Fermented foods are this good for you—am I really the last to know?

Fermented foods are this good for you—am I really the last to know?

In summer, the hot weather kills your appetite, and people also eat a lot of cold foods that burden the stomach and gut, weakening digestion. Once autumn arrives, to make up for what summer took out of the body and to store fat against the cold winter, "toning up" is probably the first thing on everyone's mind after the start of autumn!

Rather than toning up with big fish and meat, it's better to eat more foods that are nutritious and help digestion—fermented foods, for example. Research has found that fermented foods have many unexpected benefits for our health.

The benefits of fermented foods

1. Fermented wheat foods have about twice the protein
   Experiments show that yeast is rich in various vitamins, minerals, and enzymes. The protein in every 1 kilogram of dry yeast equals the protein in 5 kilograms of rice, 2 kilograms of soybeans, or 2.5 kilograms of pork. So steamed buns and bread contain 3 to 4 times the nutrients of flatbreads and noodles, with nearly twice the protein.

2. They produce vitamin B12
   Vitamin B12 is quite important for the body's production of red blood cells and for protecting the immune system. During fermentation, vitamins synthesize large amounts of B vitamins, especially vitamin B12. In nature, vitamin B12 is all made by microorganisms; higher animals and plants cannot produce it, and most plant foods basically contain no vitamin B12.

3. They improve the body's absorption of trace elements like zinc
   When plant foods ferment, yeast produces a lot of active phytase during metabolism, which helps break trace elements like phosphorus, calcium, manganese, potassium, and zinc out of phytic acid into inorganic salt forms that are easy for the body to absorb and use. Soluble zinc in particular can increase 2 to 3 times, and zinc absorption can rise by 30% to 50%.

4. They retain active ingredients and break down harmful substances
   During fermentation, microorganisms retain some of the active ingredients in the original food—things beneficial to the body like polysaccharides, dietary fiber, and bioflavonoids—and can also break down certain factors that are bad for you, such as the oligosaccharides and gas-producing factors in beans.

5. They're low in calories and can help detoxify
   Fermented foods generally use up a lot of the carbohydrate energy in the food during fermentation, making them suitable for people who are overweight or need to lose weight. The yeast after fermentation is also a strong antioxidant that protects the liver and has a detoxifying effect. Minerals in yeast like selenium and chromium can fight aging and tumors, prevent arteriosclerosis, and boost immunity.

6. They have a unique flavor