Is Sauerkraut Good For Ibs
In conclusion lacto-fermented sauerkraut had an effect on IBS patients symptoms and gut microbiota even though the study was underpowered. Our results indicate that the observed effect to a larger extent can be attributed to the potential prebiotics in lacto-fermented sauerkraut rather than the viable LAB.
How Much Sauerkraut Should I Eat
To get the gut benefits from sauerkraut, you should eat about a tablespoon daily. This is easily done by adding a small portion to your plate at dinner time. Doing so is known to aid in digestion and prevent constipation. Sauerkraut is low in calories and high in fiber, so why not give it a try?
Be careful not to overdo it, especially if you feel that you may be reacting to it. Sauerkraut has high levels of histamine, which may cause intolerance.
Fermented Foods Fight Obesity
Studies show the gut biome of lean people is very different from that of people with obesity. Having a healthy biome can help to prevent or manage obesity. Besides fermented dairy like yogurt, two popular Korean foods may help you get a healthy biome and ward off weight gain: green vegetable-based kimchi and chungkookjang, a type of fermented soybean.
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Foods To Lower And Regulate Blood Sugar
The 14 best foods to lower and regulate blood sugar, An important aspect of maintaining proper blood sugar levels is diet for those with prediabetes, diabetes, or other disorders that affect blood sugar.
Although other factors such as body weight, activity, stress and genetics have a role in regulating blood sugar, sticking to a balanced diet is essential.
While some foods, such as those high in added sugar, and refined carbohydrates, may cause fluctuations in blood sugar. Others can help you control your blood sugar while also improving your overall health.
May Improve Heart Health
Sauerkraut is a Lacto-fermented food and hence, has probiotics, which are very beneficial for our cardiovascular health. It can help in lowering LDL cholesterol, reducing the risks of cardiovascular diseases. However, as a Harvard article pointed out, it is best to eat it in moderation as it is also quite high in sodium. Pick raw, unpasteurized versions wherever you can because pasteurization reduces the probiotic content.
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It Can Support Brain Health
“There is much scientific evidence documenting the probiotics’ potential health effect on gut microbiota ecosystems in relation to brain function,” a review in the Preventative Nutrition and Food Science journal says. This research suggests fermented foods may lead to improvements in memory and cognitive functioning while also supporting mental health.
How To Buy The Healthiest Sauerkraut
When shopping for sauerkraut, look for an unpasteurized product that does not have vinegar. The reason behind this is that the probiotics can be lost in the processing. You see, when heat is used for pasteurization, the beneficial bacteria are all but destroyed. And that defeats the purpose, right? The label should state that there are live, active cultures in the sauerkraut.
Sodium is another issue. A cup of store-bought sauerkraut can contain up to 900 milligrams of sodium in a cup. Be careful when purchasing, and check the sodium content. Salt is necessary in sauerkraut, of course. Without it, the beneficial bacteria wont grow but the bad for you bacteria will.
Remember to look for sugar content as well. There are a lot of flavored types of sauerkraut on the shelves. Too much sugar just adds sweetness and calories you dont need.
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Why Choose Fermented Foods
The current interest in fermented foods is less to do with food preservation and more to do with the bacteria that are produced during fermentation. Fermentation increases the bacteria in the foods . Regularly eating fermented foods is like taking probiotic capsules we can positively influence the bacteria that grow in our digestive system. Fermentation also helps to pre-digest the food, which means it is often easier to digest, and vitamins and minerals are in a form that is easier for the body to use. The amounts of vitamins A, B, C and K also increase during fermentation. Other byproducts of fermentation have been shown to reduce inflammation and have metabolic effects on the body.
Health Benefits Of Sauerkraut Plus How To Make Your Own
Sauerkraut, a form of fermented cabbage, has been popular throughout Central Europe for hundreds of years. Sauerkraut combines one of the healthiest foods there is with one of the most beneficial and time-honored food preparation methods ever used .
According to the Institute for Integrative Medicine at the University of Witten in Germany, sauerkraut is one of the most common and oldest forms of preserving cabbage and can be traced back as an important food source to the fourth century B.C.
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Kefir For Protein Vitamin D And Calcium
This cultured milk drink is a great , and its also packed with a quarter of the vitamin D you need daily, plus nearly one-third of the recommended calcium.
When youre going to start eating fermented foods, kefir is a good place to begin, says El-Amin. Thats because there is research out there suggesting the sip is healthy for those with diabetes. In a study published in February 2015 in the Iranian Journal of Public Health, researchers conducted a randomized double-blind placebo-control trial on 60 patients with diabetes. The group who drank 2.5 cups of kefir daily benefited from lower hemoglobin A1C levels compared with the control group.
Choose plain kefir, as fruit-flavored versions can pack in a couple of teaspoons of added sugar per serving. The taste is tangier than even plain yogurt , so experiment by trying a variety of brands until you find the one you like.
