Healthy soil needs beneficial microbes, just as our bodies do. Fermented foods, valued for centuries for preservation and healing, are rich in vitamins, minerals, and beneficial bacteria that aid digestion. The decline of these foods in Western diets, due to refrigeration, has contributed to rising digestive and immune disorders. Incorporating fermented foods into your daily diet can support better health.

Cultured or fermented foods have been part of most ancient cultures for many centuries. In times gone by, fermenting foods was a way to preserve them, so that one would have supplies of food during the sparse cold months. Fermented foods were revered as having healing properties.

We now understand why these foods are so beneficial to us. They are packed full of vitamins and minerals, enzymes to aid digestion (particularly of proteins), beneficial bacteria (your homemade probiotic) and they have an alkalising effect on the body.

Because the friendly bacteria – the lactobacilli – actually partially digest the food, the nutrients in it are easier for our body to absorb. As a result we get many more vitamins and minerals from fermented foods than we do from raw or cooked foods.

Unfortunately with the advent of refrigeration came the end of an era for regularly consumed fermented foods in most western cultures. Our bodies no longer get a daily intake of protective nutrients, enzymes and beneficial bacteria. This is one contributing factor to the massive rise in chronic digestive and immune disorders in the last few decades. One of the most beneficial food groups to include as part of your daily diet to regain and maintain optimal health is fermented foods.