FAQs

What is it about Raw Cultured Vegetables that enhances health?

Raw Cultured Vegetables are delicious and provide an excellent self-rejuvenating source of non-dairy lactobacilli, including acidophilus and lactobacillus plantarum, important for the maintenance of healthy intestinal flora and the alleviation of digestive disorders. This is important for people who are lactose intolerant, have pathologies that prevent the consumption of dairy or simply choose to avoid it.

What is it about Rejuvenative Foods' Nut and Seed Butters that is so special?

Our freshness-dated, raw, refrigerated Nut and Seed Butters are special because they are unheated (not roasted) and still have life energy, vitamins and minerals that are further retained as a result of immediate refrigeration and assured freshness that you know of by our 9 month "best if sold before" date. Ask for Rejuvenative Foods Nut and Seed Butters by name, as you would cold processed oil. An important aspect of retention of life energy is: We monitor temperature during grinding so that heat friction doesn't cook our nuts and seeds.

How to eat Rejuvenative Foods in general.

Rejuvenative Foods raw cultured vegetables taste great on or with rice or rice cakes, with fresh raw organic almond butter (or other nut and seed butters or mixtures - great on sandwiches, or even by themselves in a bowl), tortillas, avocados, vegetables, salads, seeds, nuts, grains, pizza, eggs, potatoes, meat, sandwiches, & omelets.

Rejuvenative Foods Nut and Seed Butters are delicious by themselves. They taste great mixed with raw cultured vegetables in a bowl. They also taste great mixed with dried or fresh fruit, including dates, raisins, figs, apples, bananas, papayas, etc. They can be smoothed onto rice cakes or bread, and one can make a dressing in a blender by mixing with any of the following: avocados, a little water, garlic, tomatoes, cultured vegetables.

How to eat Rejuvenative Foods, specific recipes.

Delicious recipes at Raw Foods Recipes and Resources

How pure are Rejuvenative Foods?

Are there trace amounts of peanuts or other extraneous raw materials in our nut and seed butters? No. There are no peanuts in any of our foods. In fact, there are no peanuts processed in our plant at all, and our grinder and all of the other machines we use are cleaned very thoroughly in between batches, so there is no residue from any other nut or seed in our foods.

What bacteria culture is present in the product? What is lactobacillus acidophilus?

Lactobacillus acidophilus is a micro-flora that is naturally present in vegetables as well as in our digestive tract. Lactobacillus plantarum and lactobacillus brevis are other healthful microorganisms found in our Raw Cultured Vegetables. On March 10, 1989, Dairy & Food Labs, Inc. found 5,500,000 lactobacillus acidophilus per gram in our Vegi-Delite Live Zing Salad, made with organic raw cultured cabbage, beets, carrots, lemon, dill and garlic. This is not an isolated, refined supplement (where lactobacillus count tends to dissipate) but an appetizing live food that is naturally self maintaining its fresh lactobacillus count.The bacteria are responsible for breaking down the sugars and starches found in the vegetables, and are involved in the production of B vitamins, aiding in proper digestion. The culturing process allows for the proliferation of this healthful micro-flora. Lactobacillus is destroyed when you heat vegetables, which is why our Raw Cultured Vegetables are so good for you.

What is the difference between fermented and pickled and cultured?

Fermented and cultured mean the same thing. Our raw, cultured, vegetables could be considered pickled because of the addition of Celtic Sea Salt, but it is not a term we generally use. This is because someone might think that they have vinegar in them, and they do not.

I left a jar out overnight. Can I still eat it?

The food, whether RCV's or Nut Butters, are still fine to eat. The owner and founder of the company, who has been making these products for over 20 years, frequently takes the products on camping trips knowing the products will not be refrigerated for as long as a couple of weeks and he finds that the integrity and quality of the product is not compromised.

Is the Hemp Seed Butter good for you? Is It Legal?

Yes, our Hemp Seed Butter (Hempini) is both legal and extremely beneficial for the body. Hemp seeds are the most nutritious seed on the planet. They are very rich in Omega-3 and -6 essential fatty acids. Hemp Seed Butter provides our body with essential fatty acids that we don't get often because our body doesn't produce them, and most foods don't have them. It is also very high in amino acid energy.

How much salt do you put in your product?

There is approximately one percent Celtic Sea Salt in our products (the salt is added to the vegetables before they are cultured). Many other sauerkraut and raw cultured vegetable manufacturers put at least two percent salt into their products. Furthermore, the Celtic Sea Salt is one of the most healthful salts for your body, and is not commonly found in other salted cultured vegetables.

At what temperature do we process our Raw Nut and Seed butters?

Generally the nut and seed butters are ground at temperatures between 112 and 116 degrees. Ocassionally the grinder might get as hot as 118 degrees, although this is rare.

What is a turnover order?

