09/16/2026
Food is so important to our daily functioning and well being. What we eat affects our brain and our nervous system. Try adding some fermented foods to your daily food intake.
I use sheep milk purchased from a regenerative farmer.
From the research:
* Sheep milk carries approximately 14 g of protein per cup, nearly double cow’s milk. Steady protein means steady blood sugar, and a steady blood sugar is one of the quietest ways to keep the nervous system out of alarm.
* Overnight, the kefir cultures pre-digest that protein into peptides your gut absorbs with less effort. Less digestive work, less stress signal from the gut to the brain.
* Some of the peptides bind calcium and carry it across the gut wall. Calcium and magnesium are what your nerves use to fire and to settle.
* Fermentation adds B vitamins (B12, folate) that the brain uses to make serotonin and GABA, the neurotransmitters of steadiness and rest.
* Live cultures feed the gut microbiome, and the gut talks to the brain through the vagus nerve. A more diverse microbiome has been tied to lower inflammatory markers, and inflammation is one of the body’s loudest threat signals.
Wastyk, H. C., Fragiadakis, G. K., Perelman, D., Dahan, D., Merrill, B. D., Yu, F. B., Topf, M., Gonzalez, C. G., Van Treuren, W., Han, S., Robinson, J. L., Elias, J. E., Sonnenburg, E. D., Gardner, C. D., & Sonnenburg, J. L. (2021). Gut-microbiota-targeted diets modulate human immune status. Cell, 184(16), 4137–4153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2021.06.019
Jianqin, S., Leiming, X., Lu, X., Yelland, G. W., Ni, J., & Clarke, A. J. (2016). Effects of milk containing only A2 beta casein versus milk containing both A1 and A2 beta casein proteins on gastrointestinal physiology, symptoms of discomfort, and cognitive behavior of people with self-reported intolerance to traditional cows’ milk. Nutrition Journal, 15, 35. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12937-016-0147-z
