Uncovering the Ancient Art of Fermentation: A Deep Dive into Probiotic Foods & Gut Health

Embark on a culinary journey that dates back millennia, as I, Damiris Maria Grossman from Mentally Integrative, unveil the secrets of fermented foods and their remarkable benefits for gut health. Our dining tables are graced with an array of these age-old superfoods—from tangy sauerkraut to spicy kimchi and effervescent kombucha, each serving as a testament to our ancestors' wisdom in harnessing the power of fermentation. As we sift through the history and science of these delicacies, you’ll understand how they have been pivotal in sustaining a diverse microbiome and have significantly shaped our relationship with food preservation and nutrition.

Prepare to be enthralled by the transformative alchemy of fermentation, where simple ingredients are elevated into gut-nourishing treasures. We’ll explore how these probiotic-rich foods not only enhance the body's ability to absorb vital nutrients but also play defense against chronic conditions and inflammation, leading to a life brimming with vitality. By integrating these foods into your diet, perhaps with a batch of homemade sauerkraut or a sip of homemade kombucha, you're joining a global legacy of health and tradition. So, let's raise a glass of fermented beet juice to our health, as we discover together how the past continues to feed our future.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 1:04

Hi, how are you? This is Damiris Maria Grossman from Mentally Integrative, and today we're talking about fermented foods. So what is fermented foods and is there like actual research on this? Let's chat, let's talk about it. So fermented foods have been around in our diet, in our gut microbiome. So the microbiome is a diversity of bacteria, yeast, fungi and a community of quality, when, when it's all working together properly of this beautiful balance of of collection and diversity. And what happens is the fermented foods help the microbiome stay at its best benefit and it's been around for over 10,000 years and it causes the microbiome and metabolites to stay at a nice modulated state so that the microbiome and the microorganisms within are supplied with the proper nutrients that they need, so that those strains are being utilized in our body properly. And the fermented foods have been ingested for thousands of years to help with our GI tract and you know, the closer that your gut health has been in balance, the more in tune and healthier most individuals have been. So ways that fermented foods have come up have been like fermented rice. They have had kimchi, sauerkraut, honey and fruit. And it's important because it played a role in history throughout food preservation, so it's used to help modify what we put in our diet and how that has been. So. That is part of our microbiome and getting it to its optimal self. So how does that happen? You know it's fermented one through usually either a salt or a probiotic, or even a rice component, and over time it has been stating fermented. Now how is it functioning for each of us? Everyone is different. It's considered that it impacts, of course, the gut health, but it helps with the surviving gastric content within the body so that the microbiome can have the proper nutrients that it needs to survive. Instead of having just a hamburger and french fries, the body is actually getting its quality nutrients that it deserves so that it can thrive and give the rest of the body what it needs Especially. It also has helped with like things of spoiling of nature. So there has been a variety of fermented types of foods throughout existence, but it's taken time to see the fermented means. It actually has been, depending upon where you're located and why it's being needed. So there's kefir yogurt. They've even fermented different types of vegetables and legumes.

Speaker 1: 4:34

Pickling is also a way of fermenting. When you put it in salt water, things of that nature, when you put in sugar, you can also ferment kombucha. People use kombucha and that's a fermented through bacteria to help and it brings in the good bacteria. So look at it more in the sense of your body is getting back into the balance of the good stuff and gets rid of the bad stuff. Other ways, or, let's say, types of fermented foods there's kefir, which is fermented drink or like a dairy-like drink, but it's more on the probiotics Kimchi, kombucha, fermented beet juice.

Speaker 1: 5:18

There's miso, nutritional yeast, pickles, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, tempeh, yogurt and all of this. The reason it benefits is that it's better for the body to digest. They always have in many of cultures where they have a little bit of a fermented option for individuals after they eat to help with digestion, maybe before and after. It's more nutritious. Usually there's an array of vitamin K, b12 and B vitamins. It's easier to absorb and it helps with protection in the body. So it helps with, you know, overall decreasing chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes, alzheimer's and many illnesses, and then also additional that I've spoken with and talk about endlessly is lowering the inflammation within the body. So when you do that, you know you really improve yourself and it's quite easy to make these types of treatments.

Speaker 1: 6:26

Fermented foods like sauerkraut is literally cabbage salt and some spices, and then you're kind of fermenting it and letting it sit. You can always have like a small little bit of sauerkraut, put it in there for starter, because it'll have the probiotics. If you're making kombucha, you're going to have a starter probiotic set. If you're going to do some kimchi, it's cabbage, sea salt, garlic onions, some Korean pepper and you're going to put all that together and have it sit for quite some time and like overnight or even a few days, so that it can absorb and become quite delicious, so yummy, and even pickled a lot of any pickled veggies and such. So those are options. If you have any questions, of course, reach out.

Speaker 1: 7:19

But fermented foods have been around for quite a while and has helped the microbiome make our body better and has given us the opportunity to have a well-versed microbiome. I mean the positive bacteria within the body that we are considered as quality fermented. There's so many different ones. The ones that come to mind right now are Bacillus. Come to mind right now are Bacillus, biofiderobacterium, halone and Aerobium Halobacterium, the good quality ones. And you know, when you start balancing our biome to where it needs to be, you'll find yourself in less health issues. You know it's kind of having live foods, so that benefit really helps. You have a more sustainable way of processing and if any sort of bad bacteria comes into your body it's able to kind of get rid of and it has benefits in. A lot of research is showing that other fermented foods help with a lot of anti obesity and diabetes and there's much research that has shown the benefits for patients to breaking down, you know, even the simple carbs in the body and metabolizing things quite easier. Things quite easier. Lactobacillus has been a benefit for breaking down streptococcus. The fit of bifurcidin is helped with metabolic process and folate and B12. So there has been many benefits to the probiotic uses.

Speaker 1: 9:12

If you have any questions, reach out to me at any time and I'd be glad to answer them and you know. Or if you have your own little recipe that you would like to share, let us know and we would love to hear it. But I honestly use some sauerkraut. Sometimes I'll do a little spicy, sometimes I'll just do plain and put it in my soups. My husband really likes a beet sauerkraut that he likes to put in his meals. Tell me what you like as your type of fermented food. Sometimes I also enjoy some kombucha. Have a wonderful day each one of you, and make sure it's a mindful way every day.