Friday, September 4, 2009

kimchi and bird flu, swine flu, human flu...

This gets brought up a lot in the English-language Korea-related blogosphere, so I thought I'd provide links to the source material (sort of):
  1. SNU scientist Kang Sa-ouk reports that a bacterium (Leuconostoc Kimchii) extracted from kimchi reportedly helped chickens recover from avian flu
  2. Kimchi exports around East Asia go up, possibly in response to the above news
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2 comments:

  1. arvinsignFriday, September 04, 2009 10:27:00 AM

    It sounds like a quack doctor's recipe for ailment. Unless its published, and the research methodology is accepted, kimchi as a cure will always remain as a baloney.

    "This gets brought up a lot in the English-language Korea-related blogosphere"

    -- Yes, and its a sad fact (and funny at the same time) that most sites are filled with science illiterates and conspiracy theory believers complaining and reacting about a medical phenomenon to which they have very little idea

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  2. ScottFriday, September 04, 2009 8:37:00 PM

    That study (a pilot study) was reported in 2005, with the researchers admitting they needed to verify the results with a properly controlled study. Years later, and still nothing out of SNU. Did they just not have time to get around to it? Or did the follow up studies just not pan out and they considered it unpatriotic to report on them?

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