Food fermented usually contain microorganisms probiotics, likely to bring benefits to our health. However, the benefits attributed to them lack sufficient scientific evidence, in particular, with regard to lacto-fermented vegetables such as: sauerkraut, pickles, pickles, kefir, kraut (fermented red cabbage), kombucha, radish, among others . With the desire to provide proof of their benefitsresearchers at the University of Minnesota conducted a study to see how effective they were.
A study that proves the beneficial effect of fermented vegetables
To carry out this study recently published in the journal Gut Microbiom, the researchers took fecal samples from 23 people living in the twin cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul in the US state of Minnesota. They compared samples from people who had consumed fermented foods regularly for the past two years with those from 24 people who had never or rarely consumed fermented foods.
“Lacto-fermented vegetables are beneficial for the intestinal microbiome and the metabolome”
This study revealed that vegetables lacto-fermented have a significant effect on some of the functions performed by microorganisms in the gut and on the nutrients that our microbiome uses to perform key health functions. The researchers found that regular consumers of lacto-fermented vegetables have a greater diversity of fecal metabolites (small intestinal nutrients) and a greater production nutrients microbial, such as acetate and propionate (short chain fatty acids), with known positive health effects. The study’s lead author, Kylene Guse, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of South Dakota, formerly at the University of Minnesota, said: “Our results support existing research that shows that fermented foods, in this case lacto-fermented vegetables, benefit the gut microbiome and metabolome in people consuming a typical Western diet.”
The intestinal microbiota, also called the intestinal florais all bacteria, but also viruses and other microorganisms, present in the digestive tract. Composed of 100,000 billion microorganisms of different species, the entire intestinal microbiota weighs up to 2 kg in adults. He help digest our food, neutralizes some of the toxic by-products of digestive process and protects against certain diseases. Low microbial diversity in our guts has been linked to obesity and diabetes, among others.
Fermented Foods May Impact Mental Health
The team of researchers are currently assessing how to develop scientific knowledge about benefits potential of consuming fermented vegetables for the maintenance of health. They are also testing the effect of eating other fermented foods, like kombucha, on mental health issues. More and more studies suggest the link between bacteria present in the intestine and Mental Health. This is called the gut-brain axis. Andres Gomez, assistant professor in the Department of Animal Sciences, points out: “Our findings have implications for health prevention strategies based on the healing power of healthy foods.” He specifies: “In the future, we must test the potential positive effect attributed to the consumption of lacto-fermented vegetables in subjects suffering from diseases with a known connection to the microbiome, such as cancer, obesity or autonomic diseases. -immune, among others.”
What is food fermentation?
There fermentationn it is a transformation of a food by a microorganism in the absence of oxygen. This is called the ” good microbes “. Man uses it for 3 reasons: to make it more digestible, to preserve it longer and to produce a substance of interest. The fermentation process changes the nutritional properties of foods, for example, it can increase the content of vitamins or antioxidants, and leads to the increase of bioactive compounds. In addition, fermentation also produces new molecules, which can also be beneficial to our body.
Fermentation of food is a common practice in many cultures. Archaeological evidence shows that humans have been engaged in food fermentation since at least 4300 BC. However, currently, the industrialization of food systems (particularly in Western countries) has reduced the regular consumption of lacto-fermented vegetables. Consequently, human populations have been deprived of various microbial exposures.
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