Sauerkraut is one of those foods you may not like due to its strong flavor. However, if you don't like sauerkraut, you may want to develop a taste for it so you can enjoy its health benefits. You can get used to the food by eating small amounts as a condiment or sandwich topping until you are ready to eat larger portions.
Also, keep in mind that different brands have slightly different textures and flavors, so you may want to try a few different ones to find a brand you like—or you could even try making your own. Here are some health benefits of sauerkraut that make it worth the effort to add this food to your diet.
Sauerkraut Is Fermented Cabbage
Basic sauerkraut is made with sliced cabbage and salt. Other things can be added as well, which can alter the taste and add more nutritional components. However, basic sauerkraut has health properties of its own. Cabbage is a cruciferous vegetable in the same family as broccoli, kale, and cauliflower.
Cabbage contains nutrients such as fiber, vitamin C, vitamin K, and folate. It also has minerals such as phosphorus, selenium, and magnesium. Cabbage is also one of the more affordable vegetables, so you can pack nutrition into your diet at a more affordable cost when you eat cabbage regularly. You can put cabbage in soup, add it to salads, or cook it by itself for a side dish.
The fermentation process cabbage goes through to become sauerkraut adds even more nutrition to your food. The fermentation adds safe bacteria to the cabbage that can help your digestive tract by adding living probiotics.
Cabbage May Have Multiple Health Benefits
The health benefits of eating sauerkraut regularly could include protection from cancer, reduced risk of diabetes, and cardiovascular protection. The nutrients in cabbage provide you with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents, phytonutrients, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
You can even juice cabbage to enjoy its health benefits. You can also drink sauerkraut juice once the cabbage has fermented and get a concentrated shot of extra nutrients. You can even buy sauerkraut juice by the bottle in some stores. Just keep an eye on the sodium content in the juice. Salt is added to the cabbage during the fermentation process, so sauerkraut juice contains sodium too.
You Can Eat Sauerkraut Raw Or Cooked
One reason to make sauerkraut at home is so you can eat it fresh and raw. However, you can also find a few raw brands at the grocery store in the refrigerated section. Raw sauerkraut may have more probiotics, so if you find a raw source, you may not want to cook it once you get it home.
Even if you can't find raw sauerkraut, you should still add regular sauerkraut to your diet since you'll get all of the benefits of cabbage and have delicious food for a side dish, condiment, or meal. The health benefits of sauerkraut make it one of the top vegetables to add to your diet that is easy to find and affordable to eat.
To learn more, contact a sauerkraut supplier such as Fermentools.
Every day, you need to eat in order to get the nutrition you need to survive. However, eating shouldn't just be about surviving. It should be about thriving and having fun and enjoying what you are putting into your mouth. At food blog day, we understand that eating food is more than a necessity, it should also be an experience. We are here to educate you on different specialty foods and food trends so that you can ensure that when you sit down to cook or eat a meal, you are sitting down to something that will provide you with nutrition and be enjoyable at the same time.