The article reads: “Eating one to three plates of kimchi every day was linked to a lower rate of obesity in guys.” I love kimchi, but damn that’s a lot. My breath would eternally stink. The article makes me want some kimchi though…
Yeah, the measurement of “plates” is really vague. Plates come in all kinds of sizes. People usually eat kimchi as banchan, or a side dish. I have lived in Korea for a long time, and I have never heard of nor seen anyone eat that I would consider a plate full, let alone three plates in one day.
Yeah i use it more as a condiment than a main course. Love me a juicy burger with guac and kimchi.
Ok, so there are a few problems with this study which make it unfit to rely on.
First, this is observational, not an intervention. Everyone who has kimchi knows they are doing so and has chosen to do so on their own. The direction if causation cannot be established in this case because of this study design.
Second, this relies on food surveys. These are notoriously unreliable for getting true data about what a person has consumed anything more than a day ago. People really do have trouble remembering exactly what they ate yesterday unless they eat a regimented diet and even those people are bad at remembering deviations like incomplete meals or serving a larger size.
Third, what is a serving size? Eating 1-2 serves of kimchi means something very different if it is a 20g or 60g serve.
Fourth, was this the study question at the outset? Were they testing the hypothesis that kimchi consumption is directly tied to waist circumference? Not as far as the study seems to suggest. It seems like the participants did their food surveys and he researchers went through and found anything that stuck out in the data. This is basically a form of p hacking and is a major red flag.
Honestly, this study is trash and should be ignored. They have proven nothing, made no progress for a scientific understanding of diet, and wasted everyone’s time.