Do wake up each day feeling exhausted – even if you’ve had a full night of sleep? If so, you may be suffering from inflammation that you can fight using fermented foods. You may not associate fatigue with your intestinal health, but it turns out they can very intimately linked.
It turns out that autoimmune problems such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome often go hand in hand with intestinal problems. Your gut is actually incredibly important when it comes to the health of your immune system.
When you don’t have the proper amount of healthy bacteria in your gut, your body is more susceptible to inflammation which leads to poor immune function. Inflammation also raises your risk for many other chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes.
We live in a time when bacteria have gotten a bad rap. We use antibacterial products, too many antibiotics, and use chemical preservatives in food that keep bacteria from being able to grow.
The point of these measures is to destroy bad bacteria that cause disease. However, one of the problems with this is that it also kills the good bacteria that we rely upon to keep our bodies healthy.
By adding fermented foods to your diet you’ll be adding important bacteria to your gastrointestinal system. These bacteria can help improve your digestion. You’ll be able to absorb more of the nutrients that come from your food and your body will be able to use them more efficiently.
Eating fermented foods also helps to improve the communication between your nervous system and your immune system. You’ll have fewer problems with inflammation in your body and you?ll have an increase of antibodies that protect you from disease.
Fermented foods can also help you to detoxify the body. You come into contact with all kinds of toxins including pollution, toxins in food, and household cleaners. These toxins can lead to inflammation. By eating fermented foods your body can get rid of these toxins and inflammation can decrease.
Overall you’ll also find that by adding fermented foods to your diet you can experience an improvement in your mood. If your fatigue has led to depression or anxiety, you can begin to feel that lift.
So what foods do you need to add to your diet? There are many choices when it comes to fermented foods including yogurt, kefir, pickles, sauerkraut, and kombucha tea. All of these foods contain healthy bacteria that can restore the balance in your gut.
