China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Brain Health
Published in Carolyn Torkelson, Catherine Marienau, Beyond Menopause, 2023
Carolyn Torkelson, Catherine Marienau
Both probiotics and prebiotics are critical to support gut bacteria. Yes, you can take supplements, but dietary sources are, as usual, the best sources. Fermented foods such as kimchi, sauerkraut, sour pickles, miso soup, and kombucha contain live beneficial bacteria and are good probiotics. Yogurt contains probiotics, but it may also contain a lot of sugar. Plus, it’s a dairy product, so it may not be your best probiotic unless made at home with known ingredients. Kefir, a fermented milk drink, may be better tolerated. Foods such as jicama, onions, garlic, asparagus, dandelion greens, Jerusalem artichokes, barley, and oats are types of dietary fiber that feed the friendly bacteria in your gut and are good prebiotics.
The Potential of Microbial Mediated Fermentation Products of Herbal Material in Anti-Aging Cosmetics
Published in Namrita Lall, Medicinal Plants for Cosmetics, Health and Diseases, 2022
Acetic acid fermentation is an aerobic process in which carbohydrates from grains and fruit are fermented into acetic acid. This is often used to produce condiments and beverages such as vinegar and kombucha by bacteria of the Acetobacter genus. Finally, in alkaline fermentation, proteins are broken down into their amino acid and peptide components, releasing ammonia in the process. Bacillus species are commonly employed with this type of fermentation and it is habitually associated with the fermentation of fish, soybeans and seeds. Therefore, although carbohydrates are the most ubiquitous substrate for fermentation, organic acids, peptides and molecules are fermentable substrates (Doelle, 1975; Anal, 2019).
Raw veganism
Published in Carlo Alvaro, Raw Veganism, 2020
There are many food items that are raw, but are not necessarily healthful. Since research is elusive about the nutritional benefits of these foods, I will refrain from cherry-picking scientific studies. In my view, these are not necessarily harmful foods if consumed occasionally; at the same time, they are not healthful foods, and should not be a staple in any healthful diets. These foods can be grouped under at least three categories: The first category is fermented foods. Raw foodists may consume fermented foods and beverages, such as krauts, kombucha, and other pickled products. These products may be slightly alcoholic, and contain various amounts of sodium chloride (table salt). Our bodies need sodium but not sodium chloride. Sodium chloride is a mineral—a rock. Our bodies can be seriously damaged by table salt. Sodium, on the other hand, is a mineral that is naturally occurring in plants. Plants can absorb rock minerals more efficiently than humans, but the human body can absorb only minerals from organic sources. Thus, the ideal situation is to consume sodium by eating organic sources, i.e., celery, coconut water, tomatoes, melons, leafy greens, etc. The bottom line is that salt was introduced as a preservative because salt kills bacteria, especially during times when refrigerators did not exist, to prevent meats from rotting. In practical terms, salt is not a food.
Maternal consumption of a fermented diet protects offspring against intestinal inflammation by regulating the gut microbiota
Published in Gut Microbes, 2022
Cheng Wang, Siyu Wei, Bojing Liu, Fengqin Wang, Zeqing Lu, Mingliang Jin, Yizhen Wang
Dietary variables can dramatically and rapidly affect the gut microbiome.11 Fermented foods, such as kombucha, yogurt, and kimchi, constitute one type of gut microbiota–targeting diet, containing not only foundational nutrients (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) but also probiotics, prebiotics, and microbial metabolites.12 Large cohort studies and limited interventional studies have correlated fermented food consumption with weight maintenance and reduced risk of diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular disease.13,14 A recent study found differences in gut microbial structure and metabolome between consumers of fermented and non-fermented foods.15 The benefits of a fermented diet on gut and host health have been reported,16 while the effects of a maternal fermented diet (MFD) on gut health in offspring remain undetermined.
Erosive potential of ice tea beverages and kombuchas
Published in Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 2023
Elisa Lind, Hilma Mähönen, Rose-Marie Latonen, Lippo Lassila, Marja Pöllänen, Vuokko Loimaranta, Merja Laine
Relatively new products within the beverage industry include kombucha, a fermented tea-based beverage that is claimed to have antimicrobial and antioxidant health benefits. During the fermentation process of kombucha, the pH decreases, and organic acids are produced [16,17]. These acids have the potential to dissolve hydroxyapatite via chelating complexes and are therefore assumed to be exceptionally erosive [18]. Nevertheless, the possible threat of kombuchas on oral health is commonly neglected, and they are considered to be healthy drinks.
Bioactive small molecules produced by the human gut microbiome modulate Vibrio cholerae sessile and planktonic lifestyles
Published in Gut Microbes, 2021
Heidi Pauer, Felipe Lopes Teixeira, Avery V. Robinson, Thiago E. Parente, Marília A. F. De Melo, Leandro A. Lobo, Regina M. C. P. Domingues, Emma Allen-Vercoe, Rosana B. R. Ferreira, Luis Caetano M. Antunes
Bacterial chemotaxis and motility are often required for bacterial pathogenesis, as these processes allow cells to reach their niche, detect nutrients and sense cues from other bacteria or the host.58 Thus, bioactive molecules that can inhibit these processes may hold therapeutic promise, since they may prevent the establishment of infections. Studies with V. cholerae have shown that, to cause infection, cells need to swim through the intestinal lumen, traverse the mucus layer, and then colonize epithelial cells.32 The ability of V. cholerae to penetrate mucin is impaired in the presence of fecal and E. citroniae extracts, suggesting that small molecules present in these extracts may affect host colonization. Hindrance of V. cholerae virulence by these small molecules may allow the use of such molecules in the development of therapeutics. As an alternative, strains that produce the bioactive compound could be used as probiotics to lower burden of V. cholerae infection and therefore prevent or treat cholera. Such strains could be either gut microbiota isolates from healthy subjects or engineered strains with desirable properties. Interestingly, antivirulence activity of the probiotic fermented beverage Kombucha against V. cholerae has been shown. In this case, small molecules present in the beverage were shown to inhibit motility, alter motility gene expression and inhibit mucin penetration in vitro.59 The idea of developing new therapeutic alternatives for cholera based on the gut microbiota is particularly enticing in the context of this work, since the V. cholerae strain used herein is resistant to multiple antibiotics, and a non-antibiotic therapeutic intervention would be widely useful during infections with drug-resistant organisms. However, further studies will be required to address the therapeutic value of such compounds, and to reveal the details of interspecies interactions in the human microbiota and how they contribute to the balance between host colonization resistance and susceptibility.