Lacto-Fermented Pickle Recipe + How Your Gut Health Affects Skin Condition

I don't know about you, but our family loves pickles- they remain the go-to snack for the kids when they meander into the kitchen looking for something to munch on! Like many of you, I have a long-time familiarity with pickles. During the summer months as a child, I would help my grandmother in the kitchen when she would bring in the cucumbers from the garden to make sweet pickles. The aroma of canning vegetables is a nostalgic aroma that brings back fond childhood memories.

However, in all my years of watching my great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother make a variety of pickles, I had not seen fermented pickles until recently. This was something I knew I had to share once I tasted them and realized all the health benefits they contained! No sugar. No vinegar. No lime. No food coloring or preservatives- just the good stuff. I hope you'll try the recipe below and enjoy it as much as we do!

But before I share the recipe, I’d love to help you understand how the health of your skin is closely tied to the health of your gut.

Gut & Skin Health Connection

Often called our "second brain," the gut's enteric nervous system plays a crucial role in our body's immune response. Poor diet, stress, and antibiotic use can disrupt this balance, causing inflammation and an overgrowth of harmful bacteria. These imbalances in gut health lead to skin conditions like atopic dermatitis, chronic itch, eczema, rosacea, and acne.

Prioritize what you put in your body as well as what you use on your skin! Eat probiotic, prebiotic, and fiber-rich foods while using tallow balm for skincare to support your skin health and boost your overall wellness.

Tips for Promoting Gut Health and Improving Your Skin Condition

1. Maintain a Diverse Diet: Eat the rainbow! Include a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and lean proteins. to support a balanced gut microbiome.

2. Up Your Fiber Intake: Keep things moving. Consuming fiber-rich foods like avocados, raspberries, broccoli, and lentils helps maintain regular digestion and supports gut health.

3. Consume Probiotic Foods: The live bacteria and yeast in foods such as yogurt, kimchi, fermented foods, and kombucha promote a variety of beneficial gut bacteria! (I’ve included a simple, yummy fermented pickle recipe below!!)

4. Don’t Forget Prebiotics: These are non-digestible fibers found in foods like garlic, onions, and whole grains which feed the good bacteria in your gut, keeping your gut flora happy.

5. Practice Stress Management: High-stress levels can impact gut health. Practice stress-reducing techniques like deep breathing, praying, exercising, or spending time in nature.

6. Stay Hydrated: Drink plenty of water to help flush out toxins and waste from the body. Water also helps break down food and absorb nutrients during and after meals. Staying hydrated is important for hydrated, supple skin!

7. Limit Sugars and Processed Foods: Toss the inflammatory foods! These can disrupt gut bacteria balance and contribute to skin issues. Stick to whole, nutritious foods that your gut can process without throwing a fit.

8. Exercise Regularly: Regular physical activity stimulates digestion and increases blood flow to the skin, which delivers oxygen and nutrients to skin cells and removes waste products. This can help nourish skin cells, clear impurities, and make skin glow!

9. Prioritize Sleep: Even your gut needs its beauty rest! Aim for 7-9 hours of quality sleep each night to support gut and skin regeneration.

10. Listen to Your Body: Pay attention to how different foods affect your gut and skin health, and make adjustments as needed.

By prioritizing gut health through these practices, you can significantly improve the health and appearance of your skin. Maintaining a healthy gut microbiome supports overall immune

function and helps prevent skin conditions associated with gut imbalance.

Lacto-Fermented Pickles Recipe

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Ingredients:

• 4 - 6 medium pickling cucumbers

• 1/2 gallon filtered water

• 4 Tablespoons Sea Salt or Celtic Salt

Optional Ingredients:

• Fresh Dill ( 2 sprigs)

• 1 Tablespoon Mustard Seeds

• 1-2 Bay Leaves

• 1 Tablespoon Peppercorns

• 1-2 Garlic cloves

Supplies

• 1/2 Gallon Mason Jar

• Fermentation weights
  

Need supplies? Check out my Amazon list of the products I love. (I'll earn a small commission from any purchase at no cost to you.)

Tips Before Starting

Dark green, slightly under-ripe cucumbers are best to use if you prefer a firmer pickle. I'm not a fan of mushy pickles so I use the under-ripe ones!

Trim off the ends of the cucumber. The ends contain an enzyme that can cause them to become too soft.

Instructions

1. Make a salt water brine by heating 2 cups of water on your stovetop. Add 4 Tablespoons of salt, stir to combine then let cool.

2. Half, quarter, or slice each cucumber then pack tightly into the 1/2 gallon jar. (I prefer to quarter mine.)

3. Pour salt water brine over top of sliced cucumbers.

4. Fill the jar the rest of the way with filtered water leaving at least 1- 2 inches of headspace at the top

5. Add in optional herbs

6. Place weight to keep the cucumbers under the brine. It's important to keep vegetables in an anaerobic environment, or without oxygen, during fermentation because oxygen can encourage the growth of undesirable microorganisms that can spoil the food.

7. Place the lid on loosely. You'll need to check the jar every morning and "burp" it. Just open the lid and allow the trapped air to escape. If you're worried you'll forget to do this, you can invest in some "airlock lids" from Amazon.( linked above. )These are made of silicone and have a release valve that automatically lets air out, but doesn't let air in.

8. After 2-5 days they will be good and pickled! You can place them in the refrigerator once they turn cloudy and bubbly. Placing them in the fridge will slow the fermentation process down.

9. Enjoy within 3-4 weeks for best quality!