Is fermented food a recipe for good gut health?
Fermentation as a way of preserving food dates back thousands of years, but it is now being held up as a potentially important source of friendly, health-giving bacteria. So should we all be eating sauerkraut and kimchi?
Allowing bacteria to form in a sealed jar of vegetables over a few months might not seem like the most appealing way to create an appetising dish, but fermentation has a lot going for it.
Just ask the Koreans and Japanese, who have been fermenting vegetables, fish and beans for generations.
When the Korean cabbage dish kimchi is made using traditional methods, cabbage is soaked in salt water to kill off any harmful bacteria.
In the next stage, the remaining bacteria, called Lactobacillus, convert sugars and carbohydrate into lactic acid, which preserves the vegetables and gives them a tangy flavour that many people love. [Read more]
Comments
We learned that our stomach juices are acid to kill micro-organisms that might cause infection; in addition to the proper digestion of proteins. I still believe that; so many years later. I am therefore a bit skeptical that pre- or pro- biotics in our diet will promote the passage and multiplying of micro-organisms in the digestive system – past the stomach.
At the same time, I have to admit that if I eat (or drink!) something outside of my usual diet, I can suffer a “stomach upset”. I conclude that certain (bio)chemicals exit the stomach and proceed to disrupt the balance of flora and fauna in the rest of my digestive system.
This leads me to believe that if I stick to my customary (Guyanese) diet, I should have few problems in the digestive tract. Perhaps the most important decision we made when we immigrated was to stick to our (West Indian) diet.
It has worked very well. My few episodes of “stomach upset” have been associated with eating out and Mexican cuisine. I have anecdotal evidence only that this consumption of ‘exotic’ food items has been the experience a “good few” people.