For some tastebuds, sauerkraut is the perfect compliment to a hot dog on a hot summer day. For others, it’s a sour stomach-churning mess. Whether you like to eat it or not, this tangy fermented cabbage might help protect the gut, support digestion, and potentially stave off illnesses. The findings are detailed in a study published April 7 in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Sauerkraut is a dish made of finely chopped cabbage and salt that has been allowed to ferment. According to The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, the fermentation process generally takes three to six weeks depending on the air temperature. In that time, the lactic acid bacteria (the same microbes that make yogurt) grow in the high-salt environment. During fermentation, the lactic acid bacteria produces a variety of flavorful byproducts. The most important is lactic acid itself, which contributes to the tartness and preservation that sauerkraut lovers enjoy.
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In the study, a team of microbiologists from the University of California, Davis looked at what happens during the fermentation process. They primarily focused on how the sauerkraut’s metabolites–any substance that is produced during digestion or other metabolic processes–compare with those found in raw cabbage.Â
They tested whether the sauerkraut’s nutrients could help protect intestinal cells from inflammation-related damage. The team compared raw cabbage, sauerkraut, and the liquid brine left over from the fermentation process, using both store-bought sauerkraut and fermented cabbage cooked up in the lab.Â
The sauerkraut helped maintain the integrity of intestinal cells, which play critical roles in digestion. The raw cabbage did not maintain this cell integrity as well as the sauerkraut did and there was no noticeable difference between the store-bought sauerkraut and the one the team made in the lab.
“Some of the metabolites we find in the sauerkraut are the same kind of metabolites we’re finding to be made by the gut microbiome, so that gives us a little more confidence that this connection we found between the metabolites in sauerkraut and good gut health makes sense,” study co-author and microbiologist Maria Marco said in a statement. “It doesn’t matter, in a way, if we make sauerkraut at home or we buy it from the store; both kinds of sauerkraut seemed to protect gut function.”
Additionally, the chemical analysis revealed that fermentation changes the cabbage’s nutritional profile. It appears to increase the beneficial metabolites such as lactic acid, amino acids, and plant-based chemicals that are linked to gut health. These changes could explain why some fermented foods, including pickles and miso, are often associated with digestive benefits.
The team identified hundreds of different metabolites that were produced during fermentation and are currently working to figure out which metabolites play the biggest role in supporting gut health in the long-term.
[ Related: See the wonderful world of fermented foods on one delicious chart. ]
“Along with eating more fiber and fresh fruits and vegetables, even if we have just a regular serving of sauerkraut, maybe putting these things more into our diet, we’ll find that can help us in the long run against inflammation, for example, and make our digestive tract more resilient when we have a disturbance,” Marco said.
While fermented vegetables and foods are a staple in many diets, this new research suggests that they could be even more than just a side dish or topping. According to the team, the next step is to conduct human trials to see if the gut-protective metabolites they found in sauerkraut could have the same positive effects when they are included in everyday diets, the way that they did in the lab.
“A little bit of sauerkraut could go a long way,” she said. “We should be thinking about including these fermented foods in our regular diets and not just as a side on our hot dogs.”
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