Kimchi

Studies in people

• Benefit

  Weight loss in adults²

  Eating moderate amounts of kimchi was linked to weight loss in middle-aged and older Koreans, especially men.

• Benefit

  Blood cholesterol levels⁴

  Eating more kimchi lowered blood sugar and cholesterol in young healthy adults over seven days.

• Open question

  Asthma in adults⁷

  Adults with asthma ate less kimchi than those without, but scientists do not yet know whether kimchi prevents asthma.

• Benefit

  Blood sugar in prediabetes⁸

  People with prediabetes who ate kimchi lost weight, and fermented kimchi improved blood sugar and blood pressure.

• Benefit

  Heart and blood sugar health⁹

  In overweight people, eating fermented kimchi lowered blood pressure, body fat, fasting blood sugar and cholesterol more than fresh kimchi did.

Study type not stated

• Benefit

  Gut health and immunity¹⁰

  Kimchi's lactic acid bacteria may help with obesity, cancer, skin allergies and the immune system, but this is not yet certain.

• Benefit

  Gut and immune health¹¹

  Kimchi is a fermented vegetable food with probiotic bacteria that may support gut, immune and heart health.

Found in some samples or products

These come from where it was grown, how it was processed or cooked, or what it was made into. They are not about the ingredient itself, so the signal does not count them.

• Food poisoning outbreaks in schools³

  Kimchi served in Korean schools was linked to stomach illness in two outbreaks.

• Gut illness outbreak⁵

  Kimchi from one maker was linked to gut illness in workplace meals, though the exact contamination point was never found.

• Food poisoning outbreak⁶

  Kimchi served in schools sickened hundreds with norovirus, traced to food handlers who carried it without symptoms.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.