Fermenting foods can extend their shelf life. But can eating fermented foods do the same for people?

It’s a question investigators have been digging into for years, with interest growing over the past decade. As the slightly sour-tasting foods and beverages have risen in popularity, researchers have focused a lot of their attention on kimchi, a staple of the Korean diet.

The dish gained global recognition in 2013 when UNESCO put kimjang — the culture of making and sharing kimchi — on its List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. It reached even greater popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, riding a wave of Korean popular culture driven by K-pop and K-dramas.

Kimchi is believed to have medicinal properties that align with the Korean philosophy of yak sik dong won — food is

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