Information about the Aspen Ideas Festival is here. I am scheduled for a session, The American Wellness Paradox, currently scheduled from 11:00-11:50 a.m., at the East Lawn Tent. This will be a discussion with senior HHS policy advisor, Calley Means. Here’s the blurb on it: “Americans are spending more than ever on healthcare, supplements, wellness trends, and “clean eating,” yet rates of chronic disease and metabolic illness continue to climb. As skepticism fuels the rise of movements like MAHA, debates over what Americans should eat have become deeply cultural, political, and economic. Two influential voices with sharply different perspectives on nutrition and food science explore how food systems, farming practices, consumer culture, and the wellness industry collided to create one of the defining public health debates of our time.”
Industry-funded study of the week: kimchi
Apparently, no food can exist without research attesting to its healthfulness. This item comes from Karla Alindahao, senior editor at Food & Wine (for which I have promised to start writing—more on this later in the summer).
She sent me the NBC News account: Eating kimchi every day could help stave off weight gain, new study says: Cabbage and radish kimchi, a popular fermented vegetable dish, in particular were effective in reducing the risk of obesity and abdominal obesity in both men and women.
As usual, I went right to the study: Jung H, Yun Y-R, Hong SW, et al. Association between kimchi consumption and obesity based on BMI and abdominal obesity in Korean adults: a cross- sectional analysis of the Health Examinees study. BMJ Open 2024;14:e076650. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2023-076650
Kimchi, fermented vegetables, contains probiotic lactic acid bacteria.
In this survey, higher kimchi consumption was related to a lower prevalence of obesity.
Eating radish kimchi was associated with 8% lower abdominal obesity in men and 11% in women.
As for the funding: “This research was supported by grants from the World Institute of Kimchi (KE2201- 1) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT, Republic of Korea.”
Comment
Somehow, the caveats got lost in the press releases.
Oops: Both lower and higher kimchi consumption were associated with obesity (a ‘J- shaped’ association).
The authors caution:
In conclusion, total kimchi consumption of 1–3 servings/day was shown to be reversely associated with obesity in men…However, since all results showed a ‘J- shaped’ association, excessive consumption suggests the potential for an increase in obesity prevalence. As kimchi is one of the major sources of sodium intake, a moderate amount of kimchi should be recommended for the health benefits of its other components.
