Basic Food for Weight Loss and Boost Mental Health

Discover how fermented foods can enhance gut health, boost immunity, and support weight loss, while offering simple homemade options to incorporate into your daily diet for optimal wellness.

Karen Hodkinson, a well-known writer, says fermented foods help in weight loss and support our gut bacteria. But making these foods at home can improve our health in unexpected ways. The self-proclaimed ‘kimchi queen’ thinks fermenting can bring as much joy as baking or gardening.

Strengthening the Immune System with Fermented Foods for weight loss

Studies show that fermented foods can strengthen your immune system and boost your overall health. Research supports this idea, showing how fermented foods benefit health and help your gut by adding to a diverse microbiome diet. Eating fermented foods such as yogurt is one way to increase the variety in your gut microbiome. But how many servings of fermented foods should you eat each day? Experts say you should aim to eat 1-2 servings of fermented food as part of a well-rounded diet to support your gut health.

Home Fermentation: A Personal Journey

I hear bubbles popping and clinking in my kitchen’s water kefir jar. This container holds a group of tiny organisms I’ve looked after for about three years. A doctor friend gave me this unique culture, and I was the first to keep her kefir grains alive after her earlier attempts failed.

Fermented Foods for Gut and Mental Health

I make a bottle of water kefir each week by feeding and setting up the right conditions. Next to my kefir container, I’ve got more jars with kombucha, sauerkraut, and kimchi. Kimchi stands out as one of the top fermented foods for boosting gut health and can help to increase microbiome diversity. The kimchi microbiome has a wealth of good bacteria. Other well-known fermented foods such as yogurt and kefir work wonders for the gut microbiome.

The “Four Ks” and Their Impact on Health

Studies show that the “four Ks” can boost gut bacteria activity, positively impacting physical and mental health. Eating fermented foods helps to lower inflammation. Foods like kimchi support a healthy gut microbiome and reduce inflammatory proteins. Yogurt, another fermented food, provides probiotics to support the gut microbiome.

Choosing Fermented Foods Over Processed Foods

Professor Tim Spector, who supports the fermented diet, advises people to eat at least 30 different types of plants every week. He suggests choosing fermented veggies over processed ones to boost gut health. This advice stems from the fact that ultra-processed foods can harm our gut microbiome. Adding fermented foods, such as yogurt, can help increase our microbiome’s diversity.

Scientific Support for Fermented Foods for weight loss

A study by Stanford University showed that eating lots of fermented foods can boost your immune system and make you feel better overall. This diet also helps control weight and lowers your risk of diabetes, cancer, and heart problems. Also, when your gut isn’t healthy – some call it the body’s “second brain” – you might feel down or depressed. Keeping your gut bugs happy is key to staying healthy in body and mind. Eating yogurt and other fermented foods often gives your gut the good bacteria it needs to keep in shape.

The Cost of the “Gut-Pound” Trend

The “gut-pound” trend involves eating fermented foods and drinks and has made money. These days, you can find things like kombucha, kefir, and gut shots in grocery stores. But if you bought a gut shot daily for £2.50, you’d spend £1,000 a year. That doesn’t even count the extra costs of a £10 jar of kimchi, a £5 tub of miso, and a £3 bottle of kombucha. The good news is that you can add fermented foods to your diet without breaking the bank or making it too hard. Making your fermented foods at home, like yogurt, can save you money while giving you gut health benefits.

The Ease of Home Fermentation

Asa Linea Simonsson, a registered nurse and nutritional therapist who focuses on fermentation, says making sauerkraut takes about as long as tossing a salad with dressing. You chop cabbage, add salt, let it sit, and put it in a jar. People call this method wild fermentation. It depends on the natural microbes in food or air to start fermenting. This explains what fermented foods are – they’ve been naturally fermented.

The Science Behind Fermentation

Simonsson explains that sauerkraut goes through lactic acid fermentation. This process keeps its nutrients and even makes new ones like B vitamins and vitamin K. It changes the taste and texture, turning it into something different. Bacteria from the Lactobacillaceae family are critical to this fermentation. They make organic acids and bacteriocins that work as antimicrobials to make the food last longer. These same bacteria give yogurt and other fermented dairy foods their gut-friendly benefits.

The Long History of Fermentation

After finishing the prep work, keep the jar at room temperature for several weeks, but don’t put it in direct sunlight. This process takes two to six weeks. During this time, you need to “burp” the jars. Just open the lid to let out any built-up carbon dioxide. This gas comes from two types of fermentation: alcoholic (from Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and acetic (from Acetobacter).

Fermented Foods and Human History

The fermentation practice since 10,000 BC shows its long-term use in preserving food throughout human history. This reminds us of our deep link to nature, similar to our connection with the earth and heavens. People have eaten traditional fermented foods for ages. Take yogurt as an example—folks have enjoyed it for thousands of years to keep milk fresh and to support the good bacteria in their guts.

The Ubiquity of Bacteria and Their Benefits

Dr Emily Leeming, who studies microbiomes and works as a dietitian at King’s College London, points out that you can find bacteria everywhere. They’re in the air we breathe, the dirt under our feet, on animals’ and other people’s skin, and on many things we touch. We often feel our faces and mouths during the day, which lets these bacteria into our gut. But don’t worry – most of these tiny organisms won’t hurt us. They’re good for us. They help keep our gut full of different microbes, which is key to a healthy digestive system. If you want to add even more good bacteria to your gut, try eating foods like yogurt that have been fermented. This can boost the variety of microbes in your gut even more.

Fermented Foods and Mental Health

Studies show that good bacteria like Mycobacterium vaccae in dirt might help make serotonin, a chemical that could ease anxiety and depression symptoms. Foods that have gone through fermentation also have active ingredients and special fats that boost gut health. Yogurt is an excellent option for these helpful compounds because of its probiotic content.

Source:

Independent (August  1, 2023). The simple food trick which helps with weight loss and mental health. https://www.independent.co.uk/health-and-fitness/gut-health-weight-loss-mental-health-b2588894.html. Accessed August 2, 2024