Author: Dr. Jamie Schwandt / Source: Lifehack
Have you noticed the bottles of Kombucha that line the shelves at your natural food grocery stores, or the recent offerings of a drinkable fermented milk product called Kefir?
They fall into a category of fermented foods which are making a huge breakthrough in American grocery stores.
If you are not familiar with fermented foods, or the powerful health benefits that come from adding them to your diet, then this article is for you.
Read on to learn about the 5 simple foods you can incorporate into your diet for both better digestive health and mental wellness.
Fermented Foods: A Hot [Ancient] Trend
If you are just now noticing fermented foods in your grocery store, it’s good to keep in mind that fermented foods are not a new trend.
They have been around for about eight thousand years and have recently begun to steadily gain popularity in the American diet.
In fact, due to the explosive research done on gut health and the importance of microbiomes, fermented foods are making huge strides in Western societies.
Before electricity and refrigerators existed, controlled fermenting was done as a way to preserve foods to make it safe to eat.
Different cultures celebrated fermented foods, and each culture developed their own spin on them through the introduction of unique flavors and traditions that were part of their culinary heritage.
For example:
• European cultures enjoy sauerkraut and cultured dairy products such as sour cream and cheeses
• Koreans are famous for their kimchi, Japanese people love natto and miso, while the Chinese enjoy blackened preserved eggs
• In India, people drink Lassi before every meal to aid digestion
• Garri, a root vegetable, is prepared and fermented before eating in West Africa
• In Russia and Turkey, people drink a yogurt called Kefir
Bacteria Makes Food Taste Better
Although there are many different ways to preserve and ferment foods, they all contain a specific component that are important to the fermenting preservation process, a bacterial starter culture.
The most common method of fermentation uses a bacteria strain called Lactobacillius.
During the fermentation process, these good bacteria fight off dangerous strains of bacteria like E. coli that make our food dangerous to eat.
Lactobacillus converts the salts and sugars that were added during the fermentation setup into lactic acid, a natural preservative that inhibits the growth of dangerous bacteria. This production of lactic acid is what gives food that sour, tangy flavor that we associate with fermented vegetables such as pickles and sauerkraut.
You can use the liquid from a previous ferment as a source for your starter bacteria, such as the whey for yogurt, a SCOBY from kombucha, or the brine from pickled vegetables.
If you are just starting out, you can also find healthy strains of bacteria in powder form. Health food stores or shops online will sell starter culture kits that are full of beneficial bacteria to help you kick start the fermentation process.
Ferments are Great for Your Gut
Eating a variety of fermented foods is a great introduction to enriching your gut microbiome to a diverse collection of healthy bacteria.
Not only are you introducing beneficial bacteria to your gut but these bacteria are helping you to increase absorption and digestion of foods.
Fermented foods are similar to probiotics, but there are a few key differences.
Probiotics Versus Ferments: What’s The Difference?
Fermented foods are not equivalent to probiotics.
Based on their classifications there are differences between a probiotic versus a fermented food, even though both have incredible health benefits.
The World Health Organization defines probiotics as “live microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host”. 1
All fermented products are created using healthy bacteria, but when they are cooked, they won’t contain live bacteria.
For example, foods such as sour dough bread are fermented because they rely on bacteria like yeast to create them. But by the time you eat the bread the yeast already has already been deactivated by baking.
On the other hand, there are foods such as yogurt, cheeses, non-heated kimchi and sauerkraut that are fermented with bacteria and still contain live beneficial bacteria when you eat it.
These types of fermented foods are also probiotics because they have live microorganisms in them.
A Healthy Gut Is a Diverse Gut
There are ten times more bacteria in your body than you have cells that make up your body; or as scientists estimate, there are about 100 trillion bacteria in your body.
Millions reside right in the middle of your gut; and, they help you digest your food and absorb nutrients from your food.
Bacteria in your gut help you break down larger food particles (that go undigested in your stomach) into useable forms…
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