Are you looking for the best fiber diet? Keep your body healthy by adding sauerkrautto your diet. This fiber-rich foodcontains phosphorus, potassium, both vitamin C and K, and calcium.
Sauerkraut is a vital fermented cabbage. During ancient times, food was preserved through fermentation, which helped in producing live bacteria known as probiotics.These healthy probiotics are the onesthat give sauerkraut much of its healthbenefits. Unlike other fermented foods, makingsauerkraut at home is very simple, especially when using an easy-to-follow recipe. No kitchen experience is needed to incorporate this essential add-on into your daily diet. As such, here are thediscussed health benefits of adding sauerkraut to your diet.
It Improves Digestion Health
The essential probiotics produced by sauerkraut during fermentation help in improving humandigestion health. Sauerkraut alsofeeds your gut with good bacteriathat aid inrelieving the inflammationsymptoms. However,somestudies have not shown the exact benefit of the probiotics found in sauerkraut and other fermented foods.
Other studies show that the live bacteria found in sauerkraut help in relieving digestive symptoms, including constipation, gas, and bloating. Theseprobiotics are also beneficial to people withCrohn’s and even ulcerative colitis. Moreover, anotherresearch is done to identify the significance of gut bacteriain the body’s general health. This includeslive bacteria found in cultured food like sauerkraut and how they help prevent the risk of getting Alzheimer‘s and depression.
Sauerkraut alsocontains enzymes that help the body to break down the food into smaller soluble molecules, allowing itto absorb more nutrients.
Sauerkraut Supports the Immune System
Many people are very concerned aboutthe relationship between sauerkraut and the immune system. However, to understand how sauerkraut supports immune systems, we need to start from the gut. Most of human immunity’s health is based on the gut. Therefore,its properties toimprove the gutshow thatsauerkraut canalso support our immune support. But how does it work?
Sauerkraut has bacteria that keep the digestive system and its lining healthy. When the gut lining is strong, it prevents toxins or unwanted substances from entering the body. This will help one not to experience an immune response. Probiotics also act asnatural antibodiesthat prevent the body fromgetting an infection.
Promotes Weight Loss
According to somestudies, taking sauerkraut in the right amount prevents the risk of getting obese. The probiotics present in this fermented cabbage also help in reducingweight. Even though more research is needed to prove how sauerkraut helps in losing weight, adding sauerkraut to your diet provides enough fiber that helps you stay full for long. This helps you lose weight naturally.
The Amount of Sauerkraut that Should Be Taken
What is the right amount of sauerkraut to be consumed daily? Is there any health risk if taken in high amounts?If you intend to make sauerkrautfor yourhealth benefits, consider taking a regular amount. Foryour gut’shealth, take raw sauerkraut alongside other fermented foods daily. Some fermented products you should take include, Kombucha, yogurt, kefir, and kimchi. All these foods contain probiotics that help in keeping the body healthy. However, if are taking it for weight loss, you should increase the ratio to provide the body with more fiber. Sufficient fiber in the body allows you to easily shed weight since it makes you feel full; hence, limiting your food consumption.
How to Choose the Best Sauerkraut
If you are buying sauerkrautto add flavor to your meals, you can choose from any brand. However,if you are getting it to fight health inconveniences, there are a few things that you need to know about fermented foods containing probiotics.
A recent study has effectively helped in defining what isfermented food.It hasalsohelped in differentiating between the ones with probiotics and those without. Remember, all sauerkrauts are not made with equal ingredients. Therefore,choose the one that contains a lot of health benefits. Below are some leads that will help you buy the best probiotic-containing sauerkraut.
- Choose sauerkraut that is made with only cabbage and salt, and free from sugar, vinegar, preservatives, and food additives.
- Choose the one in the fridge and not on the shelves because fringed ones tend to have more probiotics.
- Check the words on the package, such as perishable, pasteurized, raw, and keep it in the fridge. Pasteurization is not needed if it has lactic acid since it’s a preservative.
- If you pick apasteurized sauerkraut, you will need to heat it using low heat. Avoid usinghigh heat since all the probiotics will die.
- Always pick the one specifically from lactobacilli or those withspecific names of the strain.
How to Make Sauerkraut at Home
Making sauerkraut at home and enjoying its health benefits is very easy and will not cost you much. However, you shouldavoid any recipe that will require vinegar. The best recipe to use is the one that only needs cabbage, salt, and the desired flavor. The flavor can be caraways seed orany other source you prefer. Follow that simple recipe and make your homemade fermented sauerkraut.
The Bottom Line
Sauerkraut has various health benefits to our bodies due to its great phosphorus, potassium, both vitamin C and K,and calcium contents. It is made by fermentingcabbage, salt, and any other flavor that you may wish to add.Sauerkraut contains live bacteria known as probiotics that give it much of its health benefits. Some of its benefits include improving the digestive system, supporting the immune system, and helping in weight loss.
You can make sauerkraut at home at no cost and add it to your diet. However, before settling for any strain, you need to consult your dietician and check on all the ingredients used. The only recommended recipe to use should contain cabbage, salt, and your preferred flavor. You should, however, avoid vinegar, preservatives, and food additives. You should also avoid overheating your sauerkraut as this can kill all the probiotics and render your diet less effective.
Credits
We would like to thank the below contributors who have helped us to write this article:
I believe that nutrition science is a wonderful helper both for the preventive improvement of health and adjunctive therapy in treatment. My goal is to help people improve their health and well-being without torturing themselves with unnecessary dietary restrictions. I am a supporter of a healthy lifestyle – I play sports, cycle, and swim in the lake all year round. With my work, I have been featured in Vice, Country Living, Harrods magazine, Daily Telegraph, Grazia, Women's Health, and other media outlets.
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