Addressing Disease and Mental Health with Fermented Foods

Recent research shows that consuming fermented foods improves the gut microbiome and lowers the body’s inflammatory response in conditions like rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Fermented foods reduce inflammatory proteins

Researchers from Stanford Medicine evaluated 19 inflammatory protein biomarkers from 36 healthy adults. These participants were randomly assigned to eat either fermented or high-fiber foods throughout a 10-week period. Past scientific studies show that both diets affect the gut microbiome.

The objective was to determine how two microbiota-targeted diets could modulate the gut microbiome. The researchers found the effects on the gut microbiome and immune system were different depending on the diet. The scientists measured stool and blood samples collected during a three-week period before the intervention diet started, during the intervention, and during a four-week period after the diet ended.

The result was that a diet with fermented foods increased the overall microbial diversity in a dose-dependent manner. The primary outcome of the study was a cytokine response score, which remained unchanged.

However, the scientists also found that the fermented food diet increased microbial community diversity and decreased inflammatory markers like interleukin-6, which is linked to Type 2 diabetes, chronic stress, and rheumatoid arthritis.