Hey there! Welcome back to the blog.
I have been making my own yogurt for several years now, because I like knowing exactly what’s in it; it’s also super easy, and I like the taste much better than what I’ve been able to find in stores. I added making kombucha to my repertoire about two years ago. I enjoy the flavor, and it’s too expensive to buy routinely, so I make it at home.
I recently stumbled upon a page promoting a beet-based fermented beverage called kvass. This page made all kinds of claims regarding the supposed health benefits of this drink, which immediately sent up red flags in my brain. I used to buy in to one of those essential oil MLM companies, and over the years I found that while the oils do seem to help in SOME areas of life, they certainly weren’t living up to the claims that I bought in on. Now I like to do more thorough research before I spend my hard-won money. *I am not saying that essential oils don’t work. I am only saying that they didn’t work for me.*
This website wasn’t selling anything, they were simply listing off the benefits of adding this drink to your diet, but the way it was worded made me think there was no way that science supported ALL of these claims.
So you know me by now… I went and looked it up. I was really surprised to find that, in fact, science does support the claims.
Claim #1: Kvass (and other probiotic-dense fermented foods) support immune function, keeping you healthier.
When I think of the “Immune system,” I think of white blood cells, floating around in your bloodstream eating invaders like bacteria and viruses. I knew that there were two stages to that process - there are white blood cells that are always around and there are the ones that your body develops to fight off a specific strain of bacteria or virus after you’ve been exposed to it (this is why the flu vaccine works, to the best of my understanding). What I learned in delving in to specifically how probiotics could possibly “boost” one’s immune function, I learned that roughly 80% of your immune functions actually take place within your digestive system. White blood cells, for all the glory they recieve, only make up about 20%. Turns out you’re much more likely to get sick if your gut flora are not well balanced. Ok. Moving on.
Claim #2: Kvass will boost your mood, making you happier and less prone to things like season-induced sadness.
Um, what? Apparently, there are cells in your digestive tract that release serotonin. That’s the happy chemical the people keep telling me is released when you exercise. I’ve yet to test that out. But through my research I found that there are actually MORE of these serotonin-secreting cells in your stomach and intestines than there are in your brain, so it stands to reason that eating foods that support the health of those organs would increase the availability of that happy chemical. Sure. Next?
Claim #3: Kvass will pull heavy metals out of your body, preventing heavy metal poisoning and protecting you from those heavy metals that exist in our world due to pollution.
No. Freaking. Way. You want me to believe that drinking fermented beets is going to literally pull the heavy metals out of my body? Apparently, yes. The lactobacilli (the helpful bacteria that exist in fermented foods and drinks like kvass, kombucha, yogurt, sauerkraut, kefir, and so on) actually bind to heavy metals and pull them out of tissues so that they can be flushed from the body. In fact, the plants that are grown in polluted areas have developed strains of lactobacilli that do this better, and plants that are grown in less polluted areas have strains that aren’t as efficient. The lactobacilli actually help protect the plants themselves from the surrounding toxins. Makes sense to me, and it’s one more reason to eat local!
I need to close this by saying that while I am absolutely going to be adding kvass to my diet, I am NOT saying that you should. I’m not your doctor, I’m not a dietician, I am not in any way qualified to be giving anyone dietary advice. I am saying that when you read claims like that on the internet, absolutely feel free to dig deeper; I love knowing how and why things work, and I feel much better about listing the recipe here now that I’ve fact-checked their claims.
If you want to know how I make yogurt, the recipe is here.
The kombucha recipe I use is on this site.
I’m going to be super nerdy and include the citations for the sources I used in case anyone else wants to read my source material. If you have opinions for or against fermented foods, I’d love to read your science also! Please leave it below!
Re: Immune Function
Jungersen, M., Wind, A., Johansen, E., Christensen, J. E., Stuer-Lauridsen, B., & Eskesen, D. (2014). The science behind the probiotic strain bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BB-12? Microorganisms, 2(2), 92-110. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms2020092
Re: Mood
Cao, Y., Feng, L., Wang, B., Jiang, K., Li, S., Xu, X., . . . Wang, Y. (2018). Lactobacillus acidophilus and bifidobacterium longum supernatants upregulate the serotonin transporter expression in intestinal epithelial cells. Saudi Journal of Gastroenterology, 24(1) doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/sjg.SJG_333_17
Howland, R. H. (2015). Can a bug in the gut act like a drug in the brain? Journal of Psychosocial Nursing & Mental Health Services, 53(10), 22-24. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.3928/02793695-20150923-01
Re: Heavy metals
Bhakta, J. N., Munekage, Y., Ohnishi, K., & Jana, B. B. (2012). Isolation and identification of cadmium- and lead-resistant lactic acid bacteria for application as metal removing probiotic. International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology : (IJEST), 9(3), 433-440. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/1492053492?accountid=33850
Kumar, N., Kumar, V., Panwar, R., & Ram, C. (2017). Efficacy of indigenous probiotic lactobacillus strains to reduce cadmium bioaccessibility - an in vitro digestion model. Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, 24(2), 1241-1250. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-016-7779-6
Mrvcic, J., Stanzer, D., Solic, E., & Stehlik-tomas, V. (2012). Interaction of lactic acid bacteria with metal ions: Opportunities for improving food safety and quality. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 28(9), 2771-82. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11274-012-1094-2