New research shows that kimchi can really benefit our body. Fermented Korean classics can significantly strengthen immunity. According to the authors of the study, this fermented vegetable can significantly support the body’s defenses and at the same time help regulate the intensity of the immune reaction.
The study was conducted by the government-funded World Institute of Kimchi in South Korea, and the results were published in the respected science journal Science of Food from the Nature portfolio. The authors followed three groups of overweight adults. For 12 weeks, one group received a placebo, another a naturally fermented kimchi powder, and a third a starter culture fermented kimchi powder.
At the end of the study, the researchers took peripheral mononuclear cells, i.e. the key cells of the immune system, and used gene expression analysis to investigate what changes have taken place in them. This method made it possible to capture subtle differences in the immune response that cannot be detected by conventional tests.
Researchers found that antigen-presenting cell (APC) function was enhanced in people consuming kimchi. They recognize harmful bacteria or viruses and “display” them to other cells of the immune system so that they can eliminate them. A positive effect was also shown in CD4+ T lymphocytes, which coordinate the immune response.
In kimchi eaters, these cells evolved into both defensive and regulatory forms—those that help calm the immune system after the threat has passed, so that excessive inflammation or errors in attacking one’s own tissues do not occur.
“In our research, we demonstrated for the first time in the world that kimchi has two distinct and simultaneous effects: it activates defense cells and suppresses the overreaction of the immune system. We plan to expand international research on kimchi and lactobacilli in relation to immune and metabolic health,” said the main author of the study, Dr. Wu Che I from the World Institute of Kimchi.
