Gachon University Seongnam-si, Kyonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Objectives: GI cancers, including colorectal cancer and gastric cancer, are the most common cancers in South Korea. In particular, the incidence of colorectal cancer has rapidly increased among Korean male adults. Kimchi is a representative fermented food with salt in Korea, made with vegetables such as cabbage, radish, garlic, and red pepper powder. It contains numerous probiotics and prebiotics, including dietary fibers and phytochemicals, that have a beneficial impact on GI cancer prevention. This study aimed to examine the association between the prevalence of GI cancers and kimchi intake in Korean adults.
Methods: To evaluate the association, the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2020-2022 was used. A total of 8,181 participants (aged more than 30 years) were included in the analysis. Dietary intake data from 24-hour recall were used. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for GI cancers were calculated according to kimchi intake/day quartile after adjusting for potential confounding factors.
Results: The highest quartile of kimchi intake/day (median: 181.0g) was associated with a decreased prevalence of GI cancers compared to that of the lowest kimchi intake group (highest quartile OR, 0.53; 95% CI 0.30, 0.95; p for trend 0.044).
Conclusions: Kimchi intake was inversely associated with the prevalence of GI cancers in Korean adults. Further prospective studies and clinical trials are required to confirm these findings.
Funding Sources: This research was supported by Main Research Program (E0210400-04) of the Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI) funded by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
