Does having fermented foods help you lose weight?
In our healthy-living posts and blogs, we always talk about the health benefits of eating fermented foods. One of the most direct impacts that we can literally see from having fermented food in your diet is that it can help you to be fit and slim. To be honest, fermented food cannot help you to “easily lose 10kg in one week” like what many other products claimed out there. However, from our own experience and scientifically, eating fermented food can really help us to control our weight and improve our health conditions.
Probiotics in fermented food can affect the regulation of body weight
Recently, I’ve read more and more about the proof of the relationship between gut microorganisms and human health. It has been confirmed by many scientists that a well-balanced gut flora helps with our digestion, physical health and even mental health. Some interesting research showed that the bacteria in normal-weight people are different from those in people with obesity, which shows that the impact does exist.
For keeping our gut flora balanced, it is a good idea to have fermented foods. Most handmade Australian fermented foods contain probiotics, which are beneficial bacteria that help us digest food and inhibit harmful bacteria. By having some of the fermented such as kimchi and pickles, you can also increase the intake of prebiotics, which helps with the movement of our gut and provide the probiotics with energy.
Acetic Acid in fermented food helps with weight loss
Research in Japan showed that ingesting apple cider vinegar helps with weight loss. The ingredient that makes a real impact is acetic acid. Acetic acid is a common component of fermented foods such as kimchi and tsukemono. Acetic acid slows the digestion and absorption of starches, which helps to prevent the rise of after-meal blood sugar thus slowing the conversion of carbohydrates to fat.
Fermented food makes you eat less
Every day when we eat, we tend to eat a similar amount of food by volume irrespective of the calories consumed. As fermented foods such as kimchi and pickles are high in bulk, we usually get the same kind of satiety with less amount of fermented food than other main foods. With few calories for their volume, fermented vegetables help to fill you up rather than weigh you down. Although we tend to eat less when eating fermented food, you don’t need to worry about the nutrients you intake as these foods are actually high in nutrient density. Not only can you get enough vitamins and minerals out of them, but you can also actually get more than enough plant protein by having fermented foods such as fermented beans or living coconut yoghurt and kefir.
Fermented food prevents inflammation from hindering your weight loss journey
According to health studies, inflammation activates our body's 'fat trigger' cells, which convinces the brain that our body needs to store more fat instead of burning it. Fermented foods such as ginger botanical tonic, contains curcumin and gingerols that help reduce inflammatory conditions in the body so that they don’t hinder your weight loss goals. By reducing inflammations in the gut, the friendly gut microbiomes also get a better environment to grow and function.
After reading this blog, if you are in Australia and want to try some fermented food to help control the weight, you can choose those that are handmade in Australia. What’s good about Australian kimchi or Australian tsukemono is that they are usually made with locally sourced organic ingredients. Compared with imported choices, the locally made Australian fermented foods are of higher quality and are super fresh!
If you want to learn more about the science within weight loss and fermented food, check out the following links:
FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF KIMCHI (KOREAN FERMENTED VEGETABLES):
https://www.actahort.org/books/706/706_19.htm
Fermented foods benefits and side effects: