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Kimchi and Gut Health

University of California, Davis · NCT07435831

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Opens the official ClinicalTrials.gov record, with the study team’s contacts. Bored Studies doesn’t enroll anyone.

Key facts

Compensation
Not posted. Ask the study team before screening.
Who can join
Ages 19–70 · All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Study type
Interventional · Not applicable
Target enrollment
60
US sites recruiting
2
Study start
March 30, 2026
Record last updated
April 2, 2026

Status re-checked against ClinicalTrials.gov within the last 12 hours.

What the study is about

The goal of this study is to learn about the effects of eating kimchi on the gut health of healthy adults in the USA. The investigators will be researching the changes in the gut microbiome, biomarkers of gut health and cardiometabolic health after consuming fermented and unfermented cabbage.

The main questions it aims to answer are

Does eating kimchi (fermented cabbage) result in enrichment of lactic acid bacteria in the stools of participants? Does eating kimchi result in metabolic changes in the gut microbiome, biomarkers of gut and cardiometabolic health of participants? Researchers will compare a group of participants eating fermented cabbage (kimchi) daily to a group of participants eating non-fermented cabbage daily.

Participants will

Eat kimchi or cabbage daily for 3 weeks. Visit the study site for brief visits up to 5 times. Have blood drawn and provide a fecal sample 2 times - at beginning and end of the 3 week study.

Keep occasional records of food intake and questionnaires about any gastrointestinal symptoms that participants may have.

Being studied: 60 grams per day of intervention food; 60 grams per day of intervention food

Conditions: Healthy Adult Participants

Eligibility criteria

Copied from the official record. The study team makes the final decision at screening.

Show full criteria

Inclusion Criteria

  • BMI of 25-30 kg/m2
  • No or occasional consumption of kimchi (3 or fewer times per week)
  • Willing to eat study food every day for 3 weeks
  • Willing to participate in study protocols

Exclusion Criteria

  • Allergy to cabbage and /or cruciferous family vegetables
  • Allergy to kimchi ingredients such as shellfish and fish sauce
  • Daily consumption of kimchi
  • Diagnosed digestive issues such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or gastrointestinal inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or conditions such as Crohn's disease
  • Previous bowel surgery that disrupts the digestive flow, motility or gastric emptying process
  • Antibiotics used in the 2 months prior to enrollment
  • Unwillingness to discontinue probiotics during study and washout period
  • Active diagnosis and/or treatment for cancer

Recruiting US locations

  • Ragle Human Nutrition Center

    Davis, CA 95616

    Site contact: Francene Steinberg, PhD · 530-752-0120 · fmsteinberg@ucdavis.edu

  • UC Davis Ragle Human Nutrition Research Center

    Davis, CA 95616

    Site contact: Francene Steinberg, PhD · 530-752-0160 · fmsteinberg@ucdavis.edu

All healthy volunteers studies in California →
Kimchi and Gut Health (NCT07435831) | Bored Studies