The Fermented 8: Our Probiotic Food List
Probiotics are living microorganisms that restore your gut’s flora and slow the growth of bad bacteria. They can be dehydrated and ingested via supplements but they pack a more meaningful punch when you ingest them in their fully raw form. As a matter of fact, when you heat probiotics to 105 degrees Fahrenheit they begin to lose their power, so keep that in mind. Read through our probiotic food list where we’ll share some special details about our favorite ferments.
Top 8 Probiotic Food List
- Sauerkraut: You already know how we feel about this one. Sauerkraut is delicious, tart, and full of thriving probiotics. During the fermentation process, cabbage is thinly sliced, salted and sealed. Lactobacillus, a beneficial probiotic, grows and thrives in the delicious brine environment. Sauerkraut is a cultural staple of Eastern Europe and was originally created to preserve cabbage during the winter months. Currently, kraut has transformed into a gut-healing staple for anyone seeking entry into the fermented food world. We have plenty of raw, unpasteurized kraut options if you’d like give your taste buds a treat.
- Kimchi: A quintessential Korean side dish, kimchi came to be for similar reasons as sauerkraut – veggie preservation during frigid months. Both share cabbage and fermentation as their foundation, however, their flavor profiles couldn’t be more distinct. Sauerkraut is relatively mild in comparison to spicy and pungent kimchi, which contains the super-hot gochugaru pepper. Aside from its spice, heart-healthy gochugaru contain an active element called capsaicin, which is actually a common ingredient in topical pain creams!Now that you’re hooked on the health benefits of kimchi, branch out and try out a recipe for Kimchi deviled eggs. It’ll take a familiar family favorite and kick it up a notch.
- Yogurt: The National Yogurt Association (NYA) adds a “Live and Active Culture” seal to most yogurts containing probiotics to make it easier for you to identify at your local market. For the NYA to consider a yogurt probiotic it must contain 100 million cultures at the time of production. Aside from its gut-soothing benefits, yogurt contains plenty of calcium and protein too.It should be mentioned that even though yogurt with live cultures are a great part of a probiotic regimen, it usually does not contain enough microorganisms to completely overhaul a ragged gut. It’s best to pair yogurt with a few other staples on this probiotic food list.
Check out this recipe for an easy fermented yogurt dip that brings the flavor via garlic, dill, and more while soothing your gut with its cool, probiotic power.
- Kefir: Milk is already a great source of protein, calcium and vitamin D – think of kefir as its amped up cousin. Originally from Eastern Europe and Russia, kefir is a fermented milk drink made using kefir grains and a culture of yeasts and bacteria. During the fermentation process, a team of probiotics grows that help to ease Irritable Bowel Syndrome symptoms such as bloating and sour stomach. Kefir contains around 30 strains of probiotics, some of which have the power to slow the growth of harmful bacteria such as e-coli and even salmonella. Other benefits of kefir include vitamin B12, phosphorus, and riboflavin, just to name a few. Of course there is more research to be done on the power of kefir, but it’s an excellent tool to have in your gut-healing arsenal.
- Kombucha: The catalyst in kombucha’s story is the SCOBY aka symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Pair the SCOBY with some caffeinated tea, a bit of sugar, and 1-2 weeks time to sit and ferment in a glass container and you’ll have a deliciously refreshing drink that is loaded with a bounty probiotics. These probiotics will detoxify your system, soothe your gut, aid digestion, and strengthen your immune system too.
The beauty of kombucha is how easy it is to make and customize. After the initial ferment, feel free to add fresh berries, herbs, and more to shift the flavor profile and add even more health benefits.
- Sriracha: This easy to squirt Thai creation is now a common find in most American restaurants. With chili peppers as the main headliner, sriracha has a nice helping of vitamin A and C. The heat from the chilies keeps your mucus membranes active, which lead to the creation of germ-fighting white blood cells.
To keep it real, traditional sriracha is barely fermented and doesn’t have much probiotic power. Luckily, we were so addicted that we decided to make our own sugar-free, fermented, and probiotic-rich version of the original. Read what else we have to say about sriracha here.
- Miso: This traditional Japanese paste is the result of fermenting soybeans with salt and koji (the fungus Asergillus oryzae) along with rice, barley, seaweed or other ingredients. What you add in your initial miso ferment will dictate whether the flavor profile is salty, earthy, savory, or even fruity. Miso is teaming with vitamin A, B, K, and folic acid.
- Tempeh: Often described as cake-like, tempeh is a substance made from cooked and slightly fermented soybeans. The fermentation process helps to make the soy more digestible, countering problems folks tend to experience with soy, like reduced protein digestion and deficiencies in the uptake of amino acids.
Also unlike tofu, tempeh has a very firm texture and doesn't crumble easily. Check out a quick and easy recipe for a Tempeh BLT here!
