05/01/2026
A 12-week human clinical trial published in 2025 examined how regular kimchi consumption affects immune function at the cellular level. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, researchers tracked gene activity inside individual immune cells, a method rarely applied in nutrition studies.
The results showed that kimchi altered immune signaling pathways involved in pathogen detection and immune regulation. Antigen-presenting cells became more active, while CD4⁺ T cells shifted toward a balanced defensive and regulatory state, supporting protection without excessive inflammation.
Notably, the strongest immune effects were observed with starter-culture fermented kimchi, indicating that fermentation methods directly influence biological outcomes. Rather than simply “boosting” immunity, the findings suggest kimchi fine-tunes immune responses at the gene and cellular level.
Source: npj Science of Food (2025), human clinical trial on kimchi and immune cell gene expression
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