Dr Manal Mohammed, who teaches Microbiology, wrote an article for The Conversation about how some fermented foods could be harmful to your health. The article was republished by Mail Online, The Independent, The Times, Scottish Daily Mail, Irish Daily Mail, Daily Mail and Inverse.

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In the article, Dr Mohammed spoke about fermented foods, and warned that they can be harmful for some people. She said: “Though these fermented foods might offer us many health perks, most people aren’t aware that they might not work for everyone. For some people, fermented foods might cause serious health issues.”

Talking about some of the side-effects of consuming fermented foods including bloating, she said: “The most common reaction to fermented foods is a temporary increase in gas and bloating. This is the result of excess gas being produced after probiotics kill harmful gut bacteria and fungi.”

She also said that some people could be intolerant to histamines, because some people did not produce enough of the enzymes that would naturally digest them. She said: “Histamine is plentiful in fermented foods. 

“This can cause a range of histamine intolerance symptoms. The most common are itching, headaches or migraines, runny nose, eye redness, fatigue, hives and digestive symptoms include diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting.”

She said: “While there are a wide variety of health benefits that can happen from consuming fermented foods, these may not work for everyone. While most people will be fine eating fermented foods, for some they could cause serious health problems.”

Read the full article on The Conversation’s website.
 

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