Sauerkraut

Civilizations around the world have used fermentation to enhance the shelf-life, flavor, and nutritional value of food for thousands of years. The sauerkraut fermentation process produces a specific type of probiotic bacteria called lactic acid bacteria, or LAB. According to an August 2016 report in Functional Foods in Health and Disease, lactic acid bacteria is one of the most well-established and well-studied group of probiotics.

These types of probiotics have been shown to help:
• Eliminate diarrhea and constipation
• Improve irritable bowel syndrome
• Fight urinary and yeast infections
• Boost immune function
• Prevent illness and infection
• Digest lactose in those who are lactose intolerant

A May 2018 issue of Foods points out that there are three main species of lactic acid bacteria in sauerkraut. They are:
• Leuconostoc mesenteroides
• Lactobacillus brevis
• Lactobacillus plantarum
Researchers from the August 2016 report in Functional Foods in Health and Disease compared different portion sizes of sauerkraut to probiotic supplements to see if sauerkraut could give you all the probiotics needed. The researchers tested 2-tablespoon, 1/2-cup and 1-cup servings of sauerkraut and found that the smallest 2-tablespoon serving of sauerkraut contained 1 million colony-forming units (or CFUs), which was enough to give you all the probiotics that you need for the day.
In September 2018, researchers from PLOS One chimed in saying that not only does sauerkraut contain a hefty dose of probiotics, but those probiotics are also resistant to a low pH. In other words, the sauerkraut bacteria could survive the passage through your stomach acid and make it to your small intestine where it needs to grow and colonize to carry out its health benefits.
But it's important to keep in mind that researchers found that shelf-stable sauerkraut was pasteurized and processed so much that there was little to no bacteria left in it. In order to reap the health benefits, sauerkraut must be unpasteurized and kept a live food.