All hail pickles! Listen up, tallow lovers. You can slather on the most luxurious balms (and yes, we make them), but if your gut is in distress, your skin and mood will likely follow suit. Enter: fermented foods. Functional, intuitive, deeply ancestral, and utterly transformational. We’re returning to the roots of this practice, not just because it’s beautiful (it is), but because it works.
We’re diving deep into the benefits of fermented foods for gut healing, skin clearing, hormonal support, and emotional wellness. And because we’re not just about the theory, we’re also sharing how to start fermenting at home—because this isn’t just a wellness trend, it’s a reclamation. 😈
What Is Fermentation?
Fermentation is the original form of preservation—long before refrigerators, there were root cellars and crocks. In the simplest terms, it’s a process where natural bacteria and yeast break down sugars in foods, creating acids, enzymes, and probiotics that transform the taste and nutritional profile.
It was never about being trendy. It was about survival, resilience, and nourishment. Today, amidst ultra-processed everything and sanitized lifestyles, fermentation is making a long-overdue comeback. And it’s especially powerful for women.
The Feminine Connection to Fermentation
Fermentation is cyclical, intuitive, and deeply connected to nature’s rhythms—much like the female body. It teaches patience. It thrives on balance. It doesn’t rush. It asks us to listen and observe.
Ancestral women knew how to keep families well. They stirred bubbling miso pots and buried kimchi jars not as wellness fans, but as keepers of the home and hearth. Today, women are rediscovering the power in this simplicity. We’re not outsourcing our health anymore. We’re reclaiming it.
Fermentation and Gut Health
Let’s get biological for a second. Your gut is home to trillions of microorganisms, collectively known as the microbiome. This inner ecosystem impacts everything from digestion and immunity to hormone regulation and mood.
Modern life has not been kind to our microbiomes. Think: antibiotics, processed food, chlorinated water, chronic stress, refined sugar. All of it chips away at microbial diversity.
Fermented foods, rich in naturally occurring probiotics and enzymes, help repopulate the gut with beneficial bacteria. Unlike synthetic probiotics in capsules (which often don’t survive stomach acid), real fermented foods arrive in your digestive tract alive and ready to rebalance.
What Fermented Foods Actually Do for Your Gut:
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Increase good bacteria
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Reduce inflammation
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Aid digestion
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Strengthen the intestinal lining
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Crowd out harmful microbes
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Improve nutrient absorption
Fermentation and Skin Health
There’s a direct line between the gut and your skin. If your microbiome is inflamed or imbalanced, it shows up on your face. This includes acne, rosacea, eczema, dullness, or uneven texture.
Fermented foods reduce systemic inflammation, support liver detox pathways, and help regulate hormones; which all lead to brighter, clearer skin. You can literally eat your way to a glow.
We believe in dual nourishment: topical and internal. Our tallow-rich balms work in harmony with your skin’s microbiome, while fermented foods work from the inside out. It’s ancestral wellness at its finest.
Mental Health, Mood + Emotional Balance
Hormonal fluctuations are natural, but they can feel chaotic when our systems are out of sync. Fermented foods impact more than digestion—they support the gut-brain axis, which governs neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and GABA. Nearly 90% of serotonin is produced in the gut. When you nurture your microbiome, you nurture your mood.
Benefits for the Mind:
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Reduced anxiety and depressive symptoms
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Better stress resilience
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More stable moods during hormonal shifts
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Enhanced clarity and focus
This is especially potent for women navigating fertility, postpartum depletion, perimenopause, or simply the emotional whiplash of modern life.
Hormone Support Through Fermented Foods
Fermented foods aid in estrogen clearance through the gut-liver axis. If you’re not properly detoxifying excess estrogen, it can recirculate, leading to PMS, breast tenderness, bloating, mood swings, or even more serious hormonal imbalances.
Fermentation also enhances the bioavailability of nutrients like zinc, magnesium, and B vitamins—all of which are crucial for hormone synthesis and regulation.
This is why ancestral diets (often full of fermented dairy, vegetables, grains, and even meats) were so stabilizing for women. Fermentation isn’t just about the gut. It’s hormonal harmony.
Five Fermented Foods to Start With
You don’t need to overhaul your pantry overnight. Start with a few ferments that feel approachable and delicious. Here are our favorites:
1. Raw Pickles
Made with water and salt (not vinegar), raw pickles are easy to make at home and packed with gut-loving probiotics. They’re also great for cravings, hangovers and blood sugar balance.
2. Sauerkraut
This shredded cabbage classic is a probiotic powerhouse. Try a forkful with your lunch to aid digestion and support skin clarity.
3. Kimchi
Tasty and deeply anti-inflammatory. Kimchi contains garlic, ginger, and gochugaru (Korean chili flakes) that provide antioxidant and immune support. Put in on your farm fresh eggs and thank us later.
4. Miso
Fermented soy paste used in broths and marinades. Just one tablespoon of miso stirred into warm water makes an enzyme-rich tonic for your gut.
5. Kefir
More probiotic strains than yogurt, and less sugar. Sip it, blend it, or drizzle it over granola.
How to Start Fermenting at Home
Fermenting at home is more than a kitchen project; it’s a ritual of sorts, you might say. It connects you to time, place, and process. It’s slow and intentional. It reminds us that healing doesn’t come from perfection, but from daily devotion.
How to Make Basic Fermented Pickles:
Ingredients:
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Small cucumbers (kirby or pickling variety)
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2 tablespoons sea salt
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2 cups filtered water
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Optional: garlic cloves, dill, mustard seeds, peppercorns
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1 sterilized glass jar
Instructions:
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Dissolve salt into filtered water to create a brine.
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Pack cucumbers and spices into the jar.
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Pour brine over until everything is fully submerged.
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Cover with a cloth or loose lid. Let sit at room temp for 5–7 days.
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Taste. When they’re tangy and delicious, refrigerate.
Consume Fermented Foods Daily
Fermented foods offer a functional path to wellness; especially for women navigating modern health challenges. Their rich concentration of live probiotic strains, enzymes, and bioavailable nutrients supports gut integrity, balances hormones, improves skin health, and strengthens the gut-brain axis.
We incorporate ferments into our meals daily: a spoonful of kraut with eggs, miso stirred into bone broths, or a mid-afternoon kefir pick me up. The beauty of fermentation lies in its simplicity and consistency. Just a few bites each day can shift your internal ecosystem toward resilience, and that inner balance is where true vitality begins. Try it for yourself.
Shop ancestral tallow-based skincare. 🐄