Fermented Foods
Fermented foods, often referred to as probiotic foods, have become more and more popular and mainstream in the UK over the last couple of years. But what are they? And should we be including them in our diets?
What are fermented foods?
Fermented foods are made when live microbes, through their growth and metabolism, transform a food into a fermented food. The process of fermenting foods has been around for thousands of years as form of food preservation before refrigeration was invented. A common example of a fermented food is yoghurt which is made from milk. Yoghurt is created when lactic acid-producing bacteria grow on the sugars and other nutrients in milk. As they multiply, the bacteria produce compounds that change the flavour, texture, and nutrients in the milk to give us yoghurt.
Why are fermented foods beneficial to include in our diets?
Research has shown that fermented foods containing living microbes could add beneficial bacteria to the digestive tract and enhance the gut microbiome which we know is beneficial for our health.
Fermented foods are also beneficial for the following reasons:
Improve food taste, texture, and food digestibility
Increase concentrations of vitamins and bioactive compounds in some foods
Remove/reduce toxic or anti-nutrients in raw foods
Increase food safety and shelf-life
Examples of fermented foods with living cultures:
Yoghurt
Kefir
Fresh sauerkraut
Fresh kimchi
Water or brine cured olives
Traditional salami
Some cheeses
Fresh sour dill pickles
What’s the difference between probiotics and fermented foods?
These are two different things - fermented foods provide a source of live microbes but that doesn’t mean they are rich sources of probiotics. Often its unclear what specific microbes have grown and in what amounts in these foods, which means we can’t call them probiotics. So, although fermented foods can provide extra diversity to our diets and may be a source of live microbes, they may not reach the amount required to officially be called a ‘probiotic’ (see my last article and video).
Should we be including fermented foods in our diets?
In short, yes.
Fermented foods containing living microbes may have beneficial impact on the health of our digestive tract. They may be able to enhance the gut microbiome or play a transient role as they move through, and can be included as part of a healthy balanced and diverse diet. However, they aren’t for everyone, some people are just not suited to fermented foods or don’t like them so trial and if they don’t work for you focus on a variety of wholegrains, fruit and vegetables to provide fibre and prebiotics for the microbes already living inside you. I’m covering more on prebiotics and fibre in my video and article next week.
NB: be cautious if you are pregnant (ask your healthcare provider), and if you have never really had fermented foods before, they may cause digestive discomfort in large amounts so start with small amounts initially to allow your digestive system to adjust then work up to more if your tolerance allows.