Several presidential cabinet members are trumpeting the benefits of their diets of fermented food.

According to Washington, D.C. media outlets, RFK Jr., Vice President Vance and others are eating a lot of sauerkraut and other fermented foods, claiming results in weight loss and gut health.

Erika Graziani, an outpatient dietitian, did sing the praises of fermented foods as part of a healthy diet. What kinds of foods are we talking about?

"When we talk about fermented foods, we're basically talking about foods that are … created from the growth of some type of microbes, so bacteria, yeast, fungus."

She said that what most people get wrong is thinking that all fermented foods are probiotic. They must be tested and proven to be probiotic, and not all fermented foods are equal. Some are heat-treated, which can destroy a lot of the benet.

For probiotic fermented foods, look for foods with “naturally fermented” or “live cultures” on the label. Apparently your gut will thank you.

"When you have like a probiotic type of fermented food, that means … this is good bacteria, right?" Graziani said.

"So if we're, contributing more good stuff to our gut flora, it sort of crowds out and pushes away the bad stuff potentially, and so that's been shown to help minimize inflammation or reduce that."

There's a big connection with gut health and overall health, Graziani said.

"[The] majority of the immune system is located in our gut, right? So if we're taking in foods that help to kind of support and flourish that, that's gonna also help our immunity as well."

D.C. outlets claim cabinet members are eating a lot of sauerkraut for this purpose. (Even some sauerkraut is not probiotic, though; it depends on how it's treated.) If you’re not a sauerkraut fan, look for natural fermentation in kimchi, kefir, yogurt, kombucha, even to some extent, sourdough bread.

And what about the politicians’ claims of weight loss from this diet?

"A lot of these foods are using plant-sourced foods, which also contain fiber, which is filling and has its own set of benefits," she said. "But I wouldn't say that we could just not change anything, but just add these fermented foods and we're going to lose weight."

Cabinet members are following the advice of Dr. Sean O’Mara, who also recommends eating grass-fed beef and eliminating alcohol and sugar. Recent studies have indicated that really no amount of alcohol is beneficial or even safe and neither are added sugars, Graziani said. And if you’re going to eat beef, grass-fed is probably better than grain-fed.

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