Fynding Balance: The Delicious Science of Fermented Foods and How to Make Your Own

The White House challenged stakeholders across the United States to join them in specific commitments to help end hunger and reduce diet-related diseases by 2030. As part of Nature’s Fynd’s commitment, we pledged to empower consumers to make healthier choices through an educational blog series named “Fynding Balance with Nutrition Basics.” Our goal is to give people free and vetted information that enables our community to make healthy choices.

From celebrity influencers to academia to news articles and beyond, the topic of gut health seems to be burning through nearly every social circle these days— and if we’re honest, we’re here for it.

Probiotic products are taking over the wellness sections of magazines and supermarkets alike, and chances are you or someone you know has already gotten their hands on a bottle of these beneficial gut supplements by now (we’ve even dedicated a whole ‘nother blog to the topic, here). But did you know you can improve your levels of “good” bacteria through more than just supplementation, using a process you can complete at home? That’s right.

From kimchi to kombucha, sauerkraut to sourdough, this third blog in our series on the fundamentals of nutrition, called “Fynding Balance with Nutrition Basics,” will cover the wonderful topic of fermented foods. We’ll discuss their health benefits, the delicious science of how such foods are made (like Fy Protein™)—a process called fermentation—and we’ll even provide a recipe to make your first batch of fermented food at home! Let’s dive in.

All about fermentation

Ever wonder how a humble cabbage becomes the star of a tangy sauerkraut or why your sourdough loaf tastes so delightfully, well, sour? For these deliciously unique flavors, we can thank the chemical process of fermentation.

In food processing, fermentation is “the conversion of carbohydrates to alcohol and carbon dioxide or organic acids using fungi or bacteria, under anaerobic conditions.”¹ In other words, when certain bacteria (or fungi) are introduced to foods without the presence of oxygen—usually by fully submerging them in liquids— these microbes feed on carbohydrate molecules and thereby transform them into an entirely new substance. It’s pretty magical if you ask us. Although there are many types of fermentation, only a handful are utilized to make food. Here are the three most common types of fermentation used today, as well as Nature’s Fynd’s breakthrough fermentation process that has been awarded 40 patents since its inception!

Acetic Acid Fermentation: In acetic acid fermentation, acetic acid bacteria such as acetobacter or gluconobacter transform alcohol into acetic acid and other compounds.² This type of fermentation is used to make kombucha and apple cider vinegar.

Lactic Acid Fermentation: Perhaps the most common type of fermentation used for food, in lactic acid fermentation, lactic acid bacteria such as lactobacilli transform sugars into lactic acid. It is this type of fermentation that is used to ferment cabbage, such as kimchi and sauerkraut, as well as sourdough starter, soy sauce, kefir, gari, balao balao, and much more.³

Alcohol Fermentation: Known most commonly to produce beer and wine, in alcohol fermentation, yeast strands such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae transform pyruvic acid into the ethanol (aka alcohol) found in your Friday night glass of red (if that’s your style).⁴

Submerged Fermentation: Often referred to as liquid fermentation, submerged fermentation (SmF) is commonly used for commercial purposes. SmF involves the cultivation of microorganisms in a liquid medium (AKA the environment in which the reaction occurs, for those who can’t remember back to their chem 101 class).⁵ In SmF, specific nutrients are incorporated to optimize the microorganisms’ growth while they are submerged.⁶

Liquid-Air Interface Fermentation: Our novel liquid surface fermentation technology grows our nutritional fungi protein, Fy™ at scale with a fraction of resources compared to traditional proteins. This type of fermentation feeds the microbe named Fusarium strain flavolapis a diet of carbohydrates and other nutrients in a growth chamber, producing the magical result, Fy, a complete protein with all twenty amino acids. Since this can be done just about anywhere (making it super environmentally-friendly), we even partnered with our friends at NASA to grow Fy using our fermentation method in space!

