Fermented foods make affordable probiotics

Eating fermented foods regularly can help support a healthy gut microbiome by adding beneficial gut bacteria. This has been proven to have many benefits on our health including reduced inflammation, better digestion and may even help curb obesity and diabetes.

I recently spoke about fermented foods at my Wellbeing on a Budget event in October and how although cabbage is really expensive right now, making your own fermented foods is still a budget friendly option for those wanting to add healthy gut bacteria to their health regime.

Fermented foods are foods, usually vegetables, that have been prepared with salt and sometimes vinegar and left to ferment. This is a way of preserving foods to extend their usability that has actually been around for centuries and societies all over the world included them in their diet.  

Western culture in particular seemed to forget these foods with the advent of other less healthy ways of preserving foods and I believe this has had a negative effect on our gut health.  Many artificial preservatives and processes used to keep foods fresh now actually harm our good bacteria.

If you are wanting to try the benefits of fermented foods for yourself, try making a simple sauerkraut recipe. Caution if you normally eat mainly processed foods, go slow as your gut may initially only tolerate a small amount of new bacteria or you could experience bloating and gas.
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An upset stomach from fermented foods can often indicate dysbiosis, which means the gut flora is really out of balance and might need some specific treatment.