When I was young, I remember my grandmother trying to give me sauerkraut for dinner once and making the worst possible face in response to which my grandmother laughed and said, “Sauerkraut isn’t just good, it’s good for you!” When I tell my patients about sauerkraut as a health food, they make almost the same funny face! Recently, however, Grandma’s words turned out to be correct: Sauerkraut has an amazing health benefit, just like other fermented foods. In fact, a group of Polish women were recently studied for their rates of breast cancer. The group that ate a lot of sauerkraut had very low rates of breast cancer.

Health benefits of fermented foods

Fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, olives, pickles, and sourdough bread, have been around for a long time. They were created to help food preserve longer using a natural fermentation process called lacto-fermentation. In this process, the beneficial bacteria lactobacillus acidophilus (the kind that lives in the intestine and helps digest food) converts the starch and sugar in food into lactic acid. The lactic acid acted as a preservative, so refrigeration was not necessary and the food had a long shelf life.

Then a surprising and little-known health benefit of these fermented foods was discovered. It appears that the same fermentation process that preserves and gives these foods their distinctive sweet-sour flavor also has a higher vitamin content and actually aids digestion, removes excess saturated fat and cholesterol, and maintains the digestive tract. healthy and happy digestive.

In fact, these good bacteria found in naturally fermented foods have recently started appearing all over TV commercials and health food articles as “probiotics” that restore and maintain your gut flora, i.e. the level of good bacteria in your gut. . In case you didn’t know, your large intestine, the place that’s home to all these beneficial bacteria, is the very seat of your immune system. When your levels of beneficial bacteria are optimal, you have a healthy immune system strong enough to ward off infections and other illnesses.

Many fermented foods, such as olives, also contain good Omega-3 fatty acids that are beneficial in reducing inflammation throughout the body.

Not all acidic foods ferment naturally

When I talk to my patients about naturally fermented superfoods, they say, great, I’ll get some at the grocery store! However, most of the preserved sauerkraut, pickles, Greek olives on the shelves, and buttermilk, yogurt, and kefir in the dairy section of your grocery store may not have been created through a natural fermentation process. and they may not contain live bacteria.

In fact, many of these sour-tasting varieties of grocery store dairy products are pasteurized, and the canned varieties can obtain their sour taste through the addition of vinegar (itself a fermented food) and/or certain grade minerals. preservative such as potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate added to extend shelf life. Most have lactic acid added to them instead of growing naturally in the fermentation process described above. However, even these supermarket varieties of “quick” fermented foods provide some health benefits in addition to their vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, etc., but not as much as naturally fermented ones that contain the live culture.

Unless your local grocery store has a special section for refrigerated health foods, you’ll probably have to go to a health food or natural food store for real, naturally fermented sauerkraut, pickles, olives, kefir, buttermilk, and yogurt. natural and unpasteurized. You can also make your own fermented foods very easily. Fermentation starter kits are available, along with instructions on how to ferment many foods, at health food stores and/or online.

What fermented foods are available?

Sauerkraut is perhaps the best known fermented food. It is a staple in German and Polish cuisine. If you’ve ever eaten Korean food, you may have had kimchi, spicy fermented cabbage, and other vegetables, which is a staple in Korea. In fact, the researchers found that chickens infected with bird flu, which were fed kimchi extract, recovered! Sake, a Japanese rice wine, is also a fermented food, as are all wines, red or white varieties, and most beers. It’s also likely that you’ve had soy sauce on your rice if you eat Chinese food, and you’ve at least heard of tempeh, the fermented soybean. Here are some other commonly fermented foods:

•Gherkins, olives, onions, mustard greens – Omega 3, promote good intestinal bacteria.
• Yogurt, kefir, whey, cheese: they benefit digestion and strengthen the immune system.
•Natto: Japanese, from which nattokinase is made, beneficial for heart health as it dissolves blood clots. Contains vitamin K2 which research has shown to prevent osteoporosis and breast cancer.
•Miso – Japanese. Miso is credited with saving the lives of hundreds of Hiroshima victims who were fed traditional Japanese miso soup in hospitals.
•Coffee: Research shows that coffee has strong antioxidant properties and the ability to lower blood sugar levels in diabetics.
•Chocolate: Contains important antioxidants, just as much as unsweetened fruit!

You probably have been eating and enjoying fermented foods for a long time and didn’t know what a great health benefit you were getting from them. Who knew that pickles and chocolate could be healthy foods? Read labels carefully and make sure they say “naturally fermented” or contain “live cultures” or “lactobacillus acidophilus” to make sure you’re getting the most health benefit from your fermented foods. Enjoy!