Rather than drinking it plain, El-Amin suggests adding kefir to a diabetes-friendly smoothie, along with apples, spinach, and cinnamon. You can also use it in a savory yogurt-dressed salad, mixing kefir with lemon juice and stirring into chopped tomatoes and cucumbers, she suggests.
Does Sauerkraut Raise Blood Pressure
4.5/5sauerkrautraise blood pressuresugar
Then, do fermented foods raise blood pressure?
Fermented foodsFermented foods are rich in probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria that play an important role in maintaining gut health. Eating probiotics can have a modest effect on high blood pressure, according to a review of nine studies.
Secondly, is sauerkraut in a can good for you? Sauerkraut contains far more lactobacillus than yogurt, making it a superior source of this probiotic. Most canned sauerkraut has been pasteurized, which kills off the good bacteria. Purchase fresh sauerkraut to reap all the health benefits.
Hereof, does seafood cause high blood pressure?
Many times frozen fish and seafood is ingested with a sodium solution at the catch point, says Appel. It’s well-known that too much sodium can contribute to high blood pressure. Not as obvious are the sources of all that salt, as well as other foods that can cause your blood pressure to rise.
What are the worst foods for high blood pressure?
Eating with High Blood Pressure: Food and Drinks to Avoid
- Salt.
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Other Benefits And Side Effects
Fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, are continuously being researched to discover new health benefits from the probiotics and other compounds they contain. According to the National Center for Complementary Integrative Health, some of these include the possible prevention of:
- Oral health problems, including periodontal disease and tooth decay
- Colic
- The common cold
- Serious intestinal illness in very low birth weight infants
Although side effects from probiotics are rare and generally only consist of mild digestive symptoms, such as gas and diarrhea, sauerkraut contains a high amount of histamine. This compound may increase the risk of allergic reactions, especially in people with food sensitivities and those suffering from hay fever, according to the review in Global Advances in Health and Medicine.
A high intake of sauerkraut may result in some of these symptoms:
- Diarrhea or flatulence
Sauerkraut’s Benefits For Your Gut Immune System And Heart
1. Yes, it’s good for your gut. This is the major reason why healthy eaters are so into sauerkraut. One small pilot study found that regularly eating sauerkraut can help reduce symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome . When researchers analyzed the participants’ stool in the lab, they found an uptick in good bacteria. The fermented food is rich in probiotics, which have been associated with better gut health.
“Another sauerkraut benefit is that it also contains dietary fiber which aids digestion, balances blood sugar, and may help lower cholesterol,” Ingraham says. “Adding fiber to your meal also makes it more satisfying and keeps you full for longer,” she says. One cup of sauerkraut has three grams of fiber, a nice drop in the recommended 25 grams you want to get a day.
2. It’s good for your immune system. Ingraham says this is one of ‘kraut’s benefits that’s largely overlooked. “Sauerkraut is high in vitamin C, which is essential for supporting the immune system,” she says. One cup packs 21 milligrams of vitamin C, about 28 percent of your recommended daily intake of 75 milligrams a day.
3. It’s a good source of vitamin K. This is another oft-overlooked sauerkraut benefit of the fermented cabbage, Ingraham says. “It bolsters bone health and heart health,” she says of its benefits. One cup of sauerkraut has 19 micrograms, which is about 20 percent of what you need for the entire day.
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How To Make Your Own
The kind of sauerkraut you want to buy is the type thats been prepared in the traditional way and is refrigerated in order to preserve the live and active cultures. These types can be found in health food stores and now in some larger grocery stores in the refrigerated section, not in room-temperature jars or cans.
Keep in mind that many commercial food manufacturers have tried to standardize the fermentation process in order to produce larger quantities of cultured foods in less time. The result is that many mass-produced foods that were traditionally fermented are now just treated with large amounts of sodium and chemicals and then canned.
This type of product might be labeled sauerkraut, but it actually hasnt gone through the proper process to develop probiotics. In some cases, cultured foods are also pasteurized to kill potentially harmful bacteria, which kills the probiotics we want in the process. Only true fermentation, without pasteurization, gives you the amazing probiotic enzymes, like lactobacillus for example, that have the benefits mentioned above.
Making sauerkraut is one of the most basic fermentation processes there is, so its a great place to start if youre new to making your own cultured foods. All you need to make sauerkraut is simply the vegetable , water, salt and some patience! I have a homemade sauerkraut recipe if youre ready to try it out.
Final Thoughts
Going Back To The Old Ways
Originally, fermenting food was a way to preserve produce from harvest time through the cold days of winter. But more than that, fermented foods were thought to have unique health properties.
Almost every culture in the world has its own traditional fermented foods, but not all are health foods. Common foods that you may know well, without realising they are fermented, include chocolate, cheeses, salami, tea and yoghurt.
Food can be fermented by adding in bacteria or yeasts , or by creating an environment that enables bacteria to grow and ferment naturally on the food .
