Fermented Food and Your Gut

No one needs to tell anyone with coeliac disease that a healthy gut is a treasure.  After years of tummy upsets, bloating, cramps, and chronic fatigue, people with coeliac disease know all about how a sick gut can affect their whole body. Even people who didn’t get gut symptoms often find their energy levels, and even their immunity, is better on a gluten-free diet.

The gluten free diet does bring huge relief from gut symptoms to almost everyone with coeliac disease.  It can also boost energy levels and lift that constant brain fog that too many people experience.  Aside from that, your gut helps to support your mental health and it is the biggest part of your immune system, and fermented foods have been shown to help here too.  The bottom line is that looking after your gut goes a long way to looking after your total health.

Why Eat Fermented Foods?

You have probably heard a lot about fermented foods over the last few years.  Fermented foods are foods that are treated with healthy bacteria, usually to help preserve them.  Cheese is a good example.  Milk goes off very quickly, especially if you don’t have a fridge.  But fermenting milk with certain bacteria produces cheese which stays safe to eat for a lot longer.  Other fermented foods include yoghurt, kimchee, kombucha, tofu and sauerkraut.

Although fermented foods were originally developed to help preserve foods, we now know that the interaction between the bacteria and the foods themselves seems to be producing gut health benefits.  A recent study found that eating fermented foods increased the numbers of different bacteria in the gut which we know is very beneficial for health.

There is a limited amount of research on individual fermented foods, but we know that some have been shown to have benefits in supporting your immune system, improving gut health in general, reducing symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome and possibly helping to control blood glucose levels. Others may help to regulate weight as well as cholesterol.

Some fermented foods you can try include:

Yoghurt: Milk fermented with lactic acid-producing bacteria

Kefir: A fermented milk drink made with yeasts as well as lactic-acid producing bacteria.

Kombucha: a fermented tea drink, traditionally made with black tea and sugar, using a combination of bacteria and yeast.

Sauerkraut: Preserved cabbage fermented naturally with added salt.

Miso: A paste of fermented soybean used to make miso soup.

Tempeh: Soybeans fermented to produce a soft, white, chewy cake.

Kimchi: Any salted and fermented vegetables, usually cabbage and/or radishes but can be any vegetables.

One word of warning: Some fermented foods, like pickles, can be very high in salt.  High salt foods, especially when fermented, can increase risk of some cancers when eaten in large amounts.  So do enjoy some fermented foods but do choose the lower salt options more often!