Pickles are one of our favorite ingredients. The salty, tangy snap of a pickle is great for topping a burger, frying into a chip, or just snacking on their own. Our love for pickles goes so far that we even like using the leftover brine in the jar.
Pickling has been used as a food-preservation method for millennia, and one of the byproducts of the process is the juice that offers a concentrated punch of briny flavor. You can add it to a shot of whiskey. You can use it in place of vinegar in a salad dressing. It’s even Chick-fil-A’s secret to achieving well-seasoned chicken.
We all know pickle juice is delicious, but what exactly is it? What health benefits does it offer, and what risks should we keep in mind?
What Is Pickle Juice?
Pickle juice is the remaining liquid from the pickling process that preserves cucumbers. There are different techniques that yield different types of brine. Vinegar pickles are made by submerging cucumbers in a salty vinegar-based marinade. This method is the more consistent one and can create pickles fairly quickly (which is why we often call it quick pickling).
The lacto-fermentation method, on the other hand, is kind of like the sourdough of the pickle world. Instead of using a vinegar base, lacto-fermented pickles are brined in salt water, which draws out the cucumber’s natural moisture.
Then, the liquid sits at an ambient temperature and develops a colony of live lactobacilli bacteria. “During the fermentation process bacteria collect in the liquid which contributes sour flavors and transforms vegetables from raw to pickled,” says Celine Beitchman, Director of Nutrition at the Institute of Culinary Education’s New York City campus. Because each colony is unique, lacto-fermented pickles have a less consistent but more complex flavor.
What Are The Health Benefits Of Pickle Juice?
Depending on what type of pickle brine you’re using, you can take advantage of different nutritional benefits. That’s especially true for the lacto-fermented variety. “These bacteria strains have been shown to provide digestive benefits and promote gut health,” Beitchman says.
On the other hand, that doesn’t mean you should necessarily rely on pickles as your sole source of gut-healthy bacteria. “The amount of bacteria in most lacto-fermented pickles isn’t enough to survive stomach acid and make it to your intestines,” says Melanie Betz MS, RD, CSR, FNKF, FAND, Founder & CEO of The Kidney Dietitian in Chicago, IL.
Vinegar-based pickle juice doesn’t come with the same probiotic benefit, but the acidic ingredient is also known to aid your digestive system. “Vinegar gets your gastric juices flowing,” says Beitchman. It can help activate digestive enzymes and assist the body in breaking down fats.
What Are The Health Risks Of Pickle Juice?
While pickles are made from cucumbers, salt is arguably their main ingredient. Salt preserves pickles and prevents spoilage. The high concentration of sodium in pickle juice means that you shouldn’t consume large amounts of it—and in turn, this limits your intake of its health benefits.
“Just two fluid ounces of pickle juice has about 25% of your daily sodium allowance,” says Betz. Americans, on average, already consume more sodium than we need (by about 1,000 milligrams, Betz says).
High-sodium diets can contribute to health problems down the line, including high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney disease, kidney stones, and stroke. Because of the high concentration of salt in pickle juice, both Betz and Beitchman say it’s best to be mindful of the amount you’re eating.
It’s also worth noting that a lot of pickles available at the supermarket are made with artificial flavors and dyes—so make sure to check the ingredients list before you buy a jar.
Expertise: TikTok Trends, Drinks, Pop Culture
Education: B.A. in Journalism and B.S. in Communications from NYU, Culinary Arts degree from The Institute of Culinary Education
About Me: As an associate editor at Delish, Gabby works on everything from features to recipes to content on our social media channels. Before joining the team, she wrote for StarChefs Rising Stars Magazine, Mashed, and Food52. When she’s not developing cocktail recipes, she’s making cocktail-inspired dishes like and . Her features cover online trends like the , rank everything from to , and answer some of your most pressing food safety questions. You can also find her posting content on Delish’s TikTok, including her about cooking like influencer Nara Smith that garnered over 3M combined views. She loves eating spicy food, collecting cookbooks, and adding a mountain of Parmesan to any dish she can.
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