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In an Instagram post, Tim Spector, a British epidemiologist, recommends four fermented foods to add to your plate to take care of our microbiota.
In recent years, fermented foods have become the number 1 tip for improving digestion and reducing intestinal discomfort. But which should we choose to optimize the health of our microbiota? This is the question that Tim Spector, British professor of genetic epidemiology and author of books on nutrition, wanted to answer. In a video published on February 19 on his Instagram account and on the account of ZOE, an English media specialized in nutrition, the specialist gives the four most beneficial fermented foods for our intestine.
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Kombucha juice, kimchi, kefir…
“Eating a small portion of fermented foods each day could help increase the diversity of your gut microbiome, which is associated with improved health,” writes Tim Spector in the caption of his publication. Fermentation, due to its “probiotic” effect, has many virtues. In a previous article, Gabriel Perlemuter, head of the department of hepato-gastroenterology and nutrition at the Antoine-Béclère hospital in Clamart, informed us that the “good bacteria” contained in fermented foods “have a multiple anti-inflammatory effect: on immunity, digestion, intestinal porosity, diabetes, excess cholesterol and also on joint pain.
But which product to choose? It doesn’t matter if it’s kefir (a fermented milk drink), sauerkraut, kimchi (fermented peppers and vegetables) or kombucha juice (a sweet tea drink). According to Tim Spector, these four foods have similar benefits for the microbiota and contain an equivalent number of bacteria: “they are 10 times more nutritious than yogurt or a piece of cheese”, he emphasizes.
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In practice, we choose the fermented products that we like the most and add them – as often as possible – to the contents of our plate. “If you find kimchi too spicy, try making your own with fewer chili flakes or opt for sauerkraut instead,” advises Tim Spector. For those who are concerned about the salt content of sauerkraut, opt for kefir, and if you don’t like dairy products, try water kefir (or fruit kefir) or kombucha juice. The best thing is to vary our consumption of fermented foods. Because the more we consume, the more we improve our health and that of our microbiota, it finally promises.