Pickles - Are they good for you?

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  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    PS. If anyone knows of any health benefits of pickling your own cucumbers, please let me know! I'm starting my garden this weekend and I'd love to put in a few extra cucumber plants for pickles!

    good for the gut...probiotics. most, if not all commercially pickled products are pasteurized which kills all of the beneficial bacteria that exist when you do your own pickling. I've tried my hand at pickles and they're a bit tricky...it's tough to not make them too soggy. Also, a lot of people who pickle do a cook and that will kill off that bacteria as well...I just do a brine.

    I also make tons of my own picked cabbage (aka sauerkraut)...my signature kraut is a red/green cabbage combo with thinly sliced onion and jalapenos...I brine it for about 5 days and it comes out most excellent. It is delicious obviously on bratts and whatnot, but I often eat it straight up out of the jar....I eat a ton of it. I'm really getting into fermenting foods so I think I'm going to invest in some actual crocks so I can do bigger batches of things.
  • nsimon24
    nsimon24 Posts: 115 Member
    the salt sort of kills any healthy aspects they may have.


    Why are you posting things that are blatantly false?

    Potatoes are not unhealthy for you, but if you chop them up into strips and deep fat fry them, the addition of the fat changes them from being healthy to a food that should be consumed in moderation, if not one that is blatantly unhealthy.

    If you add salt to a low-calorie item like a cucumber, by turning it into a pickle, the increase in salt can outweigh any health benefits from the original if sodium is a concern for you. Cukes are great for when you are dieting since they have few calories and can fill you up - you can eat an entire large cuke for under 50 calories, but the nutritional value is pretty much zero (as in under 2% RDV of anything vitamin/mineral wise) - especially in relation to other veggie options out there. Bulk isn't nutrition, it's bulk meant to take up space in your stomach to make you feel full, but water does the same thing.

    Yes, Cukes are low-calorie by themselves, but adding 1/8 to 1/4 of a tsp of salt to a five-inch piece is a lot of sodium for most people. If it is something you have to watch, pickles are a no go.
  • cricket_77
    cricket_77 Posts: 165 Member
    3. Giving them as gifts can also be fun if you're friend with folks that appreciate handmade gifts.

    I put a single packaged pickle in my daughters stocking this past Christmas! She loves pickles and had a good laugh :laugh:
  • JenSD6
    JenSD6 Posts: 454 Member
    The beauty of pickling is that you can pickle so many different vegetables. Beans, carrots, beets, asparagus... the list goes on. Green beans are my favourite, and I make my own.

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