Yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha.
Though all tasty, these international foods have more differences than similarities.
However, one thing tying them all together may be a key component of a healthy lifestyle sooner or later.
Along with two other Canadian researchers, UCalgary professor Dr. Raylene Reimer has launched a new online resource, dubbed the Canadian Fermented Foods Initiative (CFFI), where researchers, policymakers, members of the food industry and consumers alike can find trusted information about the health benefits of fermented foods.
Among other positives, studies show that people who eat fermented foods, such as yogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut and kombucha, are generally healthier with fewer digestive issues and lower risk of chronic diseases, according to a UCalgary-issued press release.
The ultimate goal of the project is to gather research evidence on the health benefits of fermented foods to push for their greater prominence in Canada’s Food Guide.
Reimer told LWC that the positives of fermented foods link back to beneficial bacteria.
“We know gut health is really important to our overall health and fermented foods can contribute to that because we take a starting ingredient, we add bacterial cultures or a yeast or a mold and then during the fermentation process, you get a new end product,” she said.
“If you take milk, you add your bacterial cultures and after the correct amount of time and temperature, then you get yogurt. You’re transforming a starting ingredient with microbes to gain a new food product or beverage that we believe, and that the research is hopefully going to show, has health benefits for us.”
By far the most eaten and researched fermented foods are dairy, specifically yogurt and cheese. Reimer said that there’s an extensive list of studies tying fermented dairy to reducing the risk of type two diabetes.
“Beyond those very common dairy ones, there’s certainly growing interest in fermented vegetables. And of those, fermented cabbage is still the one that you see the most research studies being planned for (or even) underway.”
For Health Canada to actually change Canada’s Food Guide, they need very solid scientific research showing that what’s being recommended to the entire Canadian population is going to be healthy for everybody, Reimer said.
“They need to see lots of research studies, clinical trials, done with the various fermented foods to really solidly show, from a research and a very objective perspective, that the fermented foods would contribute to the health of Canadians,” she said.
Enter UCalgary students.
One of the ideas for research studies on fermented foods is citizen science. Reimer said that from that perspective, the faculty would surely want to include students.
“We’d include students, university students and many other different segments of the population to participate and consume two servings of fermented food per day and then ask them a bunch of questions on their overall health and quality of life,” she said.
Good for the gut, big for the faculty
Currently, this study falls on the teaching side of the school, but in the nutrition courses at the University of Calgary, students are introduced to the concepts and details of gut health, including probiotics, prebiotics and fermented foods.
Reimer said that from a practical standpoint, it’s important that students incorporate some of those things into their typical diet. That way, once they’re in the workforce, they have first hand knowledge they can share with patients.
Should their research eventually impact the food guide, it would be a win for more than Reimer.
“It would be excellent. That’s the goal of our initiative, we recognize that it’s a big task and a long term goal. There’s a lot of work to be done to get new statements about fermented foods into Canada’s Food Guide and dietary guidance, but it’s definitely worth the investment, worth the effort and hopefully we get there,” she said.
For the faculty’s overall mission of promoting health, having their research directly impact the nation’s food guide would be remarkable.
“With that overall goal, there’s many aspects of health that researchers and professors and students that we all participate in and contribute to in the research setting. And so if one of those aspects of Kinesiology researched at the University of Calgary could contribute to something as widespread and as important as Canada’s Food Canada’s it would really elevate the profile of Kinesiology in Calgary,” said Reimer.
