Everyone at my house is sick with some sort of fast moving stomach bug that hits hard, and with little warning. It moved through the the homestead with an eerie predictability. One after another, in 12-hour intervals, people started harfing and barfing, but at least they were in the bathroom when the diarrhea hit. Only one person didn’t get sick—me, and while everyone is puzzled at my good health in the midst of a barf fest, I’m not the least bit surprised. My secret? Sauerkraut.

Last summer, I put up a dozen or so quarts of sauerkraut while I was working on finals. It was a much needed diversion then, and a lifesaver now. I didn’t get sick because as soon as I was informed of the first attack, I broke open a jar of sauerkraut and started munching. A nurse told me that the vomiting episodes were likely caused by a bacteria, and it was making it’s way through the community. So what does sauerkraut have to with it? Well, in a nutshell, my sauerkraut bacteria can beat the tar out of any old vomit-inducing bacteria. In fact, the health benefits of sauerkraut are well-documented:

• Sauerkraut  contains the bacterium Lactobacilli plantarum, a powerful bacterium that prevents upset to the digestive system.
• Sauerkraut contains enzymes that  prevent E.coli, salmonella and unhealthy overgrowth of candida (yeast) create antioxidants (glutathione and superoxide dismustase) from harming the digestive system.Fermentation of cabbage produces a substance called isothiocynates, which prevents cancer growth.
• Sauerkraut is high in vitamin C and contains substances that soothe the nervous system—perfect for those of us riding out the harsh winters of the North in cramped quarters.

We’re down to  eight quarts of kraut, that should take us through the rest of the winter. I’ll have to put up more this fall. I’m already looking through the seed catalogs, in between mopping up barf and passing out glassfuls of 7-Up. Over the years, I’ve found that late cabbage makes the best kraut. I might just plant a couple extra this time around, for medicinal purposes.