From The Straits Times    |

Kimchi may help lower cholesterol

A new Korean study suggests that adding kimchi to your daily diet could help keep your cholesterol levels in check.

In a new study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food, subjects who ate the fermented cabbage dish daily saw drops in total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol (or “bad” cholesterol), and fasting blood glucose levels after just one week.

Researchers from Pusan National University in Korea recruited 100 young men for the study.

Subjects who ate a huge amount of kimchi (about half a pound) daily saw much greater drops in cholesterol levels than those who ate a small amount, just a half an ounce, every day for a week.

Still, both groups saw benefits, and subjects who had the highest total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels had the largest dips in those readings in both groups.

Kimchi is also touted for being chock full of not only vitamins A, B, and C, but also Lactobacillus, a healthy bacteria known as a probiotic, to aid digestion.