Lifestyle Sports: Latest from Food Politics: Industry-funded study of the week: kimchi

by Marion Nestle

July 07 2025

Industry-funded study of the week: kimchi

Apparently, no food can exist without research attesting to its healthfulness. This item comes from Karla Alindahao, senior editor at Food & Wine (for which I have promised to start writing—more on this later in the summer).

She sent me the NBC News account: Eating kimchi every day could help stave off weight gain, new study says: Cabbage and radish kimchi, a popular fermented vegetable dish, in particular were effective in reducing the risk of obesity and abdominal obesity in both men and women.

As usual, I went right to the study: Jung H, Yun Y-R, Hong SW, et al. Association between kimchi consumption and obesity based on BMI and abdominal obesity in Korean adults: a cross- sectional analysis of the Health Examinees study. BMJ Open 2024;14:e076650. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2023-076650

Kimchi, fermented vegetables, contains probiotic lactic acid bacteria.

In this survey, higher kimchi consumption was related to a lower prevalence of obesity.

Eating radish kimchi was associated with 8% lower abdominal obesity in men and 11% in women.

As for the funding: “This research was supported by grants from the World Institute of Kimchi (KE2201- 1) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea.”

Comment

Somehow, the caveats got lost in the press releases.

Oops: Both lower and higher kimchi consumption were associated with obesity (a ‘J- shaped’ association).

The authors caution:

In conclusion, total kimchi consumption of 1–3 servings/day was shown to be reversely associated with obesity in men…However, since all results showed a ‘J- shaped’ association, excessive consumption suggests the potential for an increase in obesity prevalence. As kimchi is one of the major sources of sodium intake, a moderate amount of kimchi should be recommended for the health benefits of its other components.

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