Certain streptomyces bacteria, for example, are noted for their ability to produce broad-spectrum antibiotics. Many other strains of beneficial bacteria are desirable in the human gut as they inhibit the growth of other microorganisms.

Nan Foster, a Ross-based integrative health coach specializing in functional medicine and author of Gutsy: The Food-Mood Method to Revitalizing Your Health Beyond Conventional Medicine , notes that three-fourths of our immune system lives in the digestive system, making what we eat not only the most important tool in managing our gut biome, but a tool of utmost importance to our overall health.

Foster explains how it works. Yep, you heard that right: Our guts communicate directly with our brain. The gut-immunity connection helps keep us well.

Foods such as the pickles and kimchi from Point Reyes Station-based Wild West Ferments , alive with the beneficial bacteria that naturally occur in Marin, Sonoma and Northern California, are a good start. In the ecosystem of a ferment done right, the good guys win. For gut health, we similarly want that ecosystem, that diversity of beneficial bacteria.

The good actors provide strength in diversity. Living foods like sauerkraut age safely over time when stored properly, but the taste does change as the ecosystem changes. The bacteria that produce the majority of the sour flavor are the ones that come in first and secure their future by making acid, the lactic acid-forming bacteria.

Each ferment has different bacterial species that thrive at different stages of the product lifecycle. Stanford Medicine recently published a study noting that a diet high in fermented foods boosts microbiome diversity and improves immune responses. Foster notes that a depleted microbiome, common in Americans who eat a Western diet or the standard American diet, shows up everywhere: joint pain, brain fog, poor nutritional absorption and even inflamed skin.

However, there is no single food she recommends to people who arrive at her clinic. While she loves fermented foods for their built-in probiotics, adding them can make a problem worse.

Small steps can make a big difference in any rebalancing effort. Native Marinites Dylan and Anna Lundstrom, husband-and-wife cofounders of hard kombucha brand Folksy , started drinking the beverage after their first baby was born as a way to feel better than they felt after drinking wine or beer.

Dylan, who holds a Master of Science degree in viticulture and enology, notes that the initial ferment of kombucha includes a laundry list of active bacteria that drive the conversion of sugar to alcohol.

While this is arguably where the health benefits come from, he notes that there is plenty of debate around hard kombucha and health benefits. Like Wild West Ferments, the Lundstroms do not pasteurize their product. The alcohol inhibits some bacterial growth, working as a preservative.

Refrigeration is recommended to slow down the bacterial growth and product change but does not stop it. There are different species through the lifecycle of the product. That kombucha or kraut may become a little softer in texture over time, but the health benefits may also become even greater.

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