The science is in: healthy fermented foods like yogurt and pickled vegetables can have a positive effect on our digestive health and overall wellness.
Our free tool provides options, advice, and next steps based on your unique situation.
When we think of fermented foods, most of us immediately think of alcohol, or possibly the pungent, tea-like beverage kombucha, which is rising in popularity because of its purported health benefits. Fermented foods aren’t just the latest health craze, as it turns out. Medical and nutritional scientists have accumulated plenty of proof of the positive effects of fermented foods on our physical and even mental health, from replenishing our digestive probiotics to aiding the absorption of nutrients. Learn more about their benefits.
Far from being limited to grapes and yeast, fermented foods include a wide range of traditional items that many of us are already familiar with, including: yogurt, sauerkraut and soy sauce. In fact, we humans have been fermenting foods for millennia: fermentation was one of the earliest methods of food preservation, and chemical evidence suggests that fermentation was already in common practice nearly ten thousand years ago.
Our ancestors may not have known it, but fermented foods and beverages have the potential to give us a serious nutritional boost. Scientists have learned more and more in recent years about the microbiome — the healthy bacteria in our guts and elsewhere in our bodies — and its effects on our physical and mental wellness. The right types of fermented foods may have a positive effect on our microbial flora, and, in turn, our overall health and longevity.
The bacteria or yeast used in the fermentation process naturally create lactic acid or alcohol compounds as they feed on the foods’ natural sugars. “The fermented foods also wind up filled with ‘friendly’ bacteria such as those touted in probiotic products, as well as helpful enzymes,” says an article from Tufts University. “The bacteria ‘predigest’ certain food components, making them easier for your gut to handle and for nutrients to be absorbed when you eat them.” When our microbiome is robust, it may help us fight illness, as well as warding off inflammation, allergies and autoimmune issues. Preliminary studies have even indicated a positive effect on stress, anxiety and depression.
If you’re still not convinced, think about it this way: you probably already have a few fermented foods in your daily or weekly rota right now. Common fermented foods that many people consume regularly include:
Our free tool provides options, advice, and next steps based on your unique situation.
But, here’s the catch. Many fermented food products like pickles and sauerkraut that you buy at the store have been treated with high heat, killing the good bacteria along with the bad. However, it can be easy and fun to make your own fermented dishes.
Take a look at the following fermented recipes for ideas on how to make healthy fermented foods.
Directions:
Learn more about this Spicy Sauerkraut.
Directions:
Learn more about this Brussels Sprouts Kimchi.
Our advisors help 300,000 families each year find the right senior care for their loved ones.
Directions:
Learn more about these Lacto-Fermented Mixed Pickles.
Directions:
Learn more about this Concord Grape Soda.
What’s your favorite fermented food? Do you have any preferred foods or recipes to add to our list? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Related Articles:
The information contained on this page is for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute medical, legal or financial advice or create a professional relationship between A Place for Mom and the reader. Always seek the advice of your health care provider, attorney or financial advisor with respect to any particular matter, and do not act or refrain from acting on the basis of anything you have read on this site. Links to third-party websites are only for the convenience of the reader; A Place for Mom does not endorse the contents of the third-party sites.
Make the best senior care decision