Pickled vegetables were fermented by adding bacteria and salt rather than vinegar, which is often used today. Traditional fermented porridge in Scotland and Ireland has come back to popularity as overnight oats. Fermented bean products, such as douchi from China, tempeh from Indonesia, or miso and natto from Japan, are often seen in Asian supermarkets. Kaanga wai is a traditional Maori fermented food, and poi, a fermented taro paste, is common in the Pacific Islands.
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Digging Into Fermented Foods Benefits
The clamor over fermented foods is recent, but we’ve been enjoying them for about 10,000 years. People originally fermented foods to preserve them. Today, it simply adds to their flavor. Think of rich dairy like Greek yogurt, kefir, cheddar and Stilton cheeses, yeasty sourdough bread, crunchy pickles, tangy sauerkraut, spicy kimchi, and drinks like kombucha.
Salt And Successful Fermentation
At its simplest, good homemade sauerkraut needs only salt and cabbage. When it comes to fermentation, salt performs a few important functions.
First, salt helps to create an environment that favors lactobacillus bacteria. Those are the beneficial bacteria that make fermented vegetables both tasty and healthy. It also helps to keep other microbes like mold at bay until your fermentation is well underway. So we use salt for both safety and flavor.
Secondly, salt helps keep your ferments crisp. Without salt, your sauerkraut will become limp and mushy.
How much salt should you use?
Fermented vegetables like cabbage generally do well with 2-3% salt by weight. That means that for every pound of cabbage you use, you should also use 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons salt.
You can also weigh your cabbage using a kitchen scale, and then use 20 to 30 grams salt for every kilogram cabbage.
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Your Blood Sugar Levels Will Be More Balanced
Once again, it all comes back to a healthy gut. Probiotics have been linked with improving blood sugar, so fermented foods rich in probiotics can help reduce insulin resistance and may even help manage or even prevent diabetes. In this study, kimchi reduced insulin resistance, blood pressure, and body weight in prediabetic participants after 8 weeks.
The Vitamins In Sauerkraut Can Support Bone Strength
Just as vitamin K can support heart health, it’s also been shown to support bone strength. “Traditional diets high in the form of vitamin K found in sauerkraut have stronger bones, fewer fractures, and less bone loss,” Moon says. “This is supported by several clinical trials showing that VK2 improves bone mineral density and reduces fractures.”
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Warding Off Heart Disease
Its possible that fermented foods can help you stay clear of heart disease. A study done in Finland found that people who eat low-fat fermented dairy — less than 3.5% fat — had a much lower risk than people who ate other types of dairy or high-fat fermented foods. Research from Sweden and the Netherlands also found this benefit.
What Is A Probiotic Food
A probiotic food either has natural probiotics in them or has probiotics added to them. Probiotics are living microorganisms that benefit us. Fermented cabbage is considered probiotic, as are kombucha, kefir, and yogurt. Fermentation takes one kind of food and changes it into another. Like in this instance cabbage is changed into sauerkraut.
It is recommended that a person add fermented foods to their diet to gain more benefits from probiotics. Some cheeses, pickles, miso, sourdough bread, and kimchi are other sources.
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How To Make Sauerkraut
Sauerkraut needs nothing but cabbage, salt, and loads of time. We have also included caraway seeds and peppercorn in our recipe. But these are optional. The secret, like any other fermented food, is time. This is not food to be made in a jiffy. You have to let it ferment at its own pace.
You will need a couple of 1-quart mason jars or any glass jars with a wide mouth. You will also need a large mixing bowl to work the salt into the cabbage. The cabbage should be cut quite finely. We would recommend a mandolin or a slicer. If you are slicing the vegetable by hand, try to shred it as finely as you can.
Flax Seeds And Chia Seeds
Chia and flax seeds are both rich in fiber and omega fatty acids and have a glycemic index score below 10. The fiber improves blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity by encouraging a steady rise in blood sugar, preventing roller coaster spikes and drops. This stabilizing effect helps you avoid a sluggish feeling after meals.
Theyâre also one of the most flexible foods on this list, making simple, tasty additions to your favorite salads, yogurt, and smoothies. You can even try making chia seed pudding as a low glycemic dessert option!
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Fiber And Sauerkraut Side Effects
Sauerkraut is an excellent source of dietary fiber. But eating too much too fast if you’re not used to a high-fiber diet and fermented foods, in particular, may cause side effects like diarrhea, cramping and indigestion. Introduce sauerkraut into your diet slowly and gradually increase the amount you eat over several days or even weeks to reap the benefits that fiber provides for digestive health.
According to the USDA, one cup of sauerkraut supplies 4 grams or 16 percent of the fiber needed to meet the daily amount recommended by the 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. A typical serving of sauerkraut would likely be around half a cup or 120 grams.
Dietary fiber keeps your digestive system functioning smoothly. Your body cannot break down this nutrient, so it passes through your system relatively intact, slowing down digestion and adding bulk to your stool. Fiber not only keeps you regular, but it may alleviate the symptoms associated with hemorrhoids, irritable bowel syndrome and diverticulitis.
Furthermore, it may reduce your risk of colon cancer, according to a review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in August 2015.