I recently started drinking kombucha, a fermented tea drink that tastes either okay or like crap, depending on the brand.
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Its health benefits range from better digestion and sharper eyesight to clearer skin, more energy and all the other standard stuff.
There is no scientific evidence either way, natch. But many claim that fermented foods in general are good for you – largely because of the probiotics, which, you might be shocked to learn, are in far more foods than yogurt and dairy products like kefir. Good news for vegans.
But what products actually contain what microbes is still the subject of study. And don’t assume that all pickles are created equal.
What the experts say
“Pickles on grocery store shelves are typically acidified [with vinegar rather than naturally fermented.] Fermented pickles are what you get on a hamburger at McDonald’s. Sauerkraut is fermented. Within any species of bacteria there are individual strains, and these are not all the same. Particular strains of certain lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria do modulate the human immune system. Some fermented vegetable products are sold with a lot of live bacteria, particularly kimchee – and in Korea they make it out of every vegetable you can think of. That’s an area ripe for research on using fermented vegetable products as probiotics.”
FRED BREIDT JR., microbiologist, professor, department of food bioprocessing and nutrition sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
“Fermented soy, such as miso and tempeh, is considered beneficial because it supports healthy gut flora. Studies show it can help protect against breast cancer. If you feel heavy and sluggish, that’s probably a damp situation [in Chinese medicine], and if that’s the case you want to avoid unfermented soy like tofu, because it has a cooling nature. If you are on an anti-yeast diet to treat candida, avoid fermented foods like alcohol, vinegar, pickles and soy sauce.”
ZORANA ROSE, naturopath, Toronto
“The health benefits of fermentation have to do with the fact that the microbes are alive and still present. Beer and wine lose microbes when they are filtered. Sourdough bread does, too, because it’s baked. But aged cheeses and yogurt have live microbes. The health benefits of some probiotic microbes for intestinal regularity have been substantiated. They can help counter the side effects of antibiotic treatment or enhance immune function.”
MARY ELLEN SANDERS, Dairy & Food Culture Technologies, Centennial, Colorado
“Fermented food is already pre-digested by the bacteria, so it’s easy to digest. There’s a medicine, shen qu, that is basically fermented herbs and enzymes. Foods like soybeans and cabbage are made easier to digest through fermentation. Fermentation is a preservative, too if you rot food with good bacteria, the bad bacteria can’t get in. [Skin claims] are made because fermentation helps digestive function. If you’re not properly eliminating all that waste, it has to go somewhere. If it’s not going out your bowels or in urine, it goes out your skin. Don’t be scared of farting.”
KALEB MONTGOMERY, doctor of Chinese medicine, Toronto
“Raw cabbage is hard to digest and has some sugars in it that give us gas. The fermentation process breaks them down. Sauerkraut has the same healthy effect as yogurt. There are a lot of fermented foods we take for granted like bread, cheese, chocolate, olives, most kinds of tea. It’s easy to ferment your own food. A jar of live fermented sauerkraut costs $8 in the store, but you can make it for the cost of cabbage and a handful of salt.”
ALEX LEWIN, nutrition strategist, Cambridge, Massachusetts
