2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Matt Jackson)
Adding a little-known food into your diet can help reduce the levels of inflammation and boost your sleep in as little as two weeks, experts say. According to Dr Tim Spector, founder of nutrition brand ZOE, more people should be adding fermented foods into their diets. This includes the likes of yoghurt, kefir, and kimchi.
But one food Tim highlights in particular is red cabbage sauerkraut - a type of fermented cabbage. He says it can be added into meals in “tiny amounts” while helping to improve inflammation in the body. READ MORE: NHS doctor shares three symptoms of pancreatic cancer you 'cannot ignore' READ MORE: Inside James Martin's 'hellish' cancer battle and how you spot symptoms of disease Speaking on the ZOE podcast, Tim said: “It may be one that people haven’t thought about as much because it’s a bit different but what I’m trying to emphasise is that any fermented food, that includes things like yoghurt, kefirs, regular sauerkraut, kimchis, misos.
All of these have anti-inflammatory studies and these have been shown in multiple studies in both test tubes and in humans. “The most recent studies often use multiple different ferments rather than just focusing on one. I think it’s really important that people learn to diversify what they’re eating because each ferment will have a different set of microbes in them.
“So yoghurts will have say three microbes and some of these more complex krauts and kimchis can have up to 20 or 30 in some kombucha so red sauerkraut is just one of an example of things that you can add to your meal tiny amounts. A real classic study in Stanford showed that when they asked volunteers to try and get five small portions a day of ferments, they could really show in two weeks a dramatic, significant reduction in inflammation levels.” Tim says a study at ZOE found that people eating three ferments a day for two weeks felt less tired, had more energy, and felt better.
Fellow ZOE researcher Dr Federica Amati added: “I love the red kraut because it’s colourful, it’s high in bioactive compounds, it does all the things in one jar that you can make yourself at home.” A 2021 study from Stanford University found that eating fermented foods enhanced the diversity in the gut microbiome and decreased the sign of inflammation. The study observed 36 healthy adults, with one test pool eating a high fibre diet and the other eating the fermented foods.
It found the effects of the fermented foods were greater if they were eaten in larger portions. "This is a stunning finding," said researcher Justin Sonnenburg. "It provides one of the first examples of how a simple change in diet can reproducibly remodel the microbiota across a cohort of healthy adults.
" The researchers found there were also other benefits of eating fermented foods. It found levels of 19 inflammatory proteins dropped throughout the study, one of which has been linked to conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 2 diabetes and chronic stress. "Microbiota-targeted diets can change immune status, providing a promising avenue for decreasing inflammation in healthy adults," explained Christopher Gardner, director of nutrition studies at the Stanford Prevention Research Center.
What is red cabbage sauerkraut? Sauerkraut is raw cabbage that has been fermented. It is often available to buy at most major supermarkets or you can make it at home using a mason jar or a fermenting crock. According to ZOE , one of the simplest methods involves a jar, a cabbage, and salt.
It suggests adding two percent of the cabbage's weight in salt. The salt is sprinkled onto the chopped cabbage before being put in the jar. It suggests leaving your cabbage, once masaged and packed tightly in your air-tight jar, at room temperature for around a fortnight.
It can then be moved to a fridge..
