Your brain and your stomach are fairly far apart in terms of your body’s real estate, true. But the organs in our fascinating, complex bodies communicate in a wide variety of ways—and prove that the brain and belly really aren’t that separate at all.
Pictured Recipe:Homemade Kimchi
We’ve already reported on the6 foods you should be eating every day for better brain health, which mainly highlight antioxidant-rich ingredients like blueberries, walnuts and leafy greens. Preliminary results from a new study suggest that we might want to add a seventh to this list: fermented foods.
Read on to learn more about the early results from this brain health research, plus we’re dishing about the top two categories of fermented foods that may help support your sharpness and reduce stress levels.
What This Brain Health Study Found (So Far)
We’ve long been proponents offermented foodsto supportgut health, and more recently have science to thank for cluing us in thatgut health can help (or hurt) mood. In addition to good bacteria calledprobiotics, fermented foods are stoked with protein, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.
Just like the brain, the gut has a nervous system of its own, and what we eat can significantly impact the levels of certain hormones and neurotransmitters within the body. For instance, fermented foods are a source of tryptophan (just like that Thanksgiving turkey that’s often blamed for the post-meal nap…most likely, this drowsy feeling just has to do with blood flow within the body, perJohn Hopkinsmedical experts). Tryptophan is an amino acid that’s integral in the production of serotonin, a chemical messenger (AKA neurotransmitter) that influences a variety of brain functions, including mood. Some fermented foods also contain other neurotransmitters.
With this in mind, and taking note of earlier peer-reviewed scientific studies that link increased fermented food consumption withlower risk for anxiety and depressionandstress, this research team set out to try to hone in on which fermented foods might benefit our brains the most.
Two categories of fermented foods in particular appear to have sizable positive forces on the brain: “Fermented sugar-based products and fermented vegetable-based products are like winning the lottery when it comes to gut and brain health,” Balasubramanian adds.
You’re probably familiar with several fermented vegetable products already, such as naturally-fermented pickles, sauerkraut and kimchi.
But what about those sugars? According toScienceDirect, during microbial fermentation, the polysaccharides in foods are transformed into fermentable sugars, including glucose (from cellulose), xylose, arabinose, galactose and mannose.
This means that any fermented food that contains some source of sugar—say, the lactose in milk that turns into yogurt—may be a boon for the brain.
The Bottom Line
Early results from a new study hint at the fact that all fermented foods can help support brain health (in addition to gut health and overall well-being). It’s too early to make a final verdict about which of your fermented faves are the best Rx, but Balasubramanian and her team plan to forge ahead to hopefully come to more formal conclusions, and to rank the fermented foods based on how much of an impact they have on brain health and mood.
As we continue to learn more, it certainly can’t hurt to fill your plate with moreprobiotic-rich recipes. Doing so is very likely to please your taste buds, gut health and brain all at once.
Up Next:How Much Fermented Foods You Should Eat When Taking Antibiotics
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