Fermented beet juice

In her book "Herbs of the Earth: A Self-Teaching Guide to Healing Remedies", Mary Carse writes that certain food-types seem to have definite anticancer properties. Especially fermented foods are most beneficial. E.g., foods such as: sauerkraut, buttermilk, fermented grains, pickled vegetables, etc.

Beets are especially valuable - both tops and raw juice. However, the most important are fermented grated beet roots (i.e. fermented beet juice aka burakovyi kvas - from Russian), as it seems to have special substance that prevents or cures cancer.

More about medicinal properties of beets writes Ron Lagerquist in article "Vegetable Juice Guide" at Freedomyou.com.

He says there that: "Famous for their ability to cleanse the blood, beets contain calcium, sulfur, iron, potassium, choline, beta-carotene, and vitamin C. Beets are also high in minerals that strengthen the liver and gall bladder, and are the building blocks for blood corpuscles and cells. Beet greens are excellent for salads and juicing; (they) are a good source of carotenoids that help in the prevention of all types of cancers. They are high in manganese, an important mineral for brain function...

Beet juice has been proven therapeutic in the treatment of leukemia and cancer. In a clinical trial, twenty-two patients with advanced inoperable cancers were given 10 oz. of beet juice daily for 3 to 4 months. Twenty-one of these patients showed marked improvement in health."

[Photo author: arun christian lucas from flickr.com ]

Ingredients:

• 3 lb Beets
  
• 3 tb Salt
  
• 1 sl Sourdough Bread
  
• 2 qt Water (Up To 3 Maybe Needed)
  
• 1 Square Cheesecloth And String
  
• 1 gal Glass Jar Or Stone Crock
  
• Jars

Instructions:

Scrub beets pare and cut into quarters. Place in a clean jar or crock and sprinkle with the salt. Boil the water and pour into the jar. Cook add the bread to aid in the fermentation cover with the cheesecloth and tie with the string. Set in a cool place to ferment for about 1 week. Do not do this in hot humid weather as it will decompose not sour. Remove any mold as it appears. Flavor develops in 1 to 2 weeks. Remove the bread mold and cheesecloth. Taste - it should be sourish but mild not brackish. Pour into clean dry jars and cover keeping it refrigerate until ready to use. It will keep well in the refrigerator.

Note: I often add 1-2 carrots, a couple cloves of garlic and 1/2-1 onion. It's good to experiment to find the most desirable flavor. The taste will also depend on how much salt we use and how long does the fermentation last. You'll be amazed at the results! The only reason why you shouldn't get excellent kvas would be if you use lesser-quality beets and/or unclean dishes.