It is a regular thing to buy the Nigerian staple food called lafun from the market and end up making a meal riddled with pebbles because the drying process is often carried out directly on the shoulders of highways, fully exposed to contaminants like pebbles, particles of bitumen, sand, pieces of plant material, and insects. Recently, I decided to change the narrative by buying cassava and making my lafun from scratch. The cassava was soaked in water for days and dried on sacks, not on the ground. Apart from the fact that we had pure white lafun, the whole house ate lafun that was not riddled with sand! I cannot wait for the next time the meal will be prepared because it is going to be a big pleasure with the addition of ewedu and gbegiri. Processing your own food gives you peace of mind because you have the assurance that no harmful substance has been added. The eradication of some of these unwholesome practices during food processing starts with you and me. This week, I will be talking about sauerkraut. It is simply fermented cabbage and is pronounced sawakrout. It is especially appreciated in Germany, where its name originates, and it means “sour cabbage”. During the American Civil War, the physician John Jay Terrell (1829–1922) was able to successfully reduce the death rate from disease among prisoners of war; he attributed this to feeding his patients raw sauerkraut. It was one of the foods taken by English explorer James Cook on his first and second Pacific voyages as a way to prevent scurvy. Sauerkraut and its juice is a time-honoured folk remedy for canker sores. The treatment is to rinse the mouth with sauerkraut juice for about 30 seconds several times a day or place a wad of sauerkraut against the affected area for a minute or so before chewing and swallowing the sauerkraut. It has survived the test of time to become a popular side dish and condiment in many cultures. Due to the fermentation it undergoes, sauerkraut offers nutrition and health benefits far beyond those of fresh cabbage. It is a high source of vitamin K and, if uncooked, the fermentation process increases the bioavailability of nutrients, rendering sauerkraut even more nutritious than the original cabbage. It is also low in food energy and high in calcium and magnesium, and it is a very good source of dietary fibre, folate, iron, potassium, copper, and manganese. If unpasteurised and uncooked, sauerkraut also contains live lactobacilli and beneficial microbes and is rich in enzymes. Fibre and probiotics improve digestion and promote the growth of healthy bowel flora, protecting against many diseases of the digestive tract. Let us see some of the health benefits: Improves your digestion Like some other fermented foods, sauerkraut promotes healthy gut flora. The probiotic bacteria in unpasteurised sauerkraut can act as a first line of defence against toxins and harmful bacteria. Probiotics like those found in sauerkraut can also reduce or prevent diarrhoea from antibiotic use and reduce digestive symptoms linked to inflammatory bowel disease. Older research identified that one serving of sauerkraut may contain up to 28 distinct bacterial strains. Consuming this wide variety of strains may give you a broader range of health benefits. Like most other fermented foods, sauerkraut also contains various enzymes which help break down nutrients into smaller, more easily digestible molecules.  Boosts your immune system Sauerkraut is a source of probiotics and nutrients that support your immune system. For starters, the bacteria that populate your gut can have a strong influence on your immune system. The probiotics found in sauerkraut may help improve the balance of bacteria in your gut, which helps keep your gut lining healthy. A stronger gut lining helps prevent unwanted substances from “leaking” into your body and causing an immune response. Maintaining a healthy gut flora also helps prevent the growth of harmful bacteria and may even boost the production of natural antibodies. Regularly consuming probiotic foods like sauerkraut may reduce your risk of developing infections like the common cold and urinary tract infections. It may also help you recover faster. Sauerkraut is also rich in vitamin C and iron, both of which contribute to a healthy immune system. Weight loss Regularly consuming sauerkraut may help you lose weight and keep it off. That is partly because sauerkraut, like most vegetables, is low in calories and high in fibre. High-fibre diets keep you fuller for longer, which may help you naturally reduce your daily calorie intake. Stress reduction and good brain health Healthy gut flora may also improve your mood and brain function. This is due to an intimate connection between your gut and brain. Gut bacteria may be able to send messages to your brain, influencing how it functions and perceives the world. Fermented, probiotic foods such as sauerkraut contribute to the creation of a healthy gut flora, which research shows may help reduce stress and maintain brain health. Various studies show that probiotics can improve mood, memory, and symptoms of anxiety, depression, autism, and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Older research suggests that fermented foods like sauerkraut may improve mood by increasing your gut’s absorption of mood-regulating minerals, including magnesium and zinc.  May reduce the risk of certain cancers Cabbage, the main ingredient in sauerkraut, contains antioxidants and other beneficial plant compounds that may help reduce the risk of certain cancers. The cabbage fermentation process may also create particular plant compounds that suppress the growth of precancerous cells. For example, a study of Polish immigrants in the United States found that consuming more cabbage and sauerkraut significantly reduced breast cancer risk. The beneficial compounds in cabbage may also protect against colon, liver, pancreatic, and prostate cancers. May promote heart health Sauerkraut may contribute to a healthier heart. That’s because it contains a good amount of fibre and probiotics, both of which may help reduce cholesterol levels. Probiotics such as those found in sauerkraut may also help lower blood pressure slightly in people with hypertension. Moreover, sauerkraut is one of the rare plant sources of menaquinone, more commonly known as vitamin K2. Experts believe that vitamin K2 may reduce the risk of heart disease by preventing calcium deposits from accumulating in your arteries. Contributes to stronger bones The vitamin K2 in sauerkraut also plays an important role in bone health. More specifically, vitamin K2 activates proteins that bind to calcium, the main mineral found in bones. Experts believe this contributes to stronger, healthier bones. In fact, several studies have shown that vitamin K2 may benefit bone health. In 2002, the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry reported that Finnish researchers found the isothiocyanates produced during sauerkraut fermentation inhibit the growth of cancer cells in test tube and animal studies. A Polish study in 2010 concluded that “induction of the key detoxifying enzymes by cabbage juices, particularly sauerkraut, may be responsible for their chemopreventive activity demonstrated by epidemiological studies and in animal models”. A study titled, Sauerkraut: A Probiotic Superfood, by Ryan Orgeron et al. concludes that, based on the findings in the study, sauerkraut should be considered a “probiotic superfood”.

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