The Benefits of Eating Fermented Foods For Gut Health and Immune Function

Fermented foods often contain live microorganisms and their metabolites, including exopolysaccharides, bacteriocins and sphingolipids from bacteria that show anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, blood pressure-reducing and cancer preventing properties.

Introduce fermented foods into your diet easily: yogurt is an easy choice, but other great fermented products include kefir, tempeh, natto and miso.

Boosts Immune Function

Fermented foods contain live microorganisms that can boost our gut immunity. Examples include kefir, which resembles extra-tangy yogurt and comes with dairy milk or plant-based alternatives, and sauerkraut; one batch of this crunchy condiment composed of finely chopped cabbage in salt water brine boasts over 220 species of probiotics for gut-friendly benefit.

Foods containing bacteria may interact with our existing gut microbes to produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFA), bioactive peptides and conjugated linoleic acid – substances which boost immune function while simultaneously helping our immune cells identify harmful from beneficial bacteria, says Vinderola.

Fermentation also removes compounds that can contribute to digestive discomfort for some, including IBS symptoms. This includes fodmaps – sugars that cannot be fully digested by our digestive tract and stretch the gut wall, leading to what’s known as leaky gut syndrome and associated with many health conditions including IBD and obesity.

Prevents Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)

Fermented foods help bolster the gut microbiome by creating a healthier balance of bacteria and strengthening digestive tract walls to prevent leaky gut syndrome from taking hold. Toxies from food may enter our bloodstream, potentially triggering inflammation or other health complications.

Multiple studies conducted on people living with IBS showed reduced symptoms after including sauerkraut in their diet for six weeks. Sauerkraut can easily be found at your local store and used on sandwiches or eaten raw as a condiment.

Make sure it isn’t pasteurised as this will kill off beneficial bacteria. Variety in fermented food choices is also key, since different microbes have specific effects on immunity – try adding Kombucha, Tempeh Miso or Kimchi into your lunch or dinner options; or choose pickled vegetables as alternatives!

Reduces the Risk of Cancer

Fermented foods provide our bodies with healthy probiotics to replace bacteria that could be contributing to disease. This is important as an unhealthy mix of microbes can weaken digestive tract walls and allow unwanted substances into our bloodstream – known as “leaky gut syndrome.”

Fermented foods can have direct and indirect impacts on the host gut microbiome by either surviving gastric transit and becoming transient or permanent components of it, or providing nutrients necessary for the growth of indigenous gut microbes. Furthermore, indirect effects include production of antimicrobial chemicals by gut bacteria from consumption of fermented foods.

Multiple studies have demonstrated the correlation between eating fermented foods and lower cancer risks and cardiovascular disease deaths (CVD deaths). One such study linked regular consumption of yogurt and kefir with reduced mortality from all causes and specifically colorectal and urinary bladder cancer deaths. This may be attributable to cancer-preventative compounds present in such foods such as indoles found in cabbage or fibrous vegetables containing indoles which act as cancer preventatives by inactivating excess estrogen levels which cause cancer development.

Lowers Cholesterol

Fermented foods contain lactic acid bacteria that helps balance gut microbiome and reduce cholesterol levels, according to research findings. One study indicated that those who regularly consumed fermented food had healthier cholesterol levels compared to those who did not eat fermented products.

Fermented foods contain lactic acid bacteria which produce polysaccharides known as exopolysaccharides (EPS) from simple sugars present in raw food, acting as an effective barrier against harmful bacteria in our digestive tracts and have demonstrated antibacterial benefits.

Sauerkraut and kimchi can easily become part of your daily diet by being added as toppings to other dishes. Be careful when cooking these fermented foods though as this could kill off beneficial bacteria that is essential for good health. Kefir can also add probiotics into your daily routine – it has more probiotics than traditional yogurt and can be made using both dairy or non-dairy milk sources – and has been found to positively impact blood health, nerve, and immune function.