Entertain with fermented foods

Back in the “old days”, fermenting foods was mostly used as a way to preserve produce to make it last through the winter after harvest time. Now fermented foods are appreciated for their wide-ranging health properties. From homemade sauerkraut to adding miso to your next salad dressing, there are many easy and delicious ways to add fermented foods to your summer entertaining spreads.

So what exactly is fermentation? Depending on the type of microbes involved in the process, there are many types of fermentation since microbes all have a different effect on food. Broadly speaking, fermentation is a metabolic process which occurs when bacteria and yeast convert the starches and sugars in food into alcohol, lactic acid, carbon dioxide and other compounds, resulting in an array of health benefits.

Fermented foods are particularly beneficial to your digestive health due to their ability to add microbes to the gut and a good supply of “good” bacteria. Our gut microbiome needs a diversity of bacteria, probiotics and prebiotics to thrive and lower the risk of chronic inflammatory conditions like obesity and diabetes. These good bacteria can have a subsequent effect on increasing the micronutrients in foods, especially B vitamins as well as vitamins A, C and K. Studies on fermentation have also found that fermented foods can destroy anti-nutrients, which