What are the real benefits of consuming fermented foods?
The microbes present in fermented foods are commonly credited with improving gut health. While this is true, it is important to understand that gut health is a precursor to overall body health. “Gut health isn’t just limited to the gut,” says Tung. “It’s linked to almost everything in the body – your brain, your immunity, your skin, your organs. And when we talk about inflammation regulation, it’s linked to your blood sugar control, your weight, and even your mental health.” Kennedy claims to have lost 20 pounds in 30 days as a result of switching to a diet consisting primarily of fermented foods and grass-fed beef. “JD Vance is also on a diet and you can see how different he looks,” Kennedy said at an event in Michigan last month. (Although, to be clear, we don’t know these men’s actual diets, or what other potential weight-loss drugs they may be taking.)
according to Shawn O’Mara, MDThe doctor is credited with turning Kennedy and Vance, as well as Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, toward fermented foods, with weight loss being one of the most noticeable results his clients see when they add fermented foods to their diets — along with cutting out grass-fed steaks and processed foods.
“When you eat fermented foods, it actually signals the small intestine to produce endogenous GLP-1, meaning it creates the natural form of Ozempic,” says O’Mara. “This is a shortcut or better way to get the benefits of Ozempic without taking any expensive medications and without the side effects.” This is a big claim that needs to be studied further, but the research is promising. one 2025 Review published in Food Science Journal found that fermented foods could potentially serve as a powerful tool to combat obesity by controlling appetite, insulin and the formation of new fat cells.
How Much Fermented Food Should You Eat—And Do Probiotics Count?
O’Mara encourages her clients to eat fermented foods with every meal. “Generally, it is dose dependent,” he says. “So, the more you do, the better.” However, he acknowledges that profits are most likely to peak at a certain level. He says it’s more important to aim for diversity than to focus on a specific quantity. “You don’t want to only have a particular type of fermented food — the same brand, the same jar — every time,” he says. “You want to eat a huge variety of these fermented foods.”
Consistency also appears to be important. “In the Stanford study, the gains in diversity and decline in inflammation increased gradually over a few weeks of daily intake,” says Johnson, who adds that he, without exception, ate 1-4 tablespoons of fermented vegetables per day — primarily sauerkraut, kimchi, and fermented beets. “Those trials tested steady daily consumption rather than the occasional forkful, so I consider fermented foods to be a daily habit, not a now-and-then treat.”
O’Mara says that as far as probiotics go, they can be useful for filling deficiencies just like vitamins, but shouldn’t be seen as a stand-in for fermented foods. “Probiotics are kind of a watered-down version of fermented foods,” he says. “They have benefits, and they still have their place, but fermented foods represent a richer and more diverse source of bacteria.” There are also inherent benefits to choosing whole foods instead of anything that comes in capsule form. “When you eat fermented whole foods, you’re not only getting the benefits of fermentation, but also all the nutrients that come with those foods,” says Tung. “When you eat kimchi, you also get fiber and all the nutrients that come from eating vegetables. In addition to getting the benefits of live cultures and probiotics, from yogurt, you also get protein, calcium and other minerals that are important for your health.”
Basically, eat fermented foods as often as you can, and add a probiotic to your supplement stack for good measure. And if you find yourself trying to stuff a ziplock full of kimchi into your wife’s clutch, you’ve probably gone too far.
