The Healthy Benefits of Fermented Foods

Probiotics help balance our body and strengthen the gut. For a balanced immune system and healthy [...]

Probiotics help balance our body and strengthen the gut. For a balanced immune system and healthy digestive track, we need both good bacteria and bad bacteria working in harmony. Consuming foods with probiotics can help keep that healthy balance and decrease our risk of urinary tract infections, yeast infections, muscle pains and fatigue. The chemical process of fermentation turns carbs and sugars into acids and alcohols, and responsible for this process are probiotics! Green Bean Delivery highlights in this article the wonderful symbiosis that exists between the good and the bad when you consume fermented foods full of probiotics!

>> Click here to read about gut bacteria and its effect on weight.

fermented foods

There are more bacteria in your large intestine than there are cells in your body. In a healthy person, 80 percent of the bacteria are good and 20 percent are bad or pathogenic. Sixty to eighty percent of our immune system is also found in the gut. The symbiotic relationship between the bacteria in the gut, the digestive cells, and the immune cells helps to protect the body from digestive disorders, allergies, autoimmune diseases, and other chronic diseases. Regular consumption of fermented foods and beverages helps keep the gut in harmony, suppress the over growth of bad bacteria, improve immune function, aid the body in assimilating nutrients, and rid the body of toxins.

Yogurt, kefir, buttermilk, sauerkraut, kimchi, pickled vegetables, nattō, miso, kombucha, and vinegars are examples of fermented foods and beverages. The probiotic culture used to ferment different foods and beverages can be very different depending on what base product is being used. Here are two of the main categories of probiotic cultures and what types of foods or liquids they ferment.

Bacterial strains: Most yogurts in the United States are cultured with the following bacteria: Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophiles, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Lactobacillus bifidus. Some brands of yogurt will also include Lactobacillus casei, Lactobacillus reuteri, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus. Rejuvelac is a fermented beverage made from sprouted cereal grains, such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, brown rice, buckwheat, quinoa, etc. It is fermented with the liquid whey from yogurt. If you strain yogurt to make Greek style yogurt, the whey is what is strained out. It contains live probiotics that are used to make rejuvelac.

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