Why a Forkful of Sauerkraut Might Be the Best Thing You Can Do for Your Gut

Can’t decide what to have for lunch today? Whatever you choose, the findings of a new study suggest that you may want to add a little bit of sauerkraut on top. Not only will it be delicious, but it also turns out to be excellent for your gut, too.

In April, researchers from the University of California, Davis, published their findings in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology, which found that a forkful of sauerkraut may do more than jazz up a hot dog — it could also help your intestinal lining combat inflammation. 

The team reached its conclusion after conducting a series of cell-culture experiments, creating a tiny faux “intestine” in the lab by growing human‑derived cells. They then exposed it to two inflammatory cytokines that normally make the intestinal barrier leak.

However, before this inflammatory assault, the team dripped different liquids onto the cells: plain raw cabbage juice, straight brine, several home‑fermented cabbage batches, and a store-bought refrigerated brand of sauerkraut. Here’s where things get interesting: According to the authors, only fermented cabbage helped protect the “intestinal” lining. Neither the plain cabbage nor the brine helped.

As for how that fermentation made all the difference, the researchers found that the act of fermenting completely changes a cabbage. Hungry bacteria consume all the sugars while also producing a variety of new compounds like organic acids, amino acids, and lactic acid, which gives sauerkraut its signature flavor.

As the paper noted, “intestinal barrier‑protective compounds are consistently enriched during cabbage fermentations, irrespective of the scale or microbial additions.”​ Even when the researchers dosed the cell cultures with each individual molecule, nothing worked, showing that the real power was in the full fermented version.

While this is great news for sauerkraut fans, it’s still important to remember that this was a cell study, not a human trial, so the science has a long way to go. However, it does offer a plausible explanation for why fermented vegetables have been linked to better digestion. The best news of all is that the store-bought and homemade sauerkrauts performed similarly, so there’s no need to spend hours in the kitchen making it all on your own.

“Some of the metabolites we find in the sauerkraut are the same kind of metabolites we’re finding to be made by the gut microbiome, so that gives us a little more confidence that this connection we found between the metabolites in sauerkraut and good gut health makes sense,” food science professor Maria Marco shared in a statement. “It doesn’t matter, in a way, if we make sauerkraut at home or we buy it from the store; both kinds of sauerkraut seemed to protect gut function.”

If you want to whip up a batch at home, we have a recipe for you right here. And if you do go for store-bought, just make sure to look for live, refrigerated sauerkraut, as the heating required to make it shelf-stable can destroy the compounds this study credits with protecting the gut lining. Now you at least have something to chat about at your next BBQ, too.