Benefits of Sauerkraut

My Grandma has a stomach of steel and I’m convinced it’s because she grew up with German parents, eating a lot of sauerkraut and other fermented foods (and probably a lot less processed foods). Starting at a young age, she was building good gut bacteria to prepare it for anything that came its way. She has traveled all over the world, ate whatever she wanted, and I can’t recall her being sick once on a trip (besides maybe a cold)…while the rest of her family suffered black tongue from Pepto Bismol overdose. As I have a weak stomach, I’ve been taking probiotics and attempting to eat more probiotic foods, such as sauerkraut. I can’t say it’s my favorite thing to eat, but the benefits outweigh the negative, plus the taste is growing on me. Here are just a few reasons why we should all be eating sauerkraut:

Sauerkraut promotes good gut bacteria.

The raw, unpasteurized, fermented version of sauerkraut has all sorts live bacteria that replenish the good bacteria and prevent the growth of bad bacteria in your stomach. The more good bacteria, the better chances you have to fight the bad ones that come in. Think of it like soldiers guarding a castle: the more soldiers, the easier it will be to catch the few bad guys. The fewer soldiers, the more likely the bad guys can sneak their way into the castle and cause a ruckus. No one wants a ruckus in their stomach, ammiright?

It’s chock full of Vitamin C.

What’s the first food you think of when you hear Vitamin C? If you are like me, my mind goes straight to an orange. Come to find out, a medium orange only has about 70 milligrams of Vitamin C, while sauerkraut can have up to 700 milligrams of Vitamin C in the raw, fermented red cabbage sauerkraut. Turns out, it was taken on long voyages back in the day to prevent scurvy, so it must have some good immune boosting properties!

You can use up your extra cabbage.

Every time I buy a head of cabbage, I use a quarter to a half and don’t know what to do with the rest. Well, you can make your own sauerkraut! I’ll be honest, I have yet to do this, but have every intention doing so. Maybe admitting it will be the motivation I need to actually try it. It looks like a fun activity though and when you do make sauerkraut yourself, it lasts for months in the refrigerator and has all the live bacteria I talked about. I don’t plan to buy any special materials; I’m just going to make it in a mason jar. Anyone want to try it with me?!