturally occurring bacteria on the surface of the cabbage leaves thrive in this environment, chemically changing the cabbage and increasing its B vitamin content. Perhaps as importantly, fermented cabbage takes much longer to go bad than fresh cabbage.
Ancient sailors took advantage of this superfood and brought casks of sauerkraut along with them on long voyages to stave off scurvy, the debilitating disease of vitamin C deficiency that was one of the main hazards of the profession. Shipboard records show that this condition was nearly absent on ships that carried sauerkraut.
You can get the nutritional and immune-boosting benefits of sauerkraut by buying it from the refrigerated section of your grocery store (pasteurization kills the probiotics) or simply by making it yourself.