The unknown properties of fermented foods
Fermented foods, such as yogurt and fermented milk, wine and beer, sauerkraut and kimchi, are made through controlled microbial growth and enzymatic conversion of major and minor food components. Since several years, there is a growing interest in their health-promoting potential. Some experts have even suggested that fermented food should be included as part of national dietary recommendations. Marco noted that recent human clinical studies on fermented foods support the possibility that the fermentation, and the contribution of microbes, in particular, may provide additional properties beyond basic nutrition. Recent relevant data suggest benefits of some fermented foods in weight management and numerous other chronic diseases.
A potential necessity for fermented foods
There still critical needs for additional fundamental research and randomized, controlled, clinical trials to evaluate the effects of different fermented foods. However, wrote the authors, the benefits of fermented food are likely greater than the sum of their individual microbial, nutritive, or bioactive components. The research could highlight the relevance, and potentially the necessity, of certain fermented foods in the human diet and justification for inclusion into national dietary guidelines.
5 reasons to eat more fermented foods like yogurt
· Fermentation can enhance or alter nutritive and health-modulating properties of food constituents.
· Microbes in fermented foods helps to digest some foods, produce vitamins like B12 and K, introduce new compounds to the foods that are delivered to the gut.
· Many of the species found in fermented foods are phylogenetically related to probiotic strains.
· Fermented foods can be an important dietary source of live microorganisms.
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