The World Institute of Kimchi is a leading global institute for research on fermented foods, funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT of the Republic of Korea. Under the leadership of President Hae Choon Chang, the institute conducted extensive scientific research on the health benefits of kimchi. The results obtained from recent study conducted at the institute, suggest a novel mechanism of action of kimchi that may prevent obesity and obesity-induced neuroinflammation by promoting an increase in certain species of beneficial intestinal microbiota.
The gut microbiota plays an important role in maintaining a healthy immune system, body metabolism, and energy homeostasis. Sudden imbalance in the intestinal microbiota population results in dysbiosis, which in turn may lead to various metabolic and inflammatory disorders such as obesity, diabetes, and irritable bowel syndrome. Obesity may be especially disruptive as it is known to induce chronic inflammation and adversely affect brain health, resulting in hypothalamic neuroinflammation, neuronal cell death, and disruption of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which are typically caused within the hypothalamus, the area in the brain responsible for controlling appetite.
Currently, research on the anti-obesity effects of kimchi and its mechanism of action in obesity-induced neuroinflammation is limited as the use of animal models for an in-depth study comes with several challenges. Animal models can only be fed kimchi extracts or freeze-dried kimchi-supplemented feeds for testing the effects of kimchi. This is unlike reality, where raw kimchi containing abundant lactic acid bacteria and nutrients is consumed.
In the current study conducted at the World Institute of Kimchi by Dr. Hak Jong Choi et al., the anti-obesity action of kimchi was assessed in the obese mice model by administering raw kimchi and studying its effects on the composition of intestinal microbiota.
The research team observed a 31.8% reduction in body fat and a successful suppression of weight gain in a high fat diet (HFD)-induced obese mice that consumed 120 mg of cabbage kimchi six days a week, for ten weeks. Furthermore, the degree of obesity-induced neuroinflammation and BBB disruption in the hypothalamus was ameliorated by approximately 39%. In addition, microbial cluster analysis confirmed an increase in relative abundance of ‘Akkermansia muciniphila’, an intestinal microorganism.
※ Akkermansia muciniphila is a common intestinal symbiotic bacterium that reduces inflammation and improves metabolic syndrome or obesity by producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs).
This study is the first investigation to report the mechanism of action of kimchi and shows that kimchi-induced growth of beneficial intestinal microorganisms produces SCFA to alleviate obesity and obesity-induced neuroinflammation. Based on these findings, kimchi may be further developed as a product that prevents obesity and obesity-induced neuroinflammation by regulating the gut-brain axis. The beneficial role of kimchi in other metabolic diseases involving the gut-brain axis could also be explored.
In her statement, Hae Choon Chang, President of the World Institute of Kimchi, said, “This study confirms kimchi’s effective ability in preventing obesity and obesity-related diseases within the nervous system, and through future clinical trials, we can prove kimchi’s effectiveness in preventing other common modern diseases found in people”. She further added, “We will make efforts to continuously share research results which scientifically prove the excellence of kimchi for it to eventually become the world’s top health food.“
※ Research Paper Title: Kimchi intake alleviated obesity-induced neuroinflammation by modulating the gut-brain axis (Food Research International, IF 7.425)
(First author) Dr. Nam Hee Kim (corresponding author), Dr. Hak Jong Choi
[Attachment] Research Result Overview, Research Results Sketches, and Photographs
