Consumption of Korean salad reduced the risk of obesity

Scientists have concluded that daily consumption of the traditional Korean dish kimchi reduces the risk of obesity. This effect is especially pronounced in men. Researchers have named the amount of salad that should be eaten to keep your weight normal.

Kimchi, or kimchi, is a traditional Korean dish that everyone has probably heard of. It is considered a staple in Korea and is sauerkraut (fermented) vegetables: primarily Peking cabbage with added red peppers, green onions, garlic, ginger and other ingredients. Variations in the preparation of the salad, however, are many. Radishes or radishes, kohlrabi leaves, cucumbers, eggplants and many other vegetables are often added to it.

Koreans have long considered their dish to be very healthy, a good remedy for colds and hangovers, as well as helping to lose weight. To verify the last guess decided scientists from the same South Korea - Chung-Ang University, the National Cancer Center and the World Institute of kimchi. The results were presented in the journal BMJ Open.

Earlier cell culture studies showed that Lactobacillus brevis and L. plantarum isolated from kimchi reduced the number of fat cells as well as the accumulation of adipose tissue in mice. A prebiotic derived from kimchi has had an effect on fat deposits in overweight people as well.

However, a study of how regular consumption of this dish affects lipolysis (fat breakdown) has not been done on a large sample of both thin and obese people. In the new paper, the scientists used data on 115,726 South Koreans aged 40 to 69 years old of both sexes, taken from the large, long-term Health Examinates (HEXA) medical study. It was conducted from 2004 to 2013.

The subjects' diets over the previous year were assessed using a food frequency questionnaire, in which participants were asked to indicate how regularly they ate a particular meal and the portion size. In addition, each subject's height, weight, BMI and waist circumference were measured. It turned out that about 36 percent of the men and 25 percent of the women in the sample were obese.

The scientists concluded that eating three servings (50 grams each) of cabbage kimchi per day was associated with a 10 percent reduction in the prevalence of obesity in men compared to eating only one serving of the dish. Women who consumed two to three servings of kimchi daily had an eight percent lower risk of obesity prevalence (and a six percent lower risk for abdominal obesity) than ladies who ate only one such serving.

The rates of kimchi consumption with radishes were slightly different: this dish had an eight percent effect on reducing the risk of abdominal obesity in men and an 11 percent effect on the risk of abdominal obesity in women.