Kimchi and Cancer by Dr. Joseph C. Kim

The Occurrence of Biogenic Amines and Determination of Biogenic Amine-Producing Lactic Acid Bacteria in Kkakdugi and Chonggak Kimchi. Jin YH, Lee JH, Park YK, Lee JH, Mah JH. Foods. 2019 Feb 14;8(2). pii: E73. doi: 10.3390/foods8020073. Negotiating trans-ethno space: An inductive investigation of kimchi's ability to bound Korean-American transnational identity. Feldman C, Bai Y, Keys K, Schules D. Appetite. 2019 Jan 11;136:18-24. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2019.01.007 Analysis of Targeted Metabolites and Molecular Structure of Starch to Understand the Effect of Glutinous Rice Paste on Kimchi Fermentation. Jeong D, Lee JH, Chung HJ. Molecules. 2018 Dec 14;23(12).

Identification of major dietary patterns in Korean adults and their association with cancer risk in the Cancer Screening Examination Cohort. Cancer is the primary cause of disease-related death in Korea. The purposes of this study were to confirm the major dietary patterns and to evaluate whether there were associations between these identified dietary patterns and the risk of cancer based on data from the Cancer Screening Examination Cohort (CSEC) 2004-2008 of the National Cancer Center (NCC) of Korea. This study included 8 024 subjects who completed a written survey on demographics and lifestyles, as well as a 3-day dietary record. Dietary patterns were identified by factor analysis using the principal component analysis method. The associations between the identified dietary patterns and cancer risk were examined using Cox proportional hazards regression models. During a median follow-up period of 9.0 years, 425 cancer cases were newly diagnosed. We identified 4 majo...

It's interesting to see how coffee used to be considered a carcinogen by the WHO. Recently, the WHO changed its position on coffee as a potential carcinogen. In fact, recent medical research seems to suggest that coffee has different protective effects. Coffee may prevent diabetes. Some research suggests that coffee may even prevent cancer. Is coffee now a health food? The debate on kimchi will probably never end. Research will show that kimchi prevents cancer while other research will prove that kimchi causes cancer. Maybe we will discover that there are too many variables for us to understand until we can link epigenetics into all this research. Then, we will know that kimchi may cause cancer in some individuals while it may prevent cancer in other individuals.

Surprisingly, there are no recent articles on PubMed if you search for "kimchi and cancer" from 2015.

Does kimchi cause cancer or does kimchi prevent cancer? Maybe it depends on the type of cancer. Maybe it depends on the person. Let's ask Shin-Hye Kwak, Young-Mi Cho, Geon-Min Noh, and Ae-Son Om. Cancer Preventive Potential of Kimchi Lactic Acid Bacteria (Weissella cibaria, Lactobacillus plantarum). J Cancer Prev. 2014 Dec;19(4):253-8. doi: 10.15430/JCP.2014.19.4.253. Epub 2014 Dec 30. The number of death due to cancer has been increasing in Korea. Chemotherapy is known to cause side effects because it damages not only cancerous cells but healthy cells. Recently, attention has focused on food-derived chemopreventive and anti-tumor agents or formulations with fewer side effects. Kimchi, most popular and widely consumed in Korea, contains high levels of lactic acid bacteria and has been shown to possess chemopreventive effects. This review focuses on Weissella cibaria and Lactobacillus plantarum, the representatives of kimchi lactic acid bacteria, in terms of their abilities to ...

Cancer cells can be detected in the blood as circulating tumor cells. Author Eric T Kimchi and others report on their findings in Cancer Biol Ther. 2015 Mar 25:0. Kaifi JT1, Kunkel M, Das A, Harouaka RA, Dicker DT, Li G, Zhu J, Clawson GA, Yang Z, Reed MF, Gusani NJ, Kimchi ET, Staveley-O'Carroll KF, Zheng SY, El-Deiry WS. Circulating tumor cell isolation during resection of colorectal cancer lung and liver metastases: a prospective trial with different detection techniques. ABSTRACT Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasectomy improves survival, however most patient develop recurrences. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are an independent prognostic marker in stage IV CRC. We hypothesized that CTCs can be enriched during metastasectomy applying different isolation techniques. Methods: 25 CRC patients undergoing liver (16 (64%)) or lung (9 (36%)) metastasectomy were prospectively enrolled (clinicaltrial.gov identifier: NCT01722903). Central venous (liver) or radial ar...

Koreans have a higher risk for certain cancers. Why? Maybe it's the kimchi. Many studies have found links between diet and cancer. The summary estimates of the association between dietary factors and cancer risk were investigated using previously reported studies of the Korean population. Gastric cancer risk was inversely associated with the high intake of soy foods [OR (95% CI): 0.32 (0.25-0.40) for soybean, 0.56 (0.45-0.71) for soybean curd, and 0.67 (0.46-0.98) for soymilk], allium vegetables [OR (95% CI): 0.37 (0.26-0.53) for green onion, 0.54 (0.40-0.73) for garlic, and 0.54 (0.35-0.85) for onion], fruits [OR (95% CI): 0.61 (0.42-0.88)], and mushrooms [OR (95% CI): 0.43 (0.21-0.88)]. Salt and Kimchi were associated with an increased gastric cancer risk [OR (95% CI): 1.92 (1.52-2.43) and 2.21 (1.29-3.77), respectively]. Colorectal cancer risk was positively associated with meat intake [OR (95% CI): 1.25 (1.15-1.36)]. Total soy products, soybean curd, and soymilk showed an inve...

