The Art Of Fermentation

The ferment culture is in full swing — and rightly so. Fermented foods like sauerkraut not only act as a powerful aid for digestion but keep your gut humming with health.

- Kate Duncan

Did you know our bodies are 90 per cent microbial? Not by weight but by numbers of cells. As humans, we are inclined to believe we’re the most superior and complex species on Earth, but we’re more bacteria than anything else. In fact, we’re all just big bags of bugs walking around sharing bugs with each other in a thriving bug-topia.

According to comprehensive research conducted by the National Institute of Health in the US, the average human has over 100 trillion microbes in and on their body, with 80 per cent of these microbes living in the gastrointestinal system. From there, the “good” bacteria help to digest and break down food, strengthen our immune systems and keep our mood stable. Just how bacteria do this remains unknown, as gut health research is still in its infancy.

Loved by the gut

The process of fermenting foods is as old as humanity. Cultures the world over have long been fermenting food for preservation, digestibility and nutrition. Much to the detriment of our health, fermented foods have largely disappeared from the Western diet. But, as we learn more about the impact different strains of bacteria have on our physical, emotional and mental health, ferments like sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, kombucha and miso have taken centre stage.

With a South-east Asian background, Wei’er Higgs, from Gutsy Ferments, is very accustomed to fermented foods. “When I moved to Australia from Singapore, my husband Josh and I ate the typical Australian diet of meat and three veg. This was a novelty to me because Western food is more expensive in Singapore, but I quickly realised my body needed more and wasn’t working as well without probiotics,” she explains.