Pickled Vs Fermented: Which Is Better For Gut Health?

SHARE

Spanning continents and millennia, nearly every culture has used pickling or fermentation to preserve food, with the earliest records of fermentation dating back to 8,000 BCE in areas of Asia and the Middle East.1

Many people are familiar with pickles, yogurt, and sauerkraut, but fermentation and pickling go far beyond these common grocery store foods.

From fermented Nigerian cassava flakes (gari) to Chinese fermented black beans (douchi) to Indian pickled green mangoes (aam ka achar), there are hundreds of varieties of these well-preserved and uniquely flavored foods. 

But is pickling the same as fermenting? And which is better for gut health? Let’s find out.

Pickled Vs. Fermented: The Basics

Although pickling and fermenting are often used interchangeably, the distinction between them is vast. Not only are they produced in entirely different ways, but they also have varying nutritional properties and health benefits. 

Infographic comparing pickled vs fermented foods, their benefits, and preservation methods

What Are Fermented Foods?

Some of the most commonly consumed fermented foods and drinks include yogurt, kefir, kombucha, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, sourdough, tempeh, wine, soy sauce, and beer.1

Many of these foods are fermented by lactic acid-producing bacteria (like Lactobacillus), which consume sugars and starches to produce lactic acid, water, and energy (in the form of ATP).

These are known as “lacto-fermented foods” and include fermented dairy (like yogurt and kefir) as well as sauerkraut, kimchi, sourdough bread, and fermented pickles. 

Due to its acidic nature, lactic acid inhibits the growth of harmful microorganisms, which is how fermented vegetables don’t spoil or rot. 

Lacto-fermented foods are the ones that have more probiotic bacteria present, with the highest amounts typically found in yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi.

The fermentation process differs depending on which food you are using. For example, you make sauerkraut by adding raw cabbage to a glass jar or stone vessel and submerging it in a salty brine of about 2-3% salt with filtered water. Weighing down the cabbage keeps oxygen away from it so it doesn’t grow mold and spoil. 

You don’t need to add bacteria to make sauerkraut—lactic acid-producing bacteria are naturally present on the surface of the cabbage. Over several weeks, the bacteria proliferate, fermenting the cabbage and producing that tangy flavor (after all, “sauerkraut” does mean “sour cabbage” in German!). 

The other main type of fermentation is alcoholic fermentation, in which yeasts (most often Saccharomyces cerevisiae) “eat” glucose, sucrose, or fructose sugars to produce ethanol, carbon dioxide (CO2), energy, and water.

Alcoholic fermentation unsurprisingly creates fermented alcoholic beverages like beer and wine, but it is also involved in making yeasted bread.

These processes that create CO2 molecules (like a bubbling beer or yeasted bread dough) are where the word “fermentation” comes from, as it’s derived from the Latin word “fervere,” meaning boiling.

(In case you’re wondering, yeasted bread does contain a bit of alcohol—some even reaching as high as 1.9% ABV—but, for the most part, the alcohol evaporates during the baking process, so your bread should not make you buzzed!)3

However, alcoholic fermented foods and drinks contain negligible or no probiotics, as additional processes—such as baking bread, adding hops to beer, and filtering or adding sulfites to wine—kill off the good bugs. 

The process of fermentation can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks, which completely changes the flavor, texture, and appearance of the original food. Fermented foods are generally a little sour, tangy, and often described as “funky.”

What Are Pickled Foods?

Pickling is a much simpler process than fermentation—no bacteria, yeast, or alcohol involved. 

Rather, pickling is a method of food preservation (almost always fruits or vegetables) that works by immersing them in a mixture of boiling water and vinegar. The hot water and acidic brine from the vinegar kill off bacteria—both good and bad. 

The primary acid in vinegar is acetic acid, which causes the sour flavor of pickled food, prevents spoilage, and drastically extends the food’s shelf life when refrigerated. Unlike fermented vegetables that can sit on the counter during the fermentation process, you should keep foods refrigerated while pickling.

Although pickles (pickled cucumbers) are the ones most associated with pickling, you can pickle just about any fruit or vegetable, including pickled onions, carrots, jalapenos, peppers, garlic, radishes, strawberries, mango, ginger, and even eggs. 

Overall, pickled vegetables are a great way to get your veggies if you don’t like them raw, but they don’t contain beneficial probiotics like fermented foods. 

Pickled Vs. Fermented Foods: Which Is Healthier?

