Welcome to BE Cultured, Body Ecology’s online fermentation course where you learn exactly how to create fermented foods that nourish your body and your mind.

With BE Cultured you will discover how to use one of Mother Nature’s most overlooked remedies for illness and disease: Probiotic foods!

If you are serious about getting rid of chronic infection, building more energy, living pain-free, rebalancing hormonal shifts, having a healthy pregnancy, loosing weight, or feeling bright and enthusiastic about your day, it is essential to first heal the gut with a probiotic diet.

This is what BE Cultured is all about. We walk you through the fermentation process, step by step. We guide you through missteps and motivate you to stick with new changes in your diet. With the support of your dedicated BE Cultured team, you begin to unravel the mysteries of fermentation while building a healthier tomorrow.

In 2001 the World Health Organization defined probiotics as, “live micro-organisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host.” Probiotics are found in food, in supplements, and they are even prescribed by physicians..

But is one form of probiotic better than another?

A recent 2012 study published in the Journal of Dairy Science shows that microbes have a better chance of surviving the harsh environment of the stomach when they are consumed as food—rather than as a probiotic supplement.

And we at Body Ecology agree.

• Cultured dairy and veggies provide a protective matrix for microbes, so that they can safely colonize the lower end of the digestive tract.
• We recommend a probiotic diet rather than a probiotic pill.

But a probiotic diet is far more complicated than a pill! With BE Cultured, you get clear answers to the most common questions about fermented foods and a probiotic diet.

Let’s face it, probiotic foods are becoming fashionable!

And there is a reason for this. In 2008 the National Institutes of Health launched the Human Microbiome Project (HMP), which has helped scientists identify and keep track of the microbes that we harbor. These days, the media is buzzing with news on the human microbiome.

But what is the human microbiome?

It is the term that scientists use to describe the communities of microbes living in and on the body. In other words, the microbiome is your inner ecosystem.

With each passing year since 2008, we see new and exciting data that reveal just how much we rely on our microbes for health and wellbeing. They influence everything from the brain and the immune system to extra weight around the midsection and skin disorders.

Because I have held a genuine interest in probiotic foods and the inner ecosystem for nearly three decades, I’ve kept my fingers on the pulse of the HMP and on the growing science surrounding the human inner ecosystem.

A little secret: We are about to see some big changes in healthcare as scientists learn how to balance the inner ecosystem!

In the meantime, with BE Cultured you can:

• Use a probiotic diet to get acquainted with your body and your inner ecosystem.
• Fuel change and stay motivated with cutting-edge facts about your inner ecosystem.
• Learn how and why fermented foods influence everything from your mood to your bowels.

If you do a little digging, you will find a lot of information about fermentation and wild ferments, which advocate the use of whey, kombucha, kefir grains, or a salt brine when making fermented foods.

We suggest something very different.

At Body Ecology, we encourage the use of a strain-specific starter because we understand that not everyone can tolerate wild ferments. We understand that many people come to the Body Ecology Diet with a wounded gut, searching for help and for answers.

Many people have a history of:

• Antibiotic use
• Oral contraceptive use
• Cesarean section delivery
• Being formula-fed through infancy
• Eating overly processed or synthetic foods

Each one of these factors can distort the balance of the inner ecosystem, leaving the body vulnerable to infection, inflammation, and disease. The reality is that the modern human gut cannot tolerate wild ferments.

A wild ferment might work for those who have a robust inner ecosystem. However, anyone struggling with an autoimmune disorder, stubborn weight loss, a mood or behavioral imbalance, a skin disorder, joint pain, heartburn, gastrointestinal distress, or Candida infection will need to use a strain-specific starter culture.

Using a starter culture that contains specific strains of beneficial microbes leaves little room for error or contamination.

In fact, researchers at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, Germany found that a homemade brew of the popular drink kombucha contained wild strains of Candida albicans. This is the same yeast that is the 4th most common source of hospital-acquired infections. And it is the same yeast that the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently dubbed a “serious threat” to the American public!

With BE Cultured:

• Cut through misinformation and contradiction about fermented foods.
• Find out how wild ferments—including kombucha—can do more harm than good in the body.
• Learn about which fermented foods restore the inner ecosystem, repopulating it with only beneficial microbes.