A turnover order is an order that a customer wants to receive at their local natural foods store.You can place a turnover order now through our online turnover order form here.

How much should I eat?

For the Raw Cultured Vegetables, a nice average is two to four jars a week, especially if one is eating the Vegi-Delite.

How to make your own raw cultured vegetables.

To enjoy the benefits and the uniquely appealing flavor of Raw Cultured Vegetables, you may make your own as follows:

Use fresh, well-cleaned cabbage either on its own or as the primary ingredient along with beets, carrots, garlic, celery, kelp, herbs or any other vegetable you enjoy. You may add a high quality sea salt if desired. A five-gallon container will hold about 35 pounds of vegetables and it is best to use at least 25 pounds per recipe. You can either grind the vegetables using a Champion Juicer (without the screen) or cut and shred them with a food processor. If you use the latter process, pound the vegetables to make them juicier.

Put the prepared vegetables in a stainless steel, ceramic or a glass crock. Don't fill the crock to the brim because the fermenting vegetables are likely to expand and may overflow. Put lots of fresh cabbage leaves on top of the ground up vegetables and using your hands and a little body weight, gently and firmly compress the leaves.

Put a plate that is as wide as possible in the crock and then add some weight to the plate, such as a lidded glass jar filled with two-thirds of a pint of water. A little weight will be sufficient, as too much will force the vegetable juice above the fermenting vegetables. Check the fermenting vegetables a few times over the next day and a half to ensure that the plate is sitting evenly on the vegetables and is not lopsided.

Let the fermenting vegetables sit in a well-ventilated space at room temperature (between 59-71º) for five to seven days. The longer it sits the stronger it gets. After five to seven days (6-7 days at 62ºand 5-6 days at 70º), throw away the old cabbage leaves and the moldy and discolored vegetables on the top. Put the remaining delicious fermented vegetables in glass jars and refrigerate. The Raw Cultured Vegetables will last from four to eight months when kept at 34º and opened minimally. Do not freeze them.

Why do you call Rejuvenative Foods oils "virgin"?

Rejuvenative Foods oils are virgin because we use a cold press to extract our oils and do not use any chemicals in the extraction process. Unlike many conventional oils, we do not hydrogenate, bleach, refine or deodorize our oils. When you buy oils from Rejuvenative Foods, you are getting high-quality pure, raw oils full of flavor and nutrients.

What's wrong with the average cooking oil on the market?

The cooking oils that you see on most supermarket shelves tend to be highly processed. Udo Erasmus, one of the leading thinkers in the raw foods movement, notes that after oils are pressed or solvent extracted from seeds or nuts, "they are degummed, refined, bleached and deodorized." The result is oils that are colorless, odorless and tasteless. Many valuable ingredients such as antioxidants, phytosterosis, chlorophyll, and flavor and color molecules are removed as well.

Erasmus says that 0.5 to 1 percent of the oil's molecules are damaged by traditional processing techniques, and that some of these damaged molecules have been tested on animals and found very toxic.

Cooking oils are often treated with NaOH (a corrosive base used to open clogged sink and drain pipes), H3PO4 (a corrosive acid used to degrease windows) and beaching clays, which damage the molecules that give oil its color.

You can learn more about the harmful processing techniques involved with traditional supermarket cooking oils at Udo Erasmus's excellent web site.

What makes Rejuvenative Foods' Raw Oils better?

Compared to the way most companies make oils described above, our process is incredibly simple. We simply put fresh raw organic nuts and seeds into our oil press, then immediately put the resulting raw oil into jars and refrigerate. Our raw organic oil temperature never exceeds 90 to 115 degrees F, preventing molecular changes to the nuts or seeds. Our raw organic oils are never refined, processed or added to in any way. What you're getting is the oil in its purest, most healthful and delicious state.

What is it about raw foods that enhances health?

Raw foods are delicious and provide an excellent self-rejuvenating source of non-dairy lactobacilli, including acidophilus and lactobacillus plantarum, important for the maintenance of healthy intestinal flora and the alleviation of digestive disorders. This is important for people who are lactose intolerant, have pathologies that prevent the consumption of dairy or simply choose to avoid it.

Your oils contain no trans fatty acids. Why are trans fatty acids a concern?

Trans fatty acids are fats frequently found in foods such as cookies, crackers, snack foods, some margarines, vegetable shortening, salad dressings, fried foods and many processed foods. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says there is a proven link between diets high in trans fatty acids and higher LDL (bad) cholesterol levels -- and therefore a link to higher rates of heart disease. We're proud to present you raw organic oils that are free of trans fatty acids.

We use the general term 'health salt' so we can have more versatility in our recipes.  We are currently using pink Himalayan salt in our shredded sauerkraut and Celtic sea-salt in all other vegetables recipes including the Kim Chi.