I hear you but I am trying to understand how salt is being blamed here for kimchi’s cancer link when most people eat ultra processed foods with far more salt than kimchi. There is only 270mg of sodium per one ounce in the Cleveland Kitchen brand of kimchi I eat every day, which isn’t really much. I would love to find a reason to stop eating it since it tastes gross but I have been doing it for what I believed were solid health benefits of fermented probiotic foods
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oh please. highly processed food that people eat cause it much more.
A study suggested that a 10% increase in ultra-processed food intake is associated with a 12% increased risk of overall cancer. Specific types of processed meats have been linked to an elevated risk of stomach cancer.
“It is unclear whether eating kimchi can increase a person’s risk of stomach cancer or gastric cancer. Some studies have found a correlation between the two, but other factors may be at play. An alternative explanation for the high incidence of stomach cancer in Asian populations is the widespread prevalence of H. pylori infection among Asian people. Long term H. pylori infection increases inflammation, which may lead to gastric cancer. In the United States, only 10% to 20% (Stomach cancer hits Asian populations harder) of the population has H. pylori infection, but in Asian countries, the rate is up to 80%.”
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I take 12000 nattokinase daily and curcumin daily which also has a bit if blood thinning effects. On top of this I cycle Serrapeptase and lumbrokinase.
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Indeed, people should do that. I did and all is OK.
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My remark was a little tongue in cheek, but also cautionary. Having occasional kimchi, or small amounts of kimchi is not going to give you cancer. But a couple of points. First there is a very wide variety of kimchi, some prepared in suboptimal ways with tons of salt and the like. The milder kimchi is probably safer. Second, you want the fermentation benefits without the cost. This means small amounts, and variety, not one kind constantly. My personal approach is to consume small quantities of each, and varying them, so one day a bit of sauerkraut, another day dill cucumbers, another, yes a bit of mild kimchi and so on. Maybe 3 times a week. On other days in the week, 2-3 times, kefir, yoghurt - fermented dairy. Variety in diet has repeatedly been shown as superior to eating a narrow palate of food. So, a variety of F&V, including seasonality, because you have less constant exposure to the same chemical (plants especially have mild toxins in hormetic quantities), which might become problematic with high constant exposure. If you mix it up, odds are you’ll have less continuous exposure and so less odds of problems like cancer. The caution here would be: no large amounts of processed stuff like kimchi daily - the epi data in, say, Korea, is always confounded, but I think there’s enough smoke to suggest there might be a spark somewhere. Small amounts of kimchi consumed intermittently, fine. Just a risk lowering approach. YMMV.
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point taken 
I do vary also with kefer (I make it myself using kefer grains), plain yougurt and kimchi which I really like. My kimchi is made by Koreans who have a korean shop near me, and it doesn’t taste salty but I’m sure it has salt… They have mild and not mild. They also have different kinds like cucumber, radish, and some others I can’t think of right now. I get the mild kimchi. I haven’t tried pickles or sauerkraut. I’ll have to look for some but they usually have a lot of salt.
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My Stanford cardiologist was kind enough to prescribe Repatha + lowest dose statin (or you can try something else like ezetimibe + bempedoic) for prevention. In my opinion, LDL < 50 is the way to go.
Quercetin in a very potent JAK2 inhibitor (anti-inflammatory). It sounds like you need HDAC inhibitor (microbiome) + JAK2 inhibitor combined to get the benefits of Quercetin in the mouse model shared of atherosclerosis.
Sharing some key learnings and references that I had shared in a heart disease group:
PCSK9 Advantage: Shrinking Plaque Without the Calcific Surge
PCSK9 Inhibitors & Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC)
Dietary Fiber as a Longevity Intervention
The “Calcification Paradox”: Why Your Calcium Score Can Rise Even as Your Heart Gets Healthier
The Long-Term Trajectory of Coronary Artery Calcium Under Statin Therapy
Minimizing Type 2 Diabetes Risk While being on LDL Lowering Drugs
Heart Disease Optimal Prevention and Management Food Pyramid
Plaque Reduction / CVD
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