We started fermenting to preserve food. With time, fermented foods became part of daily diet, and they became staples in many cultures around the world and is why we love fermented foods. Growing up, I was surrounded by sauerkraut, yogurt and kefir. My aunt had barrels of fermented cucumbers and cabbage stored in the cellar. She also had a cow, so we used to buy milk from her. She milked the cow and half an hour later, I would come by to get it. Sometimes, I just left a glass of milk on the counter and let it spoil overnight. In most Western countries this is considered spoiled milk, but in the Eastern European countries we drink it, it’s called sour milk. When I moved to the USA, I tried to do the same with the store-bought milk, only to find out that I can’t do it with pasteurized milk.
Why do traditional cultures all revere fermented foods, and why you should fall in love with them as well?
FERMENTED FOODS RESTORE NORMAL GUT FLORA
Foods like sauerkraut have 100 times more beneficial bacteria strains than probiotic you can get in the pill. This was actually tested in the labs. Click here on the video in which I discuss this:
Many people have abnormal gut flora, and regular consumption of fermented foods can restore normal gut flora. If you had to take antibiotics, which don’t discriminate against microbes, and wipe out good and bad, eating fermented foods will restore your normal gut flora in no time.
FERMENTED FOODS IMPROVE IMMUNE SYSTEM FUNCTION
Almost every day there is more and more research emerging, showing a strong connection between gut flora and health of the immune system. Optimal gut microbiome improves the function of the immune system making us more resilient to infections. Diet rich in refined carbohydrates will create imbalances in your gut causing overgrowth of one kind of microbes, but not enough of others. If these imbalances continue for an extended period of time, it will eventually alter the way our immune system functions. It will get weakened having to respond to toxins produced by overgrowing microbes in our guts.
NATURAL TREATMENT FOR CONSTIPATION
Diversity of beneficial microbes present in fermented foods normalizes your gut microbiome improving digestion and enzymatic activity in your gut. As a result, your bowel movements become regular and effortless.
Check out my video about how to make sauerkraut at home here:
BETTER ABSORBION OF NUTRIENTS
You can think of fermented foods as being predigested for you by the microbes therefore making it easier for your gut to extract nutrients from food.
Many fermented foods are rich in K2 vitamin which is important for proper use of Vitamin D3.
REVERSING OF LEAKY GUT
If you follow me for a while, I keep talking about my gut being the key to healing of autoimmunity. And that’s because leaky gut, or gut permeability is at the center of all autoimmune conditions. Leaky gut allows undigested foods and toxins to pass into the bloodstream triggering immune system. Restoring normal gut microbiome is critical to sealing the intestinal wall.
Watch the video version of this post here:
CONCLUSIONS
I only expanded on benefits of fermented foods relevant to me, but the list goes on. Regular consumption of fermented foods improves allergies, helps with weight loss, are antioxidants, improve PMS symptoms, reduces risks for diabetes type 1 and type 2, reduce urinary tract infections and yeast infections in women, reduce risk for viral and bacterial infections.
And as studies about fermented foods continue, I am sure there will be a lot more to learn about health benefits of fermented foods.
I grew up around fermented foods so returning to making them at home was easy! Fermented foods are yet another tool in my tool-box for better health for me and my family.
