Your gut is coated with a layer of bacteria this layer is a protective layer for all things coming in from outside of the body. Your food has to pass through this layer and this layer helps to protect you from toxins, parasites, and undigested foods. This barrier is producing organic acids and your "good" bacteria is keeping your gut wall pH between 4-5 this makes an environment that is uncomfortable for pathogenic bacteria to live. The foods we eat impact what we are feeding bacteria-wise and the pH that is impacting the gut and what can thrive in the gut. When we have our natural gut flora balanced and thriving these bacteria have the ability to neutralize toxic chemicals, deal with histamines, and even heavy metals.
You may be asking what does this has to do with fermented foods. Eating fermented foods gives us probiotics and enzymes, this can be beneficial in a time of the gut bacteria is imbalanced and digestion not functioning. You can even open up nutrients to be easily digested after they have been fermented. For people who struggle with digestion, skin issues, allergies, and emotional disorders I highly recommend you start adding in fermented foods. Even if you just start with a spoon full a day till you work up to two servings a day.
Fermenting foods helps to break down sugars, destroy bad bacteria they help to promote good bacteria. They impact your pH balance with different organs, which then impacts how each of these organs can perform its actions and the organisms thriving in these organs. When the small intestine is overrun with an imbalance or overabundance of bad bacteria they can change the pH shifting it to more alkalinity (small intestines should be alkaline but you can be too alkaline) to maintain a pH balance for them to thrive. The stomach (stomach should be very acidic) then can be changed to alkaline which then stops you from triggering other digestive factors. The stomach can no longer predigest proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals if it is alkaline. Stomach acidity helps to trigger the release of pancreatic enzymes and bile from the liver/gallbladder, which is how we digest out fats.
Bad bacteria overrunning the intestines these bad bacteria put out toxins and they also intentionally damage the gut wall. This leads to a "leaky gut" where whole proteins and foods are coming into the bloodstream as well as histamines and then the body creates autoantibodies. Your good bacteria balanced helps to produce their own substance that works against pathogenic micro-organisms they produce an antibiotic substance, antiviral, and antifungal substance which is what fermented foods help promote.
Many have done studies on how bacteria impacts brain/mental health. This can mean depression is a factor of a bad gut and is hard to restore as the bad bacteria are driving you towards foods that can make you feel worse. This means how you even feel about yourself and the ability to have a good mental state will be a large struggle. Fermented foods are a way to help bring balance back to the gut and improving good mental health.
Fermented foods such as miso, kimchi, saurkrout, some pickles, and Keifer to name a few doing these every day helps support the pH balance and to support the bacteria balance. You will want to make sure to have organic. I recommend doing a few servings a day and to do a variety of different kinds of fermented foods to promote a variety of bacteria. Dumping a large number of probiotics when the gut is bad can have negative impacts as they do not have a place to thrive, you need to support the lining and health of the walls prior to starting to introduce probiotics.
There are supplements I use to help support the gut wall if you really refuse to eat fermented foods. Glutamine is an amino acid to support repair and specific to the gut, doing it 2-3 times a day in a drink. I also use Zymex which helps to nutritionally support the gut wall and support clearing of candida, Lactic Acid which is a beneficial yeast to help acidify the intestines. There are also different types of enzymes to help with the digestion of our foods this can depend on your diet and the type of foods you eat. If you are wanting support for your gut health feel free to set up a Zyto scan or do the symptom survey. You can do this on the website at the top of the page.