Benefits of fermented foods

The art of fermenting food is a tradition that dates back several centuries. Possibly all cultures around the world use fermentation techniques to preserve foods not only to keep the food edible over a long period of time, but also to enhance the nutritional value of the foods that has been preserved for future use.

The process of fermentation coverts sugars which is found in forms like fructose, glucose and sucrose into fantastic digestive enzymes by converting sugar contents in the foods into lactic acid by lacto-fermentation. In lacto-fermentation natural bacteria feeds on the sugar and starch contents which creates various strains of probiotics along with Vitamin B, Omega-3 fatty acids and beneficial enzymes which breaks the food down into a more digestible form.

The traditional method of fermenting foods was by treating the food with salt or brine whereas in the modern times fermentation is also done by use of vinegar and commercial yeasts which performs the same task to lacto-ferment the foods.

There are several benefits of eating fermented foods some of which are mentioned below:

Increase digestion

Eating fermented foods is like partially digesting the foods even before they are consumed. The lactic acid that is produced in the foods during lacto-fermentation aids in the growth of healthy flora within our intestine.

Restores the balance of good bacteria

All these conditions such as lactose intolerance, constipation, gluten intolerance, yeast infections, irritable bowel syndrome, allergy, asthma and other similar diseases are created by dearth of good bacteria in our guts. By eating lacto-fermented foods like homemade German sauerkraut and foods like kimichi in Korea we help ourselves to get cured out of these diseases that are created by the lack balance of good bacteria inside our intestine.

It is budget friendly

At times incorporating healthy foods and drinks in our diet becomes expensive, nevertheless it not so with fermented foods, which are not only cheap to make but are also good for our healthy body and mind. It only takes a couple of dollars to ferment food with the help of salt.

Helps in preserving food

Garden foods and also meat when they are fermented lasts for several months. Moreover owing to lacto-fermentation the nutritional value of the foods remains intact over a long span of time which is not possible to do with canned foods. So if you have a huge stock of meat or garden vegetables and fruits which you are not sure how to use right away, the best thing will be to ferment it and then consume it over the course of time.

Increases Vitamin contents

Fermented dairy products have increased level of folic acid along with Biotin, Riboflavin, Vitamin B and Pyridoxine which is a Vitamin B6 dietary supplement that is beneficial for developing a healthy body.

Last but not the least lacto-fermentation increases the flavor of the foods. This is the one of the most essential reasons as to why we humans enjoy drinking mead and wine, eat stinky cheese or per say like sauerkraut on our hotdogs and prefer to eat salsa toppings, kefir ice creams, Ethiopian Injera breads, Japanese Natto and others.

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