Health benefits of fermented foods

Whether ogiri in West Africa, kefir in Eastern Europe, or miso in Japan, fermented foods have been cherished across cultures for centuries. Long seen as an efficient way to prolong the shelf life of various food staples, scientists now know that fermentation does far more than extend expiration dates. Fermented foods are often rich sources of probiotics, namely bacteria, fungi, and enzymes. Probiotic foods help replenish the gut with “good” bugs and increase the microbiome’s diversity, which has been linked to decreased inflammation, improved immune responses, and improved digestion.^7,8,9,10

Adding fermented foods to the diet is a simple and effective (and delicious) way to support gut health, but it is important to remember that not all fermented foods are created equal. Fermented foods on the market are not required to contain live microorganisms once they hit grocery store shelves. A typical jar of pickles, for example, isn’t usually naturally fermented anymore, and many brands of sauerkraut are heat-treated, inactivating beneficial microbes prior to packaging.¹⁰

So, how can you ensure your fermented foods contain probiotics? Those that do will typically be refrigerated. Look for statements such as “contains live microorganisms,” “naturally fermented,” or “active cultures.”⁹ Another great way is to make your own fermented foods at home! Keep reading for a simple recipe for beginners.

Fermented foods in a plant-based diet

Many often think of yogurt or kefir when they think about fermented foods, but there are many options for vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians alike to reap the benefits of various plant-based fermented foods. In fact, some of the most popular and best-tasting fermented foods are actually just fermented vegetables! Here are some of our favorite animal-free fermented foods:

Tempeh, Miso (fermented soy)
Sauerkraut, Curtido (fermented cabbage)
Kombucha (fermented tea)
Nature’s Fynd Fy™ Yogurt
Ogiri (fermented sesame seeds)
Fresh pickles
Dhokla (fermented chickpea batter)

How to ferment food at home

Fermentation may sound like a complicated science, but it’s much easier done than said. Here’s a simple recipe for fermented vegetables of your choice, using, you guessed it—lactic acid fermentation. In this case, salt will extract liquid from veggies, creating a substrate for lactic acid bacteria to thrive and then feed on carbohydrate molecules in the veggies—thus producing lactic acid!

Supplies

Airtight glass jar, such as a mason jar

Ingredients

Salt
Water (filtered, spring, or distilled if possible)
Vegetables of your choice

Note: Salt to water ratio – 1 Tablespoon of salt per 32 ounces of water. Smaller jar? Divide as needed.

Directions

Set your jar in the sink and fill it with boiling water to sterilize. Empty the water.
Fill your jar with your choice of veggies. Not sure what you like? Try carrots, radishes, and cauliflower, and a few garlic cloves. Make sure to prep your veggies: wash all veggies, peel and cut carrots into sticks, cut radishes into quarters, cauliflower into small florets, and peel garlic cloves.
In a measuring cup, combine salt and water using the ratio above based on your jar size.
Pour salt water over veggies. Leave about one inch of space at the top of the jar, but ensure liquid covers vegetables completely.
Seal the jar with the lid and set it on the counter for 3–5 days. Loosen the lid a bit each day to allow gasses to escape. The warmer the indoor temperature, the faster the fermentation process will develop. After your desired number of days, taste your product. Add salt water as needed for taste and ensure vegetables stay beneath liquid throughout the process.

Happy fermenting!

The future of fermentation

The process of fermentation for food preservation has been around for centuries, and only recently have researchers begun studying the wide array of exciting health benefits from consuming fermented foods. Even more recently, scientists have found that emerging fermentation types promise to pave the way for a more sustainable future for the planet and its inhabitants by mitigating the need for deforestation, substantially reducing waste, greenhouse gas emissions, and environmentally harmful chemical methods^11,12. At Nature’s Fynd, we’re on a quest to dramatically improve our food system, and one of the ways we do so is through breakthrough fermentation technology. So, whether it’s a nutritional fungi protein (Fy), a spoonful of ogiri, or a freshly pickled beet, eat up. The planet (and your gut) will thank you.