Does fermenting veggies change the macronutrient/caloric values?

HeySwoleSister
HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
edited November 8 in Food and Nutrition
I love to pickle jars of mixed vegetables (true fermentation pickling a la Sandor Katz, not vinegar marinading) and am wondering about logging them in my food diary. I have been logging as plain raw veggies, (I'm not really worried about sodium intake, so I don't bother with that) but I wonder if the lacto fermentation process has any effect on the calories? I can't scientifically figure out why it would (as the only ingredients are salt, water, veggies, and time) but perhaps the lacto fermentation converts fiber into more bioavailable calories? Is that a thing?

Replies

  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    If you're concerned then just weigh the veggies before and after pickling. Weigh raw before adding to liquid, add that to your recipe builder, and then once they are done pickling just weigh out how much they weigh now and use that weight to serve as your serving size.

    E.g. if they weigh 500 grams after pickling, and you want to grab like 80 grams, that's 0.16 of a serving. Or you can put it as 500 servings if the recipe builder is working for this method again.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    edited December 2014
    I wouldn't over-think this too much...any difference is going to be largely irrelevant in immaterial.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    That's an interesting question. I mean, fermenting grape juice makes a significant difference in the sugars, but I believe most of the antioxidants are unaffected. I'm not sure about other nutrients.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    edited December 2014
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    I wouldn't over-think this too much...any difference is going to be largely irrelevant in immaterial.

    ^^
    This.

    But to be completely anal, the answer is yes, there would be some changes. You're cultivating various microorganisms in amounts that weren't on the raw veg. And then eating them. So there's that. Plus, there're various metabolic processes converting (for example) sugars to alcohols, etc.

    To make more specific estimates, you'd need to know the content of the growth media, the exact species and starting amounts of microorganism you're cultivating, as well as their growth rates.

    ETA: Seriously? A n a l is a forbidden word?
    ETA2: OK, never mind. It corrected itself after the 1st edit. So weird.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
    LOL, thanks, folks. If the difference is minimal, I'm not concerned. I'm not that uptight...I just wanted to be sure my delicious homemade ferments really were as lo-cal as the raw materials seemed to imply. I would never eat a MASSIVE bowl of raw turnips, cauliflower, and onions, but fermented? YES, PLEASE. Wanted to be sure I wasn't kidding myself.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,966 Member
    Ooh. Please post recipe for fermenting veg.
  • Vertisol
    Vertisol Posts: 10 Member
    Hi EWJL, great question!! I've often thought about it and the answer I came up with is that is probably doesn't do anything to the amount of calories but it may improve nutrient availability. A quick google and link onto the first site came up with this:

    "The nutritional value of fermented foods is enormous, increasing B vitamins such as riboflavin, thiamin and niacin. The activated form of folic acid is increased, which helps with cardiovascular and cancer risks (see homocysteine handout). Choline is increased, which breaks down fat in the body and liver and helps with constipation. In addition, fermentation increases glutathione, an anti aging amino acid, and enzymes needed for digestion and detoxification."

    Hope this helps
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
    ACPGEE: look in to "Wild Fermentation" and the "Art of Fermentation" by Sandor Eliz Katz. Basically, most firm veg (think cabbage and firmer, it doesn't work as well with kale/lettuce/collard types) and salt and water will attract natural probiotics in the air to create fantastic tart foods ripe with nutrients and helpful digestive microbes. I went ahead and took the lazy route and invested in "kraut caps" premade for sale on Amazon, plus bought a huge 2L valve jar for big ferments. let your mix sit on the counter for a week, and you will have a tasty veg mix like most of our ancestors enjoyed. if you don't want to buy the books I mentioned, google the titles, many youtube videos and blog entries will tell you how to ferment your own veg.
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