Rejuvelac

More fermented food to enjoy!

Have you heard of Rejuvelac?  I hadn't either until I started taking my Nutritional Therapy course.  Rejuvelac is a fermented beverage made from soaking and fermenting organic wheat berries.  In a book I read called Recipes for Longer Life by Ann Wigmore, I found a repeated reference and a recipe for this drink.

It was to be consumed daily and preferably before meals and on an empty stomach.  The nutritional pioneer Ann Wigmore discovered the significance of Rejuvelac with respect to health.  The liquid is created by the lacto-fermentation of wheat berries.  As the wheat berries ferment they are being predigested by friendly microbes, particularly lactobacillus.  In the process nutrients including enzymes, and B vitamins are released and made readily available when we consume them.  As Wigmore states in her book, "Rejuvelac is a pre-digested food - the proteins are broken down into amino acids, the carbohydrates into simple sugars.  These nutrients are readily assimilated by your body with very little expenditure of energy.  Rejuvelac is extremely rich in eight of the B vitamins as well as Vitamin E and K."

Read on to see how I make it and how you can do it at home...

I usually make Rejuvelac in a 1 liter glass Mason jar.

1. First, I measure out the dry berries and rinse them well using my hands to swish the berries around under the running water in a fine mesh sieve. I drop the berries into the Mason jar and cover with filtered water.

2. Then, I place the jar in a dark, warm corner of my kitchen and make a note of the date and time either on the jar with a grease pencil or on a piece of paper.  I allow the mixture to sit at room temperature overnight for 48 hours giving the jar a shake once in a while.

3. Pour off this first liquid by covering the opening of the jar with cheesecloth and consume it as you would water.  The amber colored cloudy liquid will be slightly effervescent and tastes like a very mild beer.

4. Replace the water you have poured off with fresh filtered water and reseal your jar.  Let the mixture stand again for 24 hours.  

5. Drink and repeat the 24 hour cycle pattern for 3 days straight.

Please note this is not my recipe, but one I have gotten from Ann Wigmore's book.

I love the effects I have had since drinking this beverage particularly the bowel cleansing effect!