Fermented foods like sauerkraut are by no means new, but they have become more favored in the food world in the past decade or so due to their nutrition and other benefits. In sauerkraut's case, one of its stellar benefits is that it provides more of a nutritional punch than its caloric value would indicate. While "white" foods often end up being tossed out of people's diets, sauerkraut's benefits are too great to pass up.

What Is Nutrient Density?

One of the great things about sauerkraut is its nutrient density. In other words, it provides a lot of nutrition for comparatively few calories. One cup of sauerkraut provides only 27 calories, but within that 27 calories are 12 percent of the daily value of iron, 35 percent of the daily value for vitamin C, 7 percent of the daily value for copper, and so much more. While you might not eat a full cup of sauerkraut at once, if you have sauerkraut with most of your meals, you're adding a good amount of nutrition to your total daily intake.

Adding Nutrients Without Using up Caloric Real Estate

A secondary benefit of this nutrient density is that, if you're trying to lose weight, you can still get the nutrition you need without using up your calories for the day. Whether or not you count calories, you know that you can't eat unlimited calories if you're trying to lose or maintain your weight. But if you don't eat a lot of calories, you might not get enough of the vitamins and minerals that you need daily. This is one reason people take multivitamins, to fill in those gaps. Another approach, though, if you don't want to take vitamin pills, is to find these nutrient-dense foods like sauerkraut and add them to your diet. Every bit of nutrition you get adds up, and that includes the values in that quarter-cup or half-cup of sauerkraut you ate off your plate.

Low Energy but Filling

Yet another benefit to sauerkraut's nutrient density is that you can eat a relatively substantial amount and feel full. No, you don't have to eat tons of fermented cabbage. But even a half-cup adds bulk to your meal without adding too many additional calories. You feel more satisfied, so you don't have the urge to eat as much (as long as you also control stress and boredom-fueled hunger).

Sauerkraut is easy to find in many grocery stores, or you can order it from specialty-food companies. If you've never had it before, start with a small jar and see what food combinations you would like to add it to. You may find it quickly becomes a favorite. For more information about the health benefits of sauerkraut, contact a local service, such as Fermentools.