Are you looking for an easy AND tasty way to lose weight and boost your immunity? I have the perfect, pickled solution for you: try incorporating naturally fermented foods into your diet. You will notice a glow from the inside out, and you will justfeel healthier! Amazing, right? 

So, what even are Fermented Foods?  Well think about the humble pickle.  It turns out that all vegetables are covered in a good bacteria (called “lactobacillus”), and when you slice up, grate and squeeze them with salt, they release their juice, which mingles with the salt to create a brine. Once contained within this briny environment, lactobacillus multiplies and begins to break down the ingredient, digesting the natural sugars and transforming them into lactic acid, which creates the tangy flavour of a pickle and a sour environment that keeps the growth of nasty bacteria at bay.  While products like kimchi and  kombucha have only become trendy in more recent years, people have been harnessing the natural process of fermentation all over the world for thousands of years.

Kefir, pickles, sauerkraut, kimchi, and kombucha are just some of my favorite delicious options! Fermented foods are rich in live bacteria that replenish our microbiome (I know you’re probably thinking, what even is a microbiome? Keep reading!) and help our bodies absorb and healthily eliminate nutrients -- I like to call fermented foods “Fascia Superfoods!”

 What makes fermented foods so fabulous for our bodies? There’s SO much new scientific research on the importance of the health of our microbiome -- which is the community of bacteria that lives within each of us. It turns out these bacteria outnumber our cells by a factor of 10 to 1! Isn’t that crazy? We’re more bacteria than we are human! The microbiome in our gut governs many of our bodies key functions -- it regulates our metabolism and our immune system, balances the endocrine, sustains the gastrointestinal tract, AND supports brain function. So, it is essential for our overall health and vitality to keep it balanced and thriving; a healthy microbiome can enhance our mood, transform our digestive and nervous systems, and produce crucial nutrients and vitamins. When we strengthen our bodies from the inside out like this, it can help overcome immune weakness, digestive issues, exhaustion, anxiety, depression, brain fog, and hormonal imbalances, and it even helps us maintain a healthy weight.  

Now that you’ve added fermented foods to your grocery list, it’s important to remember one thing: not all pickled foods are created equal. The jars of pickles you can buy off the shelf at the supermarket are sometimes pickled using vinegar, and not the natural fermentation process, which means they don’t contain the good stuff your microbiome needs. I make my own cabbage and sauerkraut mix, but when I don’t have time I get  WildBrine or  Oregon Brineworks products from  Erewhon Market -- they are DELICIOUS, organic, and farm to table.

So, if you’re looking for a delicious way to get your glow going from the inside out and boost your immunity, I highly recommend incorporating fermented foods into your diet. AND did you know OLIVES are naturally fermented too!

For more recipes and Fascia Food ideas check out the  Meal Guides inside the Aligned Life Studio. 

Enjoy! Lo  xx