Probiotics are vital to a healthy gut and eating fermented foods are a fantastic way to get a wide variety of probiotics along with many other nutritional benefits. This is an excerpt from Donna Gates. Donna Gates is the international best-selling author and fermented foods pioneer behind The Body Ecology Diet. Find out more about Donna’s mission to change the way the world eats.
You can think of the good bacteria in fermented foods as “old friends” to your digestive tract. They work closely with the immune system and can actually protect the gut in times of stress, when it’s inflamed or when harmful bacteria and yeast begin to grow in numbers.
Eating fermented foods daily can keep your gut healthy, happy, and strong, with research-backed benefits like:
- Balanced digestion. As microbes in fermented foods introduce beneficial bacteria to the gut, enzymes are released to support the bacteria, providing relief for irregularities like constipation and diarrhea. Good gut health also makes it easier to maintain a healthy weight.
- Better immune function. Restoring immune function impacts all aspects of health, and it’s no coincidence that up to 80 percent of the immune system is found in the gut. Eating cultured vegetables delivers good bacteria to the gut wrapped in a protective matrix, ready to colonize and communicate with the immune system.
- Enhanced detoxification. The bacteria in fermented foods are natural detoxifiers and heavy metal chelators. The good bacteria in cultured vegetables may prove especially valuable for cleansing the body of toxic heavy metals like cadmium and lead.
- Higher energy levels. As the microbes in fermented food make their home in the gut and take over, they will begin to create and magnify the vitamins and minerals the body needs — producing a natural source of internal energy.
- Improved mental health. Inoculating the gut with beneficial bacteria in cultured vegetables can help to relieve brain fog, mood swings, depression, and anxiety. Improving intestinal barrier function and the gut’s nutrient breakdown may also indirectly influence neuropeptide and neurotransmitter production.
- Stronger systemic health. The good bacteria in fermented foods are known to reduce harmful levels of candida yeast in the gut. Eating fermented foods regularly can help to overcome systemic infection, like fungal and candida overgrowth, addressing even more candida-related symptoms like bad breath, muscle aches, joint swelling, fatigue, insomnia, infertility, and bloating.
With proven health benefits this impressive, it’s easy to overlook one of the biggest advantages of eating fermented foods.
They’re convenient. Also called “nature’s fast food,” batches of cultured vegetables are easy to make and store at home to have on hand to eat as a tangy side with every meal.
Click Here to read the full article.