09/21/2026
Kimchi helps remove more microplastics from the body before they build up in the body.
https://www.facebook.com/share/19mEDoHnf4/?mibextid=wwXIfr
Kimchi can remove tiny plastic particles from the body before they build up in organs.
South Korean researchers found that mice given the strain had more than twice as much nanoplastic detected in their f***s as untreated mice.
The findings suggest the microbe could help carry tiny plastic particles out through the digestive tract. But the research does not show that eating kimchi removes plastic from the human body.
Scientists at the World Institute of Kimchi studied a strain called Leuconostoc mesenteroides CBA3656, isolated from the fermented food.
They tested whether it could attach to polystyrene nanoplastics, extremely small plastic particles that can enter the body through contaminated food and water.
In standard laboratory conditions, the strain achieved 87% binding efficiency. Under conditions designed to mimic the intestine, that figure dropped to 57%. A comparison strain fell to just 3%.
That difference matters because a bacterium that traps plastic in a laboratory solution may struggle to do the same inside the gut.
The researchers then tested the strain in germ-free mice, which lack the usual community of microbes. Both males and females showed increased nanoplastic excretion.
The proposed mechanism is physical: particles stick to the bacteria and may leave the intestine with them. The bacteria are not shown to dissolve the plastic.
The study, published in Bioresource Technology, offers an early lead for further research. It does not establish that this approach clears plastic already lodged in organs or provides health benefits in people.
Whether it works in a normal human gut remains an open question.
Read the study:
"Efficient biosorption of nanoplastics by food-derived lactic acid bacterium." Bioresource Technology
