Pickles Nutritional Value: Do They Have Any Health Benefits?

A pickle is called by a different term depending on the country, for instance, the people residing in the US and Canada use the term pickle while those living in South Africa, New Zealand, or Great Britain call it a gherkin.

Most pickles, garlic or green chili, are great with almost anything, be it a burger and maybe a meal, depending on your preferences.

Pickles consist of plenty of minerals and vitamins. It is to be noted that pickles that are fragmented or fragmented pickles yield greater potential health benefits than the ones that are unfermented. But this is not to say that unfermented pickles are not healthy, they do contain several vitamins such as vitamin A and vitamin K. But how do you turn a vegetable table into a pickle? The process is called pickling where the food is left to soak in a solution, either brine or vinegar, which helps stave off spoilage.

After reading about the benefits of different types of pickles, also check cauliflower fun facts and banana facts. 

Nutritional Profile In One Cup Of Pickle

Fermented pickles contain vitamins and minerals that yield several health benefits. The best part? Though they are vegetables turned pickles, they have a greater life span than vegetables and stand at par with the veggies in terms of their nutritional value.

Let us first see what are the advantages of consuming 3.5 oz (100 g) of a pickle. The number of calories you will intake is 60. Protein and fat will be less than 0.03 oz (1 g).  Carbs will equal 0.48 oz (16 g) and sugar 0.3 oz (11 g). Fiber 0.48 oz (16g), copper, as per daily value (DV), it will be 13%, manganese- 10% of the daily value, folate- 7% of the daily value, Riboflavin- 4% of the daily value, magnesium- 4% of the daily value, vitamin C, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6 and choline is 3% of the daily value.

To add to that, fermented pickles consist of a plethora of manganese, natural sugar, copper, and folate. But what benefits will you get? You are provided with vitamin K for strong bones, calcium for healthy teeth and nerves, protection of cells by vitamin C, vitamin A that is beneficial for vision, immune system, and also for pregnancy, and calcium is beneficial for teeth and bones.

These will help you boost your energy, elevate your immune system, form DNA, and also make your bones stronger. Pickles also have high sodium content. Let's take a more in-depth look and analyze their benefits in terms of other factors such as weight loss.

Health Benefits Of Pickles

It is amazing how these two are even interconnected, right? Who would have thought that pickles prove useful for health? Sit back and scroll for more information on them.

See them as snacks

Yes! Including pickles in your diet and as an alternative for packed junk food can do wonders. This is because of their low-calorie count, for instance, a cup of dill pickles contains only 17 calories. By substituting your chips with dill pickles three times a week for a whole year, you won't be putting on as much as pounds of weight. Apple cider vinegar is something that is used for weight loss too.

Vinegar to your rescue

The sour taste of pickles is credited to vinegar, used to brine the pickle. But how do vinegar pickles help in losing weight? It's all because of the acetic acid in vinegar. A study suggests that rats who consumed acetic acid had fewer chances of obesity than others who did not. Further, it helps you stay full, and ultimately your total consumption of food will be low and satisfaction high. Vinegar pickles help you boost calories, speeding the process of weight loss. While these are proven results, they are not complete, meaning, more research on this is yet to be done for getting a clearer picture.

Sodium and health

If you are a pickle lover, here's what you need to acknowledge. Pickles are high in sodium, the same goes for pickle juice. This amount of sodium intake is not at all healthy. It becomes an obstacle not because it does not let you shed off the extra pounds, but because it does not let it show even after you do lose the weight. Pickles and pickle juice, can add to that water weight and thus not let you 'flex' on your hard work. One cup of dill pickle contains 0.04 oz (1,208 mg) of sodium, which is about 48% percent of your daily requirement.

Besides this, some doctors suggest staying away from pickles and pickle juice if you are on a weight loss journey because they contain preservatives that may lead to bloating. Some pickles that are soaked in oil are too high in calories. Hence, having lemon or green chili will be a better option if you cannot control those cravings.

Are pickles bad for your kidneys?

The odds are against pickles and pickle juice, this time. They are not good for the kidney because they are high in salt.

It is to be noted that, during the pickling process, a vast amount of salt is poured into the pickle. As a result, you will be consuming 0.01 oz (300 mg) of sodium in just a single spear of a pickle after the pickling. All of this salt intake will cause your blood pressure level to rise which can lead to chronic kidney disease. To add to that, a rise in blood pressure is harmful to your heart and can cause heart strokes.

How many pickles can you eat in a day?

It can be hard to resist having pickles but if you do not control them, it can be even harder to recover from its consequences. While pickles are incredible, they might not be as healthy if you consume them daily.

Because of their high sodium intake, they are bad for your heart and increase levels of cholesterol. Also, because of the oil that they contain, pickles consist of trans-fat. Possibly your worst enemy.

You should try to eat one or two pickle pieces each day, while the number may seem like it's nothing, only two pickles a day exceed the limit of sodium intake.

Talking about preserved foods, be it foods for health or junk foods, they sometimes use artificial colors to make the food look more attractive. Fermented pickles like pickled cucumber with salty brine can cause high blood pressure due to the high sodium content. Too much saltwater brine can cause problems with gut health. Problems with gut health may include the killing off the good bacteria, weight gain in healthy adults, and gastric cancer.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for pickles nutritional value: do they have any health benefits? then why not take a look at William Golding facts: learn about the absoloutely amazing author, or deep diving into the astounding Atlantic Ocean food chain.