Researchers in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources (CAHNR) have completed a review study that highlights the health benefits of kimchi, a Korean food that has been gaining global popularity in recent years.

Kimchi is made from fermented cabbage and radish and flavored with spices like salt, chili powder, garlic, and ginger. While the food was not always popular in the U.S., nowadays you can find it in many American grocery stores.

A paper published in Nutrition Reviews provides an overview of existing studies on the health benefits of kimchi, consolidating this information for United States-based researchers. The work was led by Seoeun Ahn, a postdoctoral researcher and visiting scholar in the lab of Ock Chun, professor of nutritional sciences and interim associate dean for research and graduate education.

The review included nine studies that looked at various health impacts of fermented kimchi for human participants. The studies spanned from 2011 to 2023.

These studies highlight that fermented kimchi consumption provides benefits for fasting glucose levels, triglycerides, and hypertension. Compared to the control group, those who consumed fermented kimchi had 1.93 mg/dL lower fasting glucose, 28.88 mg/dL lower triglyceride levels, and reductions in systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 3.48 mmHg and 2.68 mmHg, respectively.

“That’s a really good number,” Chun says. “In clinical settings, even a reduction of 5 mmHg in systolic blood pressure is considered a meaningful improvement. So, seeing comparable reductions from a dietary intervention, not medication, is a very promising result.”

The fact that kimchi reduced blood pressure was surprising as it is high in sodium – a factor that normally contributes to high blood pressure.

“This suggests that other components of kimchi, such as beneficial bacteria, offset the hypertensive effect of sodium,” Ahn says.

The researchers included only studies that looked at fermented kimchi, as opposed to just studying the impact of the unfermented ingredients to have a consistent source for comparison.

This paper not only provides a meta-analysis of existing research on fermented kimchi, but also helps introduce this traditional Korean food to a broader scientific audience.

Since all the included studies were conducted in Korea among Asian populations, the results may not yet apply to other groups. Still, the work lays a foundation for future research in the U.S., where dietary habits and population diversity differ.

“It would be very meaningful to conduct an intervention study in the U.S.,” Ahn says. “That way we could see if the findings of this metanalysis can be generalized to more diverse populations.”

This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision area focused on Enhancing Health and Well-Being Locally, Nationally, and Globally.

Follow UConn CAHNR on social media