Healthy Adult Participants
Conditions
Keywords
Healthy adult, GI health, Fermented food
Brief summary
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.
Interventions
OTHER60 grams per day of intervention food
Non-fermented cabbage
Sponsors
University of California, Davis
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
19 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
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
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Change from baseline in fecal Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) | Baseline and week 3 |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Fecal Metabolites - Change in short chain fatty acids (SCFA) and secondary bile acids (BA) | Baseline and 3 weeks | — |
| Gut integrity and health - Change in fecal calprotectin, fecal lipocalin, and fecal sIGA | Baseline and 3 weeks | — |
| Gut integrity and health - Change in plasma lipopolysaccharide binding protein (LBP), lipopolysaccharide (LPS), zonulin, and sCD14 | Baseline and 3 weeks | — |
| Immune biomarkers - Change in plasma IL-6, TNF-alpha, hsCRP | Baseline and 3 weeks | — |
| Cardiometabolic biomarkers - Change in lipid panel (TC, LDL, HDL, TG), and oxidized LDL (oxLDL) | Baseline and 3 weeks | — |
| Qualitative self-assessment of gut associated health - Change in Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) | Baseline and 3 weeks | This questionnaire rates gastrointestinal symptoms over the past 7 days. A higher score indicates presence and increasing severity of symptoms and level of discomfort. |
| Qualitative self-assessment of gut associated health - Change in Digestion-associated Quality of Life Questionnaire (DQLQ) | Baseline and 3 weeks | This questionnaire measures the effect of digestive symptoms on daily life over the past 7 days. A higher score indicates a lower (worse) digestion-associated Quality of Life. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed