5 Good Reasons to Include Fermented Foods In Your Diet

Today I want to talk to you about something new and exciting that I’m experimenting with…

Cultured foods!

Many of us have or have had impaired digestion at one time or another in our lives. Maybe it was from a processed foods diet, frequent use of antibiotics, or even a run in with a parasite while traveling.Or you may have a more serious condition like chronic constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, celiacs disease, Crohn’s disease or colitis.

If any of these situations resonate with you, then keep reading. I’m going to share with you the benefits of eating homemade cultured foods and why you should consider adding them to your diet.

Proper digestion is crucial when it comes to building and maintaining a healthy body and immune system. So when your digestion is out of whack you can experience a lot of pain, bloating and discomfort and possibly even end up with some absorption problems depending on the severity of your issue.

Let’s take a look at some other reasons you may want to include cultured foods in your diet.

5 Good Reasons to Include Fermented Foods In Your Diet

1. Cultured Foods are Easy to Make at Home and Taste Great

We all know how much people love the taste of fermented foods like cheese, yogurt, kefir, sourdough bread, sauerkraut, miso, and traditional pickles. They have an interesting tangy and complex flavour that ads zip to whatever you’re eating.

Even if you’re vegan there are many delicious cultured foods to experiment with and try making at home. Almost any vegetable can be turned into a delicious fermented food!

2. Fermenting Vegetables Increases Their Nutritional Profile

On top of the existing vitamins and minerals vegetables provide naturally, the beneficial bacteria in cultured foods produce new enzymes and additional minerals which increases their nutrition content. So fermented foods can be a great “good for you” condiment for any meal.

3. Fermented Foods Can Aid In Healing Your Digestive Tract

Processed and refined foods can damage the sensitive villi in your digestive tract and kill off the beneficial bacteria that resides in them. By bringing in new cultured and fermented foods you can help repopulate your intestinal flora with beneficial bacteria and help restore your natural PH balance.

4. Homemade Fermented Foods Are Better Than Supplements

Probiotics generally only contain 1 or 2 main strains of beneficial bacteria, but homemade fermented foods can develop many more strains of good bacteria and diversify the flora in your digestive tract.

5. Fermented Foods Can Promote Good Oral and Dental Health

Many oral and dental health issues such as gingivitis, halitosis, and cavities occur because of a proliferation of bad bacteria in the mouth. When you eat fermented foods that are rich in lactic acid and other beneficial bacterias they can reduce the levels of harmful bacteria in your mouth and keep them in check.

Some delicious fermented foods include: 

• sauerkraut
• applekraut
• pickles
• coconut and water based kefirs
• almond and coconut yogurts
• vegan cheeses and sour cream
• rejuvelac
• miso
• tempeh
• gluten free breads with teff and lentils
• popsicles
• and many more

 Image Source: Jo/Flickr

Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World by Veronica Grace can be found here.