Contents:
- Medical Video: Heal the Gut with Sauerkraut (Easy-To-Follow Recipe from Summer Bock)
- What are the benefits of fermented food?
- Are fermented foods not good for health?
- Can good bacteria from fermented foods be dangerous?
Medical Video: Heal the Gut with Sauerkraut (Easy-To-Follow Recipe from Summer Bock)
Surely you already know tempeh, yogurt, tape, oncom, soy sauce, bread, and many more. These foods are some examples of foods made by fermentation. Fermented foods are foods made with the help of microorganisms, such as bacteria, yeast, and others. Of course, these foods are fermented with special purposes, such as to add flavor to food, add nutritional value, or to last longer. However, are all fermented foods definitely good for the body?
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What are the benefits of fermented food?
Fermented foods have been around since ancient times. Our ancestors have used this method to enjoy a meal. Not only to make it taste good or increase its shelf life, but fermented foods are also good for health.
Good bacteria are intentionally added to food and as a result the food is transformed into other forms of food. When you eat these fermented foods, the amount of good bacteria in your intestine can increase. This is good for improving your intestinal health.
Your intestinal tract actually contains many different types of bacteria. One of them is kind Lactobacillus rhamnosus which can help balance the environment in digestion, strengthen intestinal defenses, increase immunity, and help reduce harmful substances produced by pathogens. Other types of good bacteria can also help treat intestinal inflammation, diarrhea, and irritable bowel syndrome.
In addition, adding good bacteria to fermented foods can also add to the nutritional value of these foods, especially vitamin B. For example, tempeh, the nutritional value of tempeh is higher than soybeans (the main ingredient for making tempeh). Good bacteria in the intestines can also increase your body's ability to absorb nutrients from food.
Are fermented foods not good for health?
There have been many fermented foods from various countries. Each country may have their own fermented food which has been inherited continuously from their ancestors. However, are there fermented foods that have a negative impact on health?
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Reporting from the BBC, according to Tim Spector, a professor of genetic epidemiology from King's College London, there are many fermented foods and some of these foods have never been formally tested so it is difficult to know what these foods do to our bodies. However, there are no fermented foods that are dangerous if produced naturally, rather than using vinegar, continued Spector.
However, some byproducts of the fermentation process might endanger your health if you enter too much of the body. For example, tape that produces a by-product in the form of alcohol. Although the alcohol contained in the tape is only a little, but if you eat too much it can affect cells in your body. Another by-product of fermentation is lactic acid. If there is too much lactic acid in your body, it can make your muscles stiff and painful.
So, maybe there are no fermented foods that can endanger your health if eaten in sufficient quantities. However, if eaten too much, this might be detrimental to your health. Some of the by-products produced from fermentation can be detrimental to health. However, there are still many other fermented foods that can provide more health benefits than the disadvantages.
Can good bacteria from fermented foods be dangerous?
Eating good bacteria or probiotics is good for your health, especially intestinal health. However, consuming too much good bacteria can also harm your health. Good bacteria can emit gases when they eat sugar from your body. So, if there are too many good bacteria, too much gas is produced, and cause your stomach to become squashed and bloated. Normally, you can experience a stomach gasping and bloating when you first take a probiotic supplement.
In addition, there are also several other effects if you consume too much fermented food. As shown in a 2011 Cancer Science study, consumption of high amounts of fermented soy foods is associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer.
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However, there is no exact amount of how much fermented food is said to be consumed too much. This depends on you, your body's tolerance, and the body's ability to digest this food. A serving of yogurt per day may be sufficient for your good bacteria. As long as you don't feel sick after consuming large amounts of fermented food, this might not be a problem for you. A person's ability to tolerate the number of good bacteria in the body may vary.
