Stock Up on These 5 Fermented Dairy Foods for Good Gut Health | Livestrong.com (2024)

FAQs

What are the best fermented dairy products? ›

Cultured buttermilk, sour cream, and yogurt are among the most common fermented dairy products in the Western world. Other, lesser-known products include kefir, koumiss, acidophilus milk, and new yogurts containing Bifidobacteria. Cultured dairy foods provide numerous potential health benefits to the human diet.

Cheddar-type Cheeses

Since cheese is a fermented dairy product, a key feature of its manufacture is the metabolism of milk sugar (lactose) to lactate by selected cultures of lactic acid bacteria.

Cottage cheese is fermented. Like all dairy products, cottage cheese begins as milk. Adding enzymes or live, active cultures (probiotics) converts milk sugars (lactose) into lactic acid. The lactic acid separates the curds (the milk solids, fats, and proteins) from the whey (the liquid).

Apple cider vinegar is indeed a fermented food, but it does not have probiotics, as yogurt does. Instead, beneficial gut bacteria form. Apple cider vinegar goes through the fermentation process twice – first, to change the apples to a cider with alcohol, and then into vinegar. Apple cider vinegar has tons of benefits!

Bubbies Pickles are probably the most well-known brand of fermented pickles. They have been around for 30 years. Bubbies Pickles are a family-owned business, and they make their pickles in small batches to ensure the best quality.

Are Pickles Fermented? Quick pickles are not fermented, but lacto-fermented pickles are fermented. Quick pickles, the most common type of pickle found in grocery stores, are not fermented because they use an acid, such as vinegar, in their pickling brine.

​However, vinegar, kombucha, tempeh, molded cheeses, and other fermented foods do require oxygen​.” Examples of fermented foods:​ Kombucha (fermented tea), sauerkraut (fermented cabbage), natto (fermented soybeans), yogurt, cheese (fermented milk), beer, wine, sourdough bread, miso, soy sauce, and kefir.

What is the #1 probiotic? ›

The probiotic strain in Culturelle^® - Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG^®) – is the #1 most clinically studied strain of probiotic. Considered the premier probiotic in the world, over 1,000 scientific studies and over 30 years of research have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG (LGG^®).

Gorgonzola, parmesan, cheddar, and gouda are just some of the aged cheeses that can be beneficial to your gut health.

A short list of probiotic-rich cheeses includes aged, traditional cheddars, Gouda, and Alpine cheeses like Gruyère. For soft cheeses, try raw milk washed rinds like Rollright from King Stone Farm or Slyboro from Consider Bardwell Farm.

Traditional mozzarella is fermented with cultures, to turn the milk's lactose into lactic acid, a process that develops flavor. In contrast, much of the mozzarella made in the United States is treated with vinegar or citric acid to raise its acidity, making it easier to stretch.

Kefir, a staple food in many cultures around the globe, has become incredibly popular in the natural health community. High in nutrients and probiotics, it is very beneficial for digestion and gut health. In fact, many people consider it to be more nutritious than yogurt.

Sour cream, also known as cultured cream, is produced by the fermentation of high-pasteurized cream that contains 18–20% fat content. It is then hom*ogenized at a low temperature, to promote formation of hom*ogenization clusters. The starter cultures typically used for making sour cream are aromatic starters (i.e., Lc.

Fermented foods like feta cheese contain probiotics. These strains of good bacteria promote a healthy gut and support immune system function.

What are fermented drinks? Kombucha, ginger beer, kvass and kefir are fermented drinks. Kombucha is produced from a mixture of steeped tea and sugar, combined with a culture of yeast strains and bacteria. Some kombucha products also have fruit juice or other flavours added during production.

Who should not drink apple cider vinegar? ›

If you have low potassium levels (hypokalemia), too much ACV could make the condition worse. That's because large amounts of ACV can decrease potassium levels. Avoid overuse of ACV if you have kidney disease, since your kidneys might not be able to handle high levels of acid.

Vinegar is a well-known fermented food all over the world. In European countries, vinegar is mainly produced using liquid-state fermentation, such as balsamic vinegar, sherry vinegar, and apple cider vinegar.

ACV is generally safe when consumed in moderation — no more than 1 to 2 tablespoons (tbsp) daily. But drinking excessive amounts of ACV can decrease potassium to hazardous levels. ACV may interact with some medications (including diuretics, laxatives, and certain medications for diabetes and heart disease).

Fermented dairy products are a great way to include probiotics, which contain good bacteria. Yoghurt, kefir and cheese may also prevent the growth of harmful, pathogenic bacteria.

The biggest nutritional difference between the two is that kefir contains more probiotics than yogurt. While yogurt also contains some probiotics, kefir is more potent. If you are looking to improve digestion or gut health, kefir is the better choice.

What makes Claussen PIckles different from canned pickles? Claussen pickles, whether homemade or store bought, are a half sour pickle recipe. That means they're fermented instead of heat processed. That's what gives them such great texture.

