What Are Fermented Foods?

Fermented foods, or cultured foods have been around a very long time. They have been used as an ancient food preserving technique to keep food fresh. There’s a variety of ways to culture food, which actually refers to the bacteria cultures within the food. This is because fermentation is great for the friendly flora in our bodies. Fermenting foods increases the beneficial probiotics or bacteria within the food. Fermentation also keeps the enzymes intact within the food because it’s still considered raw. These types of food usually have a sour taste, but you can also make them quite good. A general principles of these would to make sure their not pasteurized because that process kills off the beneficial bacteria.

Types Of Fermented Foods

1. Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut is essentially fermented cabbage. Hippocrates and Pliny the Elder had written about it and it’s health benefits. It has said to first be used in ancient China when they were building the great wall of China to feed the workers.

2. Kimchi

Kimchi originates in Korea, and has been consumed for thousands of years. The ingredients were cabbage, radishes, garlic, ginger, and chili pepper. In Korea, kimchi festivals are held annually to celebrate.

3. Kefir

Kefir is a fermented milk product that originated from the mountain people in Russia. Many of the people in this region were centenarians. They had used it in hospitals for a variety of aliments.

4. Yogurt

This originated in Turkey in the sixth century. This was not mass produced until 1905. Yogurt comes from milk, and has many benefits. Make sure it’s raw and unpasteurized to maintain the beneficial bacteria.

5. Kombucha

This is an ancient fermented tea usually using green or black tea. This originated in ancient China thousands of yeas ago. It later spread to Japan and Korea. The fermentation process for this also creates a minuscule amount of alcohol. When. getting this, make sure that the sugar content is low to avoid unwanted side effects.

Probiotics-

Probiotics have their place and can be very beneficial. The issue is that most of them don’t colonizes the GI tract because they don’t survive the acid journey of the stomach. There are a few quality brands that do. Also, it’s worth working with a functional medicine doctor for you specific condition for targeted probiotic use.