Fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, have become popular for health reasons. I have made my own sauerkraut in the past and have tasted wonderful kimchi dishes at a humble Korean restaurant in London "Simya restaurant in Fulham". I was introduced to this restaurant by a friend of mine, Robert Mansell, who funnily enough had no clue that we were about to immerse in such a healthy eating experience. I loved it not only for the taste but also for the hope that the bacteria responsible for the fermentation of the cabbage — lactic acid bacteria (LAB) — would contribute to the diversity of our gut microbiota.
What is it actually?
Kimchi is a simple Korean pickle, a fermented mash-up of vegetables like napa cabbage and scallions. It’s easy to make. And it’s everywhere: from modest ramen houses to the trendiest of tapas bars. It’s crossing cultural barriers on menus and filling home refrigerators, from the dorm room to your suburban mom’s well-stocked kitchen. Chefs are slapping it on burgers, layering it into grilled “kimcheese” sandwiches, and even sneaking it into your Bloody Mary. But how can something as basic as cabbage, salt, and spices be so buzzworthy? It’s simple: science.
Kimchi relies on fermentation, or the digestion of sugars into acid, gases, or alcohol (don’t worry, your kimchi won’t be boozy). It’s the fermentation process that gives kimchi its trademark effervescence, tang, and delicious funk, harnessing the natural interactions between bacteria and their environment.
Why fermented food?
I was amazed a couple of years ago to learn that the fermentation of food has been used by humans for thousands of years as a way to preserve foods, and that the health benefits go beyond their microorganisms (don’t worry, citations are provided below). The fermentation process enhances the nutritional quality of food by contributing beneficial compounds such as vitamins, and by increasing the bioavailability of minerals. Probiotics, including those found in kimchi, have a range of positive effects on health, including the improvement of various intestinal inflammatory conditions, positive impacts on the immune system and even weight loss, and can alter the composition of the gut microbiome.
1) Reducing the acidity in the body
These bacterias are facultative anaerobes, meaning they can survive both in the presence and absence of oxygen. Either way, they create lactic acid as a by-product of their digestion, which creates an acidic environment, lowering the pH (the measurement of how acidic, neutral, or alkaline something is) and preserving (or pickling) the cabbage. The lactobacilli also make carbon dioxide (which results in the bubbly zing) and create flavorful compounds.
2) Better digestion = better nutrient absorption
A high quality probiotic food such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha can help populate the beneficial bacteria that’s naturally found in the gut, supporting digestive and immune health but also helping to ensure that your body is properly absorbing the nutrients it’s extracting from your food.
Proper nutrient absorption will maximize the impact of any vitamins, supplements and even medications you’re taking - which will save you money and may even allow you to decrease the dosage! In short, probiotics are one of the best food you can eat to make sure all of the other beneficial nutrients and supplements that you are having in your life are effective.
3) Reducing inflammation
Inflammation normally helps your body fight off infection, but chronically high levels of it may cause swelling and pain and damage tissues. Psoriasis, ulcerative colitis and chronic fatigue syndrome are all diseases in which inflammation is thought to play a role.
In one new study, patients with one of these conditions who took the probiotic bacteria B. infantis for eight weeks had lower levels of inflammation compared with those who took a placebo. And healthy people who took probiotics also saw a reduction in inflammationcompared with those who took a placebo.
The results suggest that probiotics may lower levels of inflammation, regardless of the affliction, the researchers said.
More benefits
includes anticancer, antiobesity, anticonstipation, colorectal health promotion, probiotic properties, cholesterol reduction, fibrolytic effect, antioxidative and antiaging properties, brain health promotion, immune promotion, and skin health promotion.
References
Farnworth ER (2008). Handbook of Fermented Functional Foods (CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, USA). ISBN 9781420053265
Rolle R & Satin M (2002). Basic requirements for the transfer of fermentation technologies to developing countries. International Journal of Food Microbiology 75(3):181-187. PMID 12036141
J. Karovičová, Milan Drdák, Gabriel Greif, & Hybenová E (1999). The choice of strains of Lactobacillus species for the lactic acid fermentation of vegetable juices. European Food Research and Technology 210(1):53-56. DOI: 10.1007/s002170050532
Quigley L, et al. (2011). Molecular approaches to analysing the microbial composition of raw milk and raw milk cheese. International Journal of Food Microbiology 150(2-3):81-94. PMID 21868118
Donovan SM & Shamir R (2014). Introduction to the yogurt in nutrition initiative and the First Global Summit on the health effects of yogurt. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 99(5 Suppl):1209S-1211S. PMID 24646825
Beermann C & Hartung J (2013). Physiological properties of milk ingredients released by fermentation. Food & Function 4(2):185-199. PMID 23111492
Hennessy AA, et al. (2012). The production of conjugated alpha-linolenic, gamma-linolenic and stearidonic acids by strains of bifidobacteria and propionibacteria. Lipids47(3):313-327. PMID 22160449
Parvez S, Malik KA, Ah Kang S, & Kim HY (2006). Probiotics and their fermented food products are beneficial for health. Journal of Applied Microbiology 100(6):1171-1185. PMID 16696665
Padilla B, et al. (2012). Evaluation of oligosaccharide synthesis from lactose and lactulose using beta-galactosidases from Kluyveromyces isolated from artisanal cheeses. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry60(20):5134-5141. PMID 22559148
USDA ARS (2013). USDA national nutrient database for standard reference, release 26. Nutrient Data Laboratory homepage.
Wang H, Livingston KA, Fox CS, Meigs JB, & Jacques PF (2013). Yogurt consumption is associated with better diet quality and metabolic profile in American men and women. Nutrition Research 33(1):18-26. PMID 23351406
Adolfsson O, Meydani SN, & Russel RM (2004). Yogurt and gut function. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 80:245-256. PMID 15277142
Keszei AP, Schouten LJ, Goldbohm RA, & van den Brandt PA (2010). Dairy intake and the risk of bladder cancer in the Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and Cancer. American Journal of Epidemiology 171(4):436-446. PMID 20042437
Sonestedt E, et al. (2011). Dairy products and its association with incidence of cardiovascular disease: the Malmo diet and cancer cohort. European journal of epidemiology 26(8):609-618. PMID 21660519
Adegboye AR, et al. (2012). Intake of dairy products in relation to periodontitis in older Danish adults. Nutrients 4(9):1219-1229. PMID 23112910
Siddappa V, Nanjegowda DK, & Viswanath P (2012). Occurrence of aflatoxin M(1) in some samples of UHT, raw & pasteurized milk from Indian states of Karnataka and Tamilnadu. Food and Chemical Toxicology 50(11):4158-4162. PMID 22939935
Prandini A, et al. (2009). On the occurrence of aflatoxin M1 in milk and dairy products. Food and Chemical Toxicology 47(5):984-991. PMID 18037552
Linares DM, Martin MC, Ladero V, Alvarez MA, & Fernandez M (2011). Biogenic amines in dairy products. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 51(7):691-703. PMID 21793728
Redruello B, et al. (2013). A fast, reliable, ultra high performance liquid chromatography method for the simultaneous determination of amino acids, biogenic amines and ammonium ions in cheese, using diethyl ethoxymethylenemalonate as a derivatising agent. Food Chemistry 139(1-4):1029-1035. PMID 23561206
Buckenhuskes HJ (1997). Fermented vegetables. Food Microbiology: Fundamentals and Frontiers, eds Doyle PD, Beuchat LR, & Montville TJ (ASM Press, Washington, DC), 2nd Ed, pp 595-609. ISBN 9781555811174
Comments