Fermented foods Everyday vegetables strengthen our health

Get the gut going with fermented vegetables

Previously, vegetables were fermented to preserve it for the cold season. Today, however, fermentation is also valued for its good digestibility and aromatic taste. The vegetables not only last longer, they also strengthen the intestines and immune system.

Eat vegetables daily

Health experts recommend consuming at least five to ten servings of fruits and vegetables daily. This provides your body with essential vitamins and minerals and thus protects against diseases. In the winter months, however, the selection of fresh vegetables is limited. But you can then resort to fermented vegetables. Even with that one does something good for his health.

Fermented vegetables strengthen the intestinal flora and the immune system due to the lactic acid bacteria contained therein. (Image: wo-a-he / fotolia.com)

Stock for the cold season

The fermentation of vegetables was originally used to create a supply of vegetables for the cold season.

But today, consumers also appreciate the fermented food because of its good digestibility and its aromatic taste.

As a raw food side dish for a snack, as an ingredient in a salad, as a topping on a soup or as a sandwich topping: fermented vegetables are versatile.

The basic principle is quite simple: "Cut vegetables into small pieces, grate or stomp and ferment together with salted water in screw-top jars," explains Annegret Hager, nutrition expert at VerbraucherService Bayern in KDFB e.V. in a statement.

In particular, lactobacilli, which are naturally present on food, transform the sugars contained in vegetables into gases, alcohol and acids.

Intestinal flora and immune system are strengthened

The fermentation is completed after about one week of storage at room temperature and the contents of the glasses, stored cool, for up to one year.

"Particularly beneficial to fermented vegetables are the lactic acid bacteria contained therein. They strengthen our intestinal flora and thus our immune system, "explains Hager:

"The fermentation process also improves the availability of minerals while reducing the amount of unwanted plant matter in vegetables such as oxalic or phytic acid." (Ad)