Fermented Foods for Gut Health (2024)

FAQs

Should you eat fermented food every day? ›

While there are currently no official guidelines regarding how often you should eat fermented foods, adding a few servings to your daily diet may be beneficial ( 44 ). For the best results, start by eating one or two servings per day, and then slowly work your way up.

Apple cider vinegar is made by adding yeast to apple juice and allowing it to ferment. It can be used in salad dressing, baking, pickling, soups, or any other dish needing a little tartness. Unfiltered or raw apple cider vinegar contains live bacteria, some of which may be probiotic.

There are two ways to get more good bacteria into your gut: fermented foods and dietary supplements. Fermented foods are the most natural source. Probiotic supplements, which are typically sold over the counter, are reserved to treat specific ailments as suggested by your doctor, and not recommended for everyday use.

Both Greek and regular yogurt are fermented, but the manufacturing differs slightly. The process starts out the same. Bacteria called Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus are added to warm milk, and the mixture sits at approximately 110°F (about 43°C) for a few hours.

“There's no vegetable you can't ferment,” he said, but added that leafy greens such as kale — because of their chlorophyll content — aren't to most people's liking. During an NPR interview, Katz explained that pickling and fermentation are not the same, although they are “overlapping” categories.

Sauerkraut is a fermented dish best consumed in the morning at about one tablespoon to 10 grams per day.

Histamine intolerance

Histamine is plentiful in fermented foods. For most, our body's specific enzymes will naturally digest them. However, some people don't produce enough of these enzymes. This means histamine won't be digested and will instead be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Fermented foods can cause gas and bloating, even in a healthy individual. This is because you are introducing more microbes into your system, and happy microbes produce gas when fed the right diet, aka a healthy balanced diet including plenty of fibre rich foods.

In summary, fermented vegetables such as kimchi, sauerkraut, fermented soy products, and beverages such as fermented teas are garnering attention as a source of natural anti-inflammatory bioactive compounds.

Is apple cider vinegar a probiotic? ›

Though some types of ACV contain probiotic microorganisms, the vinegar cannot be classified as a probiotic. That's because the type and volume of microorganisms varies too much. Plus, there's no clear health benefit related to the probiotic organisms ACV may contain.

In addition to beneficial probiotics, kombucha made from black, green, and rooibos tea has been shown to be a good source of antioxidants—plant chemicals that can help prevent or delay cell damage that may have unique gut health benefits (11).

In summary, fermented vegetables such as kimchi, sauerkraut, fermented soy products, and beverages such as fermented teas are garnering attention as a source of natural anti-inflammatory bioactive compounds.

Overall, eating up to three servings of kimchi daily was associated with an 11% lower odds for obesity, compared to folks who ate less than one serving daily, Shin's group found. Results varied somewhat based on gender: Women who ate two to three servings daily saw their odds for obesity fall by 8%, the study found.