It has become more and more common in this recent day and age for younger people, particularly millennials, to take a more critical look at what is being put into their bodies. Veganism is becoming more common, health conscious and non-gmo foods are also becoming the norm. As people begin to protest the consumption of unhealthy foods that have been so prominent in our culture for decades, they begin to usher in an era that includes fermented, pickled, sprouted, and spoiled foods.
What are some of the main reasons for the fermented food craze?
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- Fermenting creates an acidic environment, often changing our normal food into a tangy, more vinegar-like tasting evolution of what was previously there.
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- Lactobacillus (the friendly bacteria) stay present in the end product of what is fermented, so when you consume said product, you add millions of tiny beneficial bacteria into your stomach. These will aid in fighting off unfriendly organisms that cause ailments.
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- Some of the proposed benefits of eating fermented food include: reduced risk of infection from pathogenic microorganisms, reduced constipation or diarrhea and improvement of inflammatory bowel conditions (Chron’s, IBS), reduced urinary tract infections, improvement of and reduced risk for atopic dermatitis (eczema) and acne (1).
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- Allows the fermenter to make use of any and all leftover foodstuffs that may not have been cooked and are likely to be thrown out. Why not throw it into a jar for fermentation and preserve not only your food but your wallet’s health?
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- Absorption of nutrients – it has been seen that the bacteria that are ingested when eating fermented foods make eating other foods easier. The bacteria break down these foods and make it easier on the gut to handle, as well as making the nutrients more readily available to absorb.
Can we blame the younger generations for wanting to delve into this untapped resource of health? Civilizations have been fermenting food for hundreds of years, but we have seen fermentation become rarer as we settle into the world of mass produced overly processed food. We made food cheaper, easier to produce in large quantities, sugary and calorically dense, but in doing so have eliminated many nutritional benefits we used to see with an old world and natural outlook on food. Our ability to produce goods in this way has made an immense amount of money for our country, as well as making food and sustenance more widely available for a cheaper cost. While this is beneficial, we can see millennials trying to find a balance between consuming what will make their wallet’s gut health increase and what will make their personal gut health increase.
1. http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2016/07/18/health-benefits-fermented-foods.aspx
