Diwali is that time of year when food becomes a love language. Every visit to a friend or relative’s home usually ends with laddoos, namkeen and mithai being served as a gesture. But along with this festive eating comes a common set of gut issues including, bloating, acidity, sluggishness and even sudden mood swings caused by hormonal stress.
Health experts say there is a simple and often ignored way to reduce these post-festival discomforts. It is not through detox teas or medication, but through fermented foods.
We got in touch with Bengaluru-based nutritionist and lifestyle coach Nidhi Nahata, Founder of Justbe, who says most people go for complicated fixes in their kitchen. She adds that fermented foods are a classic example of ‘simple solutions that were always part of Indian cuisine before science even called them probiotics.’
The gut and hormone relation
Your gut does more than digest food, it also affects your hormones. Nahata says the tiny bacteria in our gut help control things like blood sugar, stress and women’s hormones. When the gut is healthy, people usually feel calmer, have fewer mood swings, better sleep and more steady energy.
“Simple fermented foods like kanji, curd, idli or dosa batter, and rice ganji help grow good bacteria in the gut and make this balance easier,” she said.
Why ‘how’ you eat fermented foods matters
Not all fermented foods work the same way, and they won’t help if you eat them without thought. Nahata says it is better to choose homemade fermented foods instead of packaged ones because many store-bought versions have sugar and preservatives that reduce their benefits.
She also suggests eating fermented foods along with fibre from vegetables, fruits and whole grains, because fibre feeds the good bacteria and helps them grow. “You don’t need to eat a lot, small amounts eaten regularly, the way people did at home in earlier generations, work much better than eating a large quantity once in a while,” she explains.
How fermented foods help during and after Diwali
Adding fermented foods during the festive season like Diwali can make a lot of difference. They help the body handle sugar better, which means fewer energy crashes after sweets. They also support the production of serotonin and help lower stress hormones, which can steady your mood.
For many women, they can ease PMS and monthly hormone swings by supporting estrogen balance. And on the digestive side, they reduce bloating and that ‘heavy’ feeling by helping the body break down food and clear waste more efficiently.
So what can you start this Diwali week?
Nahata explains that you don’t need to follow any ‘fermented diet plan’ or make big changes to see benefits. What matters is adding one or two small habits to your daily routine. This could be as simple as eating a bowl of curd rice with lunch after a heavy dinner the previous night, choosing two idlis for breakfast instead of starting the day with sweets, drinking a glass of homemade kanji during the festive week, or adding a spoon of homemade pickle to meals instead of using packaged dips. These small steps, she says, are enough to support the gut without complicating your diet.
Eating fermented foods is not about following a trend, it is about returning to habits that kept hormonal and digestive balance in check for generations.
