Fermented foods are food or drinks that are preserved using lacto-fermention processes. This means that there is an increased incidence of lactic acid that has been naturally cultivated within the product. This increased level of lactic acid has been created by good bacteria within the fermented product, and preserves the product from bad or unwanted bacteria and yeast. It also breaks down the food or compounds within drinks (because this is what those good lactic acid producing bacteria are literally eating!), making them more readily digestible when they hit our guts. Finally, fermented foods/beverages are a source of those good bacteria we’re always trying to get into our diets from an ancestral style of eating!
Fermented foods are surprisingly coming back into vogue, and are quite trendy these days. Lacto-fermentation is a traditional style of food preservation that historically allowed us to stretch our fresh food crops and animal meats during times of abundance so that we could eat the foods throughout more of the year, when food resources were fewer and far between, and our diets otherwise would have been less varied and less copious. Smart humans!
From a dietary standpoint, fermented foods can be great for some people, and a wonderful way to get good bacteria and good yeast into our diets. For other people, fermented foods may be too high in yeast or histamine for their bodies to manage initially. If you’re seeing the trend of fermented foods, but feel like you don’t feel so great eating or drinking them–never fret! This may indicate that either the high levels of good bacteria are shifting things around in your body and it’s a short-term uncomfortable effect (much like starting a high-quality strong probiotic), or that the naturally occuring yeast or histamine is provoking some inflammation in your system and doesn’t need to be considered a healing food right now.