Fermented + Probiotic Pickles

The trending “healthy pickles” (and healthy pickle juice) you keep hearing about are lactic-acid fermented pickles, or simply fermented pickles. These are the gut healthy, microbiome-boosting superfood pickles that you should be consuming everyday, three times a day.

Pickles made through fermentation have added health benefits compared with non-fermented pickles. “If they're fermented, they're a good source of probiotics,” notes Peart. “Probiotics have really solid health benefits, such as being good for your brain, and good for gut health.”

Fermenting oats is an easy way to to make them more nutritious, deliciously creamy and shorten the cooking time. The process of fermenting grains breaks down the proteins, fats and carbohydrates; making the nutrients more bioavailable, and creating a healthy, rich, flavorful breakfast porridge.

It's easy to forget that olives are a fermented food, but that also means they're rich in Lactobacillus, a kind of gut-friendly bacteria.

Is cucumber a fermented food? ›

Vegetables, especially cucumbers, that have been submerged in hot vinegary brine and heat processed for sterility and long shelf life, are sour from the vinegar and flavored with added pickling spices such as dill. They are not fermented and are a little less nutritious than when they were raw.

Based on chemical analyses of pottery shards dating to the seventh millennium BCE, scientists have long believed that fermentation (as a means of preserving food) originated in China, where rice, honey and fruit were fermented into an alcoholic beverage - the oldest of its kind on record.

If there were a country whose cuisine excels in the realm of fermented foods, it's Japan. Referred to under the catch-all term hakkо̄ (fermentation), these foods form the very basis of gastronomy in the island nation.

Oats and barley contain the highest amount of the prebiotic, beta-glucan. Science suggests that whole grains containing beta-glucan may help lower LDL-cholesterol and blood triglyceride levels, and encourage the growth of beneficial gut bacteria (7).

Almonds. Several recent studies have revealed that almonds may possess powerful probiotic properties. The nuts have been shown to increase levels of good bacteria in the gut, thanks to their high fibre content, and may even decrease levels of microbes that cause food poisoning.

In terms of probiotics, they said research indicated that Lactobacillus​ spp, bifidobacteria​, and Akkermansia muciniphil ​helped produce the inflammation-reducing SCFA butyrate.

Ultimate Flora Women's Care Probiotic is the number one selling women's probiotic. The improved formula supports urinary and digestive health, and helps maintain healthy vagin*l pH and yeast levels.

Several strains of probiotics in both the Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium family have been shown to reduce weight and belly fat. Lactobacillus gasseri appears to be one of the most effective.

What dairy product has the most probiotics? ›

Yogurt. Yogurt is one of the best sources of probiotics, the friendly bacteria that can improve your health. Yogurt is made from milk that has been fermented by probiotics, mainly lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria (6).

Both Greek and regular yogurt are fermented, but the manufacturing differs slightly. The process starts out the same. Bacteria called Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcus thermophilus are added to warm milk, and the mixture sits at approximately 110°F (about 43°C) for a few hours.

Yogurt: Of all the dairy foods, yogurt is the most concentrated in both potassium and calcium. The combination of these two minerals helps prevent bone loss. Also, making yogurt a part of a regular diet has shown benefits for immune function, digestion and oral health.

Fermented dairy foods have received special attention because of their association in epidemiological studies with obesity prevention, and with the reduction on the risk of different diseases, including metabolic disorders, cardiovascular and immune-related diseases or cognitive decline, among others (Guo et al., 2017; ...

A short list of probiotic-rich cheeses includes aged, traditional cheddars, Gouda, and Alpine cheeses like Gruyère. For soft cheeses, try raw milk washed rinds like Rollright from King Stone Farm or Slyboro from Consider Bardwell Farm.

Kefir contains more probiotics than any yogurt. With up to 61 different strains of microbes, it can be an excellent source of probiotics. People use specific clusters of microbes called kefir grains to ferment the milk.

We took the sugar out of the milk using natural fermentation, where live and active yogurt cultures and probiotics eat the sugars found in milk.

Current guidelines recommend that Americans get three cups of low-fat or fat-free dairy daily, which can include milk, cheese, yogurt, and ice cream. If the Stotlers consumed more dairy from other sources, they could have gone over the allowance.

Unpasteurized Milk

Raw milk, which is unpasteurized, and products made with raw milk can be contaminated with dangerous bacteria such as salmonella, E. coli and listeria, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The confusion could also come from the use of similar terminology - dairy product and animal by-product. But, contrary to these common misconceptions, eggs are NOT a dairy product. While eggs are indeed produced by animals and therefore by definition an animal by-product, they are not a derivative of dairy products.

Does fermented dairy cause inflammation? ›

For instance, fermented products like yogurt and kefir are anti-inflammatory whereas products high in saturated fat, such as cheeses and ice cream, may promote inflammation.

According to a review of 52 studies, fermented foods like yogurt and kefir showed the highest anti-inflammatory activity of any dairy product. This is likely because of their high content of probiotics like lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacterial, which help create a flourishing gut microbiome.

Fermented drinks such as beet kvass, kombucha, water kefir, and real ginger ale are not just fun to drink, they're also loaded with probiotics that keep your gut healthy and your immune system working right.