Gut health

Sophie Lemajeur

Fermentation

Fermented berries, especially the following composition: acerola, black currant, blueberry, cherry, chokeberry, cranberry, gooseberry, mulberry, raspberry and strawberry are a real blessing for the body.
The fermentation serves to transform the valuable ingredients contained in the berries to make them much more useful for the bacterial flora. In a fermentation process of several weeks, this is done in four steps. Specialized microorganisms will cut the fibers into short pieces, but the polyphenols and anthocyanins will also be cut and made more active. All free sugars are also fermented away.

What is the impact on the intestinal flora?

The intestinal flora consists of more than three hundred different bacteria. Every bacteria has a preference in terms of the type of food. If a bacteria gets the right food, it will produce certain enzymes that will help it digest that type of food even better. There are genetic mechanisms by which a bacterium will produce more enzymes of a certain species, if suitable food is available. The more food that bacteria gets available, the more it multiplies afterwards. In general, enzymes will mainly sit on the end of fibers. The more small pieces of fiber, the more ends. Branched fiber like we have in berries also has more ends where enzymes can do their job.
In order to maintain the balance between all those different bacteria, it is important to provide a balanced diet. Someone who eats only meat will especially have bacteria that can digest the meat with proteolytic enzymes. Not a good situation. Those who mainly eat carbohydrates will have bacteria that greedily digest the carbohydrates, causing gas formation. Also not so favorable.

The advantage of small pieces (microfibers)

The fermented berries contain easily digestible pieces of fiber in a very wide variety. There is something for everyone. The flora will be stimulated to produce more digestive enzymes. If food is present, for example because of what one normally eats, the bacteria will get more out of it. In particular, they will be able to convert the fiber in our food into short-chain fatty acids. These are an energy source for the intestinal wall cells. It is also known that people with a disrupted intestinal flora find it very difficult to digest fiber. It is because the beneficial bacteria that could do this are totally oppressed in the gut ecosystem.
The intestinal wall cells must continuously renew themselves. That is why they need a lot of energy. Often these cells are also irritated by aggressive bacteria (the gram of negative bacteria). That irritation leads to inflammation. And this inflammation of the gut wall cells will not be able to support the immune system. This leads to further destabilization of the bacterial flora. The ecosystem is disrupted and difficult to restore.

The antioxidants of the berries are also important.

Now let the fermented berries also be rich in antioxidants. The fermentation has also made it more active. This helps to calm the intestinal wall cells (colonocytes) and thus indirectly reactivate the immune system. The immune system is the main regulatory system for the balance of the bacterial flora. Berries contain a considerable amount of polyphenols and anthocyanins. Extremely useful molecules that are further activated by the fermentation.

Closure

The fermented berries are much more than just a prebiotic, because they encourage the bacterial flora to become more active. Due to the wide variation in the microfibre menu, the entire ecosystem of the bacterial flora will be activated in a balanced way. As a result, the food that you normally take can be more extracted and the fibers of the normal food will also be better converted into short-chain fatty acids that are essential for a healthy intestinal wall and intestinal flora.