This Korean superfood can strengthen your immune system and boost heart health
Korean food, music, skincare, and television has been making waves in the UK in recent years. From cosmetics to K-pop and the phenomenon of Squid Game, Korea has been making a massive impact on popular culture.
And this stretches to the Korean diet, which compared to here in the UK, is super healthy. Korean food is known for being good for you because it has a high vegetable content, is low in calories, and uses fermented foods that contain probiotics.
But there's one food in particular that's been popping up in the UK for some time now. And it could be the secret to boosting your immune system, providing our bodies with nutrients, and supporting heart health.
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Eaten with almost every meal in Korea, kimchi is a side dish of salted and fermented vegetables, often made with cabbage. Here are some of the main benefits of kimchi that can have a significant impact on your health.
Kimchi is dense in nutrients
Despite being very low in calories (just 23 calories per 150 grams), this Korean side dish is full to bursting with important nutrients that can nourish our bodies.
Vitamins A and C, iron, protein, sodium, fibre and Vitamin B6 can all be found in a bite of kimchi. Vitamin K found in the dish also promotes bone metabolism and helps with blood clotting.
It contains probiotics
Kimchi goes through a lacto-fermentation process while it's being made, which uses the bacterium Lactobacillus to break sugars down into lactic acid, giving the dish its signature sour taste.
Other bacteria such as probiotics that develop in the fermentation process can have serious health benefits. They're even linked to the improvement of heart health, skin conditions, and may lower cancer risk.
While probiotics in kimchi are thought to be linked to the improvement of these conditions, more research is required into the good bacteria found in this food.
It may strengthen your immune system
The Lactobacillus bacterium in kimchi could even help your immune system. A study into the bacteria found that when mice were injected with the bacterium, their immune systems appeared to be working more efficiently.
However, human research is yet to be done on this particular benefit of kimchi.
It may aid weight loss
Both fresh and fermented kimchi are very low in calories, and there are studies that suggest eating the dish can promote weight loss.
A month-long study of 22 people with excess weight found that eating fresh or fermented kimchi helped reduce body weight, body mass index (BMI), and body fat.
And it's interesting to note that those who ate fermented kimchi as part of the study displayed greater improvements in body fat percentage and blood pressure than those who ate the dish fresh.
It could improve heart health
Studies suggest that kimchi's anti inflammatory properties could even reduce the risk of heart disease.
Another study, including 100 people, found that eating 15–210 grams of kimchi daily significantly decreased blood sugar and cholesterol, which are risk factors for heart disease.
While kimchi can be bought from Korean supermarkets and some major UK supermarkets, it's also possible to make the dish easily at home.
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