Fermented foods have become a pretty hot health topic, folks! You’ve probably heard more about kefir and sourdough bread in the past five years than you did previously.
With all the excited talk surrounding fermented foods and digestive help, it may not be so clear what they are and how they can help your digestion, so here are some fast facts for you!
What, exactly, is a “fermented” food?
Any beverage or food that has been transformed by microorganisms’ controlled growth–such as certain molds, yeast and bacteria–is a fermented food. These foods are not new; they’ve been around for thousands of years because of their ability to produce unique flavors.
Are these foods all the same?
You can divide fermented foods into two general groups: ones that contain live microbes when you eat them and ones that do not. Traditional kimchi, uncooked sauerkraut, kefir and yogurt, for example, contain live microbes when consumed. Alcohol, chocolate, tempeh and sourdough bread do not because the living cultures can’t survive the heating and cooking processes used to produce them.
What benefits do you get from eating fermented foods?
There are a variety of benefits that consuming fermented foods offers. They contain vitamins and antioxidants, and they can also aid digestion. Lactic acid bacteria, for example, is used to produce fermented foods such as kefir and yogurt, and this bacteria can improve your digestion of lactose.
Are fermented foods and probiotics the same thing?
This is a bit of a messy area. Not all fermented foods are considered probiotics, and not all probiotics are in fermented foods.
Fermented foods that have some types of probiotics are good for your digestion because they increase the diversity of the beneficial bacteria in your gut. This “good” bacteria can be killed off in various ways, including having to take antibiotics. However, based on the scientific evidence available now, only certain fermented dairy foods, such as yogurt, have the level of probiotics considered necessary for gut health. It’s still a bit unclear how other fermented foods, such as kimchi, may benefit your gut health.
Keep in mind that if the idea of yogurt or kefir is unappealing to you, there are probiotic supplements available. Should you decide to take them, make sure you are following the storage instructions. Some probiotic supplements need to remain refrigerated to keep the beneficial bacteria at peak numbers for maximum effectiveness.
