Frequently Enjoying Kimchi Decreases Body Fat and Suppresses Obesity-Related Complications

- Animal studies prove that lactic acid bacteria in kimchi reduce body fat and prevent obesity-related complications

- This is the result of two separate studies led by Dr. Hak-Jong Choi of the World Institute of Kimchi (WiKim) and Dr. Yang-Hoon Kim of Chungbuk National University in which lactic acid bacteria, isolated from kimchi, were fed to obesity-induced mice

SEOUL, South Korea, June 14, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Lactic acid bacteria isolated from kimchi have been proven to lower body fat percentages and prevent a host of complications caused by obesity, including high blood sugar and high cholesterol levels.

In his recent study, Dr. Hak-Jong Choi and his team at the World Institute of kimchi found that, after the high fat diet-induced obese mice were fed Lactobacillus sakei, which were isolated from kimchi, fat cell differentiation was suppressed and the percentage of body fat decreased. A patent registration for the anti-obese lactic acid bacteria used in this study has been completed in South Korea.

Dr. Yang-Hoon Kim and his team in the Department of Life Science at Chungbuk National University also found that obesity complications presented in the high fat diet-induced mice markedly declined after they were fed kimchi-derived lactic acid bacteria.

Dr. Kim's research titled, "Lactic Acid Bacteria Isolated from Kimchi to Evaluate Anti-obesity Effects in High Fat Diet-induced Obese Mice," was published in the latest issue (March 2018, Vol. 10) of Environmental Health and Toxicology.

His team isolated Leuconostoc mesenteroides and Lactobacillus sakei from kimchi, which were then fed to the mice whose obesity was induced by a 10-week high fat diet prior to the study. The results showed, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) as well as blood glucose and blood triglyceride levels went down. This proves that the lactic acid bacteria found in kimchi are likely to help keep diabetes and cardiovascular diseases at bay.

Dr. Kim said, "The two strains of lactic acid bacteria derived from kimchi helped relieve a number of obesity-related symptoms." He also stressed, "Kimchi-derived lactic acid bacteria are strongly recommended for patients with obesity, because they don't cause any safety or intolerance issues."

According to Dr. Choi of WiKim, "Kimchi's effect on reducing body fat and suppressing obesity-related complications is thanks to roughly 200 types of lactic acid bacteria found in kimchi including Lactobaccilius, Leuconostoc, Weissella." He also added, "Once fermented, the number of lactic acid bacteria in kimchi grows to 1 billion, and the largest number of beneficial lactic acid bacteria is found in kimchi at a certain degree of ripeness – between freshly-made (geotjeori) and aged kimchi (mukeunji)." The World Institute of Kimchi is the sole research institute in the world that dedicates its efforts to the study of kimchi, and is located in Gwangju – a city in the Southwestern part of the Republic of Korea.