There is a lot more research on fermented foods than pickled foods, likely because of their probiotic content.

The gut microbiome is now known to be intricately linked to much more than just digestion, and fermented foods are one of the best ways to support its health. Research has found that fermented foods are linked to improved brain, immune system, cardiovascular, and metabolic health.

For example, one study found that healthy Japanese adults who drank a fermented milk drink (similar to kefir)  for eight weeks had significantly improved cognition, attention, and memory recall compared to those drinking a placebo.

Other research has looked at the impact of pickled and fermented foods on diabetes development. In this 6.5-year study of Chinese adults, those who consumed the most pickled veggies (more than 0.5 kilograms, or just over one pound, per month) had a 63% reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to those who ate none.

Consuming fermented bean curd (fermented tofu) also reduced the risk of diabetes, but not as much—32% lower compared to people who did not consume it. 

However, some studies have identified a link between high consumption of pickled foods and gastric cancer.

One meta-analysis from 2010 concluded that a higher intake of pickled vegetables in Japanese and Korean populations was significantly associated with an increased risk of gastric cancer by 28%, while fresh vegetable intake reduced the risk.4

This link is not entirely understood, but it’s speculated that the high salt content of pickled foods may play a role. According to the researchers, salt-rich pickled foods may directly damage the gastric mucosal lining, enhancing the penetration of other carcinogens into the stomach. 

Another potential reason is that pickling reduces the overall antioxidant content of vegetables due to the processing methods. 

Based on this link and the additional benefits of probiotic-rich fermented foods, it’s safe to say that fermented foods are better for gut health. 

The Bottom Line

Both pickled and fermented foods can be beneficial for your health, but fermented foods have a major leg up on pickled ones because they have probiotic bacteria and no link to gastric cancer. 

However, not all fermented foods and beverages have probiotics (like yeasted bread, beer, and wine). The highest probiotic foods are lacto-fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, kimchi, and sauerkraut. 

Although pickling does not lead to beneficial bacteria, eating a moderate amount of pickled vegetables (or fruits) can boost your overall intake of fiber-rich produce. That said, some studies have identified a link between high pickled vegetable intake and gastric cancer, making it wise to moderate your intake.

Pickled vs Fermented FAQs

Is it better to take probiotics or eat fermented foods?

Both can be beneficial. Supplemental probiotics tend to contain a wider variety of beneficial bacteria strains that you don’t always encounter in a typical diet. However, fermented foods also contain vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that work synergistically with natural probiotics. If you have a specific gut condition, looking for a targeted probiotic supplement for that condition—in addition to eating fermented foods—may be more beneficial. If you have healthy digestion, it’s still a good idea to eat fermented foods weekly (or daily, if possible), and adding a supplemental probiotic during times when you’re not hitting those goals would be beneficial.

Do pickles have probiotics?

Regular grocery store pickles typically do not have any probiotics. The only exception is if you see “fermented pickles” or “fermented cucumbers” on the label, which will have probiotics. Otherwise, the cucumbers have just been pickled in a vinegar brine and not lacto-fermented.

What is the healthiest fermented food?

It’s thought that the fermented foods with the greatest amount of probiotics are yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi. The first two have very different nutritional profiles and benefits from the latter two, but all four are excellent choices for adding fermented foods to your diet.

  1. Cuamatzin-García, L., Rodríguez-Rugarcía, P., El-Kassis, E. G., Galicia, G., Meza-Jiménez, M. L., Baños-Lara, M. D. R., Zaragoza-Maldonado, D. S., & Pérez-Armendáriz, B. (2022). Traditional Fermented Foods and Beverages from around the World and Their Health Benefits. Microorganisms, 10(6), 1151. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10061151
  2. Taveira IC, Nogueira KMV, Oliveira DLGD and Silva RDN (2021) Fermentation: Humanity’s Oldest Biotechnological Tool. Front. Young Minds. 9:568656. doi: 10.3389/frym.2021.568656
  3. The Alcohol Content of Bread. (1926). Canadian Medical Association journal, 16(11), 1394–1395.

Kim, H. J., Lim, S. Y., Lee, J. S., Park, S., Shin, A., Choi, B. Y., Shimazu, T., Inoue, M., Tsugane, S., & Kim, J. (2010). Fresh and pickled vegetable consumption and gastric cancer in Japanese and Korean populations: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Cancer science, 101(2), 508–516. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1349-7006.2009.01374.x



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *