Those who savor that bitter flavor of homemade pickle – if only they knew with great flavor comes with great benefits.

1. It Protects You From Common Cold

Vegetables and fruits that you pickled contain many vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that strengthen the immune system. Consuming pickles from different vegetables rather than a single type of pickles increases the antioxidant variety taken into the body. With its high antioxidant variety and capacity, you can use it literally as a shield against cold in winter.

2. It Strengthens Immunity

Pickle protects and strengthens the immune system as a whole. This protective effect comes from both probiotic bacteria in its content and the characteristics of the vegetables and fruits that present in the pickle. It is a fermented food, so it is rich in bacteria. These bacteria enrich the intestinal flora – and strong intestinal flora means strong immune system. The beneficial bacteria that come with pickles also support the production of vitamin K in the intestines. Vitamin K, on the other hand, is a vitamin that plays a role in blood clotting after injuries. It also contributes to B group vitamins such as thiamine and riboflavin. While thiamine helps to protect the nervous system and strengthen memory, it also acts as a protective agent against depression. Both thiamine and riboflavin play an important role in carbohydrate and fat metabolism.

3. It Balances Blood Sugar

Since pickles contain high amount of fiber, especially when eaten with a meal, the duration of the meal to leave the stomach slows down, insulin release becomes balanced and more controlled blood sugar is achieved. Since it will be, eating pickles can cause your blood pressure to rise. This can pose a risk to your kidneys. Diabetic patients should consume pickles in a very controlled manner and even not consume any pickles.

4. It Reduces Cramps In Athletes

Along with fluid loss, many minerals are lost together with sweat during exercise. Both pickles and pickled water are a quick way to replace lost fluids and minerals. There have been studies showing that consumption of pickle water in athletes reduces cramping after exercise.

5. It Protects Against Cancer

Since each vegetable used in pickling is rich in a separate antioxidant, they fight against free radicals with a rich antioxidant capacity. The antioxidant capacity of flavonoids, especially in garlic and cauliflower pickles, is even higher. Diversifying it instead of focusing on a single pickle allows the intake of different vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

6. It Accelerates Metabolism, Help You Slim Down

It’s been proven in some animal studies that acetic acid derived from vinegar in pickles prevents fat storage in the body. Pickles helps dieters to lose weight due to its metabolism-accelerating effect, its effectiveness against constipation and its low calorie content. The fact that it is a fibrous food prolongs satiety and also helps you with eating less.

7. It Helps With Constipation

The health of the intestinal flora is essential for regular bowel movements and it protects intestinal health with its high fiber structure and fermented bacteria in its content. At the same time, pickles made of high-fiber vegetables and fruits increase the volume of stool in this way, allowing the metabolic wastes to be removed from the body more easily and are good for constipation.

So What’s The Catch?

Pickles can be eaten up to the palm of the hand 2-3 days a week. Pickles are a food that should be approached cautiously for those with blood pressure, diabetes, kidney and stomach disease. People with these diseases should definitely consume pickle consumption in a controlled manner by consulting their physicians and dieticians, or they should not consume them at all according to their disease levels.