Written By Miranda Regalado
It is no secret that the world has been taken over by the K-pop lifestyle. The Korean influence on music, beauty, and fashion is undeniable, but in today’s edition, we’ll talk about one of their millenary gastronomical secrets: Kimchi. This traditional dish, made with salted, fermented vegetables, is an incredible way to boost the immune system, reduce inflammation, and even slow down aging.
As we are well aware in Canada, the seasons do not allow us to have freshly harvested vegetables all year round, and so people have come up with preservation methods like pickling and fermentation (where enzymes chemically alter food). According to researchers at the Stanford School of Medicine, fermented food enhances microbiome diversity, particularly the gut microbes responsible for reducing inflammation, the way our bodies process food, and even our mental health. A lower count of these microbes might result in chronic diseases and is also linked to obesity and diabetes
If we take a look at Korean kitchens, we would notice that they usually have kimchi with every meal, and when we dive into the benefits of it, we can definitely see why. Kimchi is primarily made from cabbage, but there are over 200 variations of it, many of which include garlic and ginger. This superfood is packed with 55% of the daily intake of Vitamin K, around 20% of Vitamins C and B6, and also includes iron, niacin, riboflavin, sodium, folate, among others.
The reason why it is a great idea to incorporate fermented food into our diets is not only the enhanced taste or the convenient extended shelf life; it is actually all of the benefits we get from lacto-fermentation that enhance and multiply the benefits from the vegetables. The presence of probiotics in kimchi might help us fight colds, constipation, improve gastrointestinal, cardiac, and mental health. Furthermore, the benefits are countless; they range from prolonging cell life, which slows down the aging process, to protecting our hearts by reducing cholesterol and blood sugar levels.
As we always mention, it is important to have a balanced diet and to try to include vegetables in our meals, but even PhD Erica Sonnenburg indicates that “Increased fiber alone… is insufficient to improve microbiota diversity.” So the idea of including fermented dishes like kimchi, yogurt, or kombucha will be a great boost to our health.