October is breast cancer awareness month. Everyone is wearing pink. Does eating kimchi cause or prevent breast cancer? I think the answer is: it depends. It depends on your other health conditions, your risk factors, and ultimately your genetics. For some, eating kimchi could be a health benefit. For others, it could be an additional risk factor. It also depends on how much kimchi you eat, the type of kimchi you're eating, and what else you eat (your diet composition).

As the world watches what is happening in Africa with the Ebola outbreak, others are writing and asking the question " can kimchi cure Ebola ?"  There are no scientific studies that have been published in the medical literature to support such a claim.

You may find some articles online that suggest that kimchi has anti-cancer effects. Be very cautious when reading and interpreting those articles. There are many types of kimchi. Since kimchi is primarily made of vegetables, it's going to be low in saturated fat and relatively low in calories. Compared to many unhealthy foods (like fried foods, greasy foods, candy, and other junk food), kimchi could be considered fairly healthy. In fact, maybe kimchi is a healthy food as long as you don't have the genetic predisposition that will put you at risk for developing cancer if you eat kimchi. Maybe in the era of personalized medicine and genomics we'll be able to identify which people may benefit from eating kimchi and which people will be harmed. Right now, we can only go based on large population studies that do not effectively segment individuals based on their genetic profile, their risk profile, etc. I don't consider kimchi to be a health food. I don't know if k...

Looking for a cancer center? The Cancer Treatment Centers of America has multiple locations and they treat patients with stomach cancer. Whether you need a total gastrectomy or chemotherapy, you can learn about your treatment options for gastric carcinoma at CTCA.

Background: Understanding the burden of comorbidities in patients with gastric cancer may aid in treatment planning and evaluating the safety of new treatments. Methods: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)–Medicare combined dataset, we identified 12,612 patients diagnosed with gastric cancer 2000–2007. A cohort of 12,612 cancer-free individuals was frequency-matched by Medicare enrollment year and county of residence. Subjects were ≥66 years-old at index date to allow for ≥1 full year of Medicare coverage. Prevalence the year before index date and 3- and 12-month incidence rates (per 100 person-years) after index date were estimated for 42 common comorbidities. Results: Comorbidities with the highest (≥8%) 3-month incidence in patients with gastric cancer are shown. Conclusions: Comorbidity prevalence before index date was modestly higher, and incidence rates after index date were much higher in gastric cancer patients than in cancer-free individuals. The poten...

Stomach cancer is also called gastric cancer. If you're thinking of colon cancer, yes - the colon is in your abdomen (belly), but it's not the stomach. The liver is also in your belly, but it's not your stomach. Gastric cancer is also called gastric carcinoma. FDA Approves Ramucirumab for Stomach Cancer The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ramucirumab (Cyramza) to treat patients with advanced or metastatic gastric cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma with disease progression on or after prior treatment with fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing chemotherapy. Ramucirumab is a recombinant monoclonal antibody of the IgG1 class that binds to the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-2 (VEGFR-2) and blocks the activation of the receptor.

When we speak of addiction, we must differentiate between physiologic addiction vs. psychologic addiction. In many instances, we see a combination of both physiologic and psychologic addiction. Many Koreans will tell you that they're addicted to kimchi. They're not usually referring to a physiologic addiction. They're probably not going to experience withdrawal symptoms if they stop eating kimchi. Kimchi can be addictive. Then again, almost anything can be addictive if we're just referring to a psychological addiction. We can convince our minds that we are addicted to anything.

Cancer is mysterious. If there was a way to prevent stomach cancer, it would be to stop drinking alcohol. Stop smoking. Get treated for H. Pylori if you are infected. And, avoid foods associated with stomach cancer. Foods like kimchi. Koreans love to eat kimchi, so that is going to be very hard. Also, many Korean men smoke and drink.

Korean men love to smoke and drink. They do it all the time. They go out at night. They party. They eat kimchi, drink soju, and smoke. This is why stomach cancer is so common among Korean men. This year, make a New Years resolution to quit smoking. Reduce (or quit) drinking. Maybe you also need to reduce how much kimchi you eat. Discuss that with your doctor.

I love eating kimchi. However, each year I have decreased my consumption to reduce my risk of developing cancer. Don't eat too much kimchi. Otherwise, you may regret it. Does kimchi cause cancer? I think that it could in certain people who have certain genetic risk factors. The problem today is that we don't know what those risk factors are. We don't know if we have those risk factors. All of that may change in the future. For now, we must consider the risk before we eat too much kimchi.

There are some who strongly believe that eating kimchi causes stomach cancer. Korean men eat kimchi. Korean men get stomach cancer. Makes sense, no? It gets more complicated. You may have an infection in your stomach from H pylori. You may be a smoker. You may have the genetics for stomach cancer. The research surrounding this question has not definitely answered the question yet. So, talk to your doctor about your stomach cancer risks.

How to make easy kimchi ("mak kimchi" in Korean). full recipe: http://www.maangchi.com/recipe/easy-k... It's made with small pieces of cabbage that are easier to handle and take less time to prepare.

Most people think of kimchi as a common Korean side dish. You eat it with rice. You eat it with meat. You can also cook with kimchi and make some delicious dishes. Soups and stews. Kimchi chigae. Or, you can fry it with fried rice. Kimchi fried rice. You can add some rice cake. Cooked kimchi tends to taste different. I'm Joseph C. Kim and I enjoy eating cooked kimchi.