Why Eat Fermented Foods?
Besides the fact that they taste great and really grow on you, there are several great reasons to start making and eating fermented foods:
Fermentation can make some hard-to-digest foods much easier on the system. For people with wheat intolerances, a slow-fermented sourdough is much better because the lectins and gluten have been partially broken down by fermentation. In dairy products, fermentation breaks down lactose and cuts the carb count in half (as long as you’re getting ‘real’ yogurt, not the usual pasteurized stuff).
Fermented foods also introduce helpful probiotics to our guts. These can strengthen the immune system, protect from colon cancer, relieve lactose intolerance and rotavirus diarrhea, reduce frequency of cavities, prevent recurrence of irritable bowel syndrome, promote clear skin, increase energy and balance hormones, reduce likelihood of infection, and improve digestion overall, among many other benefits.
- Probiotics– Eating fermented foods and drinking fermented drinks like Kefir and Kombucha will introduce beneficial bacteria into your digestive system and help the balance of bacteria in your digestive system. Probiotics have also been shown to help slow or reverse some diseases, improve bowel health, aid digestion, and improve immunity!
- Absorb Food Better– Having the proper balance of gut bacteria and enough digestive enzymes helps you absorb more of the nutrients in the foods you eat. Pair this with your healthy real food diet, and you will absorb many more nutrients from the foods you eat. You won’t need as many supplements and vitamins, and you’ll be absorbing more of the live nutrients in your foods.
- Budget Friendly– Incorporating healthy foods into your diet can get expensive, but not so with fermented foods. You can make your own whey at home for a couple of dollars, and using that and sea salt, ferment many foods very inexpensively. Drinks like Water Kefir and Kombucha can be made at home also and cost only pennies per serving. Adding these things to your diet can also cut down on the number of supplements you need, helping the budget further.
- Preserves Food Easily– Homemade salsa only lasts a few days in the fridge- Fermented homemade salsa lasts months! The same goes for sauerkraut, pickles, beets and other garden foods. Lacto-fermentation allows you to store these foods for longer periods of time without losing the nutrients like you would with traditional canning.
Here are four fermented foods you might like to try
Kimchi: Made of spicy Napa cabbage combined with scallions and daikon, it’s utterly addictive, and perfect on top of rice, stirred into soup, eaten with rice noodles or fried eggs for breakfast. This is my personal favorite and I eat it every day because I’m addicted.
Kombucha: This is a fizzy, vinegar-like drink made of fermented black tea that is loaded with microorganisms. It’s easy to make at home, as long as you have a “mother” to grow it.
Sauerkraut: The real stuff is tangy and crunchy, not soft and limp like many store-bought varieties. It’s also very easy to make at home, requiring nothing more than cabbage and salt and a big container to pack it into.
Miso: This is a fermented soybean paste that’s delicious when stirred into hot broth with tofu, seaweed, and vegetables, or mixed into salad dressings. It’s full of minerals and microorganisms.
Source
WellnessMama
Treehugger
