Exploring The Health Benefits Of Kimchi

Kimchi is a traditional fermented Korean dish served in almost every meal, including breakfast. Kimchi is packed with nutrients, and it’s a gut-friendly food. Let’s explore its health benefits?

Hundreds of years ago it wasn’t possible to grow and preserve fresh food like vegetables. At that time, food preservation methods were scarce, and they needed to be creative. Pickling and fermentation were the two main ways people preserved their food for more extended periods of time, especially through long and heavy winters.

Kimchi is one of these dishes born out of food preservation creativity. The traditional kimchi is composed of cabbage and seasonings like sugar, salt, onions, garlic, ginger, and chili peppers. But it may also include other veggies like carrots, celery, spinach, etc.

“The process to make kimchi begins with bringing or salting the vegetables to draw out the water, which aids in the preservation and allows the seasonings to easily penetrate. Then, the vegetables are fermented by lactic acid bacteria.”

Mia Syn, nutritionist to Women’s Health

Kimchi is an easy and affordable option for those who want to add gut-friendly food filled with probiotics to their diets. It is also low in calories, and it serves all meals.

So far, you get the feeling how kimchi is super healthy, and it can easily be added to your current diet. Just before you pick yourself your Mason jar and decide to make your kimchi, let’s see more of its health benefits, shall we?

It Boosts The Immune System

As you already know, kimchi is packed with good bacteria, and they’re pretty beneficial to our digestive tract. It also benefits the immune system, as the gut is the powerhouse of most immune responses on the body. When the gut microbiome is in balance, the immune system is capable to operate in its best performance.

It May Reduce Cholesterol

Even though it isn’t clear the link between cholesterol and kimchi, neither which ingredients are precisely responsible for that, some studies show that people who eat kimchi regularly tend to have lower LDL cholesterol (popularly known as the “bad” cholesterol).

It May Reduce Inflammation

One of the main health benefits of probiotic food is the anti-inflammatory property. One study published in 2017 found that a specific strain of probiotic found in kimchi reduced several markers for inflammation in the digestive tract.