My Russian/Hungarian family loves pickled oddities too... pickled tomatoes and peppers, etc. The main health issue is the huge amount of salt in these items.

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Most pickles are pretty darn high in salt though, so if you have high blood pressure (and if sodium effects it), you might want to watch it there.

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I love pickles too: regular old cucumber pickles, kim chi, daikon, pickled onions (these are Japanese I think), sauerkraut, and these pink pickled turnips at my local falafel shop. Yum...

I do think they are an acquired taste though. I didn't like them when I was a kid.

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I'm all about pickles of all sorts, but I'm skeptical about the health benefits you suggested. First, not all pickling processes use fermentation to... um... pickle, and second, those that do employ strains of bacteria that don't generally enjoy living in the human GI tract. Not that I'm 100% sure of that (prove me wrong?), but I've never heard them mentioned among all the probiotic lactobacillus strains I'm aware of.

And the sodium content is fairy relative... like so many other things, unless you overindulge, the sodium content of pickles isn't a reason on its own to completely avoid pickles.

My favorite? Hot bread and butter pickles... I use them to make the (in)famous PB&B&BP sandwich. It's a tounge-twister, a palindrome, and mighty tasty - all in one!

g

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Sure hope you've tried lacto-fermented pickled veggies and fruits. You have to make them on your own since they're purely artisanal and processed food companies want no deviations. Helps you get away from the vinegar and accompanying sugar and high salt content of standard pickled whatever. You can eliminate salt altogether if you simply use some whey, which you make easily by draining regular yogurt overnight. The good stuff with live cultures, please. They'll have names and not just say "cultured." The result is chock full of probiotics, enzymes, and FLAVOR. Check all the health benefits which can be found at westonaprice.org (http://www.westonaprice.org/foodfeatures/lacto.html)and lots of recipes in Sally Fallon's "Nourishing Traditions."

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The french pickles (cornichons)which are sour are great too. sandwich with ham and butter and cornichons is my favorite. they are hard to find though, only in gourmet markets.

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An article on CNN says:

http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00301.html

Limit smoked, pickled and heavily salted foods. These have been linked to an increased risk of stomach cancer. Countries where the consumption of smoked, pickled and salted food is high have correspondingly high stomach cancer rates.

????

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I have eatten pickles since I was a kid, especially sweet gerkins. I didn't know what a dill pickle was until I hit puberty. Are sweet pickles really that strange to people? No one I know besides me likes them. More for me!

And on another note, I always found the largest variety of good quality pickled veggies at asian markets. Spicy cabbage kimchi with Mongolian beef is delicious.

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pickled beets,squash, okra and are great with a equal amout of sugar and vnegar it is great!

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Have you ever had smoked jalapeño they are pickled and they have no salt and no sugar they are made by smokin dave

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