Did you like our Probiotic Food List? Click here to dive deeper into our plant-based probiotic world.
lee
I am drinking kefir’ a fermented coco water. But i guess kombucha is also worth a try.
Sherri
I purchased sauerkraut at Costco. Tastes really good. The label states each serving is 2 tablespoons.
What is the recommendation (e.g. 1 serving daily? 2 servings daily?) for experiencing positive results? I realize everyone is different but, there must be a basic amount to begin…
Best Regards.
The wild Bunch
Hi Sherri – Thank you for your kind words and interest. The serving size on food products is just a standard size for analyzing the nutritional content of a product. All similar products are required to use the same serving size so a consumer can compare. For sauerkraut the serving size is set by the FDA at 2 tablespoons. As far as nutritional benefit, you are right, it does differ for everyone. Here are some recommendations from some authorities:
“According to personal clinical experience, regular intake of small doses of sauerkraut—7 g to 10 g (or about 1 T) daily—has a very good effect on many patients’ gastrointestinal tract.” from the National Center for Biotechnical Information
“Little and often is better than consuming a large amount of fermented food once a week because you need to keep energizing the microbes in your gut,” according to Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London, and author of The Diet Myth: The Real Science Behind What We Eat. So it’s the diversity of our microbes that’s key to a healthy gut.
Hopefully, this gives you the basic starting point. Fortunately, eating more rather than less fermented foods is a good thing – you just get more probiotics, fiber, and nutrition. If you want to eat more because it tastes so great, just add a little more each day to see how you body reacts (remember those probiotics are live and active!) until you find the right balance.
Adrean
The sauerkraut must be unpasteurized. Pasteurization heats the product and kills the probiotics.
JULIE
VERY INTERESTING.MUST TRY IT.I’VE REALLY GOT TO HELP MY TERRIBLE GUT PROBLEMS.THANKS
Paula Scott
I would like to know more about the probiotics search
The wild Bunch
Hi Paula – There are many more blogs about gut health and probiotics here: https://wildbrine.com/category/fermentation-and-health/. Enjoy!
Tony
How many strains are in sauerkraut?
The wild Bunch
Hi Tony – Thanks for your question! Since we use wild fermentation, we rely on naturally occurring bacteria and yeast to ferment our products. We do not add commercial cultures to the products so we are not able say exactly which probiotics are present and in what percentages. Since we rely on the cultures that naturally exist on the vegetables to perform the fermentation, the probiotics are different for every batch of sauerkraut that we produce. We do know that the products are high in lactobacillus.
ARTHUR
how long to you ferment your sauerkraut
The wild Bunch
Hi Arthur – We use wild fermentation, relying on nature to do its thing as long as necessary. So we don’t have a set period of time.
Jennifer
Is there an expiry date on your sauerkraut, in which the probiotics are no longer alive?
The wild Bunch
Hi Jennifer – As long as the kraut is kept refrigerated, the probiotics should still keep kickin’.
Ritesh
I enjoyed the vegan version of Korean-style Kimchi but am curious about the sea vegetable used to make it. Which sea vegetable is used?
The wild Bunch
Hi Ritesh – Thanks for your support! It means a lot to a small business like us. The sea vegetable is seaweed.
Brian
I love kimchi, but the salt content is prohibitive for me (and should be for anyone). Is it necessary for kimchi to have so much salt to create the probiotics or is it mostly for a preservative?
The wild Bunch
Hi Brian – Thanks for your question. The salt in kimchi is an important element for the control and development of both the flavor and the beneficial bacteria in the fermentation. It helps draw out some of the moisture from the cabbage leaves to prevent them from getting soggy in the final product, but more importantly, a carefully controlled amount of salt gives beneficial fermentation probiotics the change to thrive and restricts the growth of pathogenic bacteria which might otherwise cause illness. In addition, the salt, like in many other natural fermentation processes, is essential to create a healthy and safe fermented product.
Layla
I absolutely love kimchi and sauerkraut. I’ve been eating it daily for gut health benefits and I’ve definitely noticed a difference in energy levels.
Mary
So are you saying that sauerkraut you get in a can has lost all of its prebiotic? If so, then we should always buy the refrigerated type sauerkraut?
The wild Bunch
Hi Mary – Canned sauerkraut is heat treated as part of the canning process. This heat treatment generally does not destroy prebiotics, which are nutritional compounds like dietary fiber which feed and foster healthy probiotic bacteria in the digestive system. But the heat does kill of the probiotics, which are the actual living beneficial bacteria. Basically, canned sauerkraut maintains some prebiotic value, but not probiotic value. Our raw kraut contains both prebiotic compounds and viable probiotic beneficial bacteria. Hope this helps!