FIGURE 6.4 The Japanese food guide spinning top.
Source: Reprinted from Yoshiike et al. (2007).
The Japanese dietary guidelines emphasize the planning of a regular meal schedule for the establishment of a healthy rhythm, eating well‐balanced meals, including staple foods, grains, vegetables and fruits, dairies, beans, and seafood, as well as enjoying both main meals and snacks. Furthermore, it highlights the avoidance of excessive amounts of salt and fat. Lifestyle recommendations are also included, such as managing body weight by controlling energy intake and being active and monitoring caloric intake. Finally, Japanese guidelines highlight the benefits of following the local dietary culture, avoiding food waste, and adopting suitable culinary practices and storage methods.
Key Point
Japanese guidelines highlight the benefits of following the local dietary culture, avoiding food waste, and adopting suitable culinary practices and storage methods.
Back in the 1950s, the Seven Countries Study, led by Ancel Keys, aiming to chart the incidence of CHD among seven countries (US, Japan, Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, Finland, Yugoslavia), underlined the effectiveness of the traditional Japanese diet in reducing CHD risk, as the Asian cohort demonstrated the lowest CHD incidence. The researchers from the Seven Countries Study concluded that the Asian diet was most effective in lowering CHD rates, although compared to the Greek cohort, Japanese showed more strokes due to the high sodium intake in Japan and higher stomach cancer rates due to traditional food preservation methods. Nevertheless, several studies have documented the beneficial role of specific dietary components of the Asian diet on various health outcomes.
Key Point
The researchers from the Seven Countries Study concluded that the Asian diet was most effective in lowering CHD rates.
Another example of dietary guidelines from Asia is that of China. The Chinese dietary guidelines were first launched in 1989 by the Chinese Nutrition Society. The Chinese dietary recommendations are illustrated by the “Chinese Food Guide Pagoda” (Figure 6.5), which consists of five gradually decreasing space levels, depicting the amount in which the foods of each level should be consumed.
The base of the pagoda is filled with cereals, such as rice, corn, bread, noodles, and crackers, as well as tubers. The next level includes fruits and vegetables, which should constitute the base of every meal, along with the cereals and tubers. Fish and shrimp, eggs, poultry, and meat should be eaten regularly, but in small amounts. The consumption of dairy products, beans, and bean‐derived foods should be consumed in moderation, while at the top of the pagoda is the intake of fats, oils, and salt. Moreover, the Chinese dietary guidelines highlight the need for adequate hydration, suggesting 1500–1700 ml of water everyday as well as adequate physical activity equivalent to 6000 steps/day. Large prospective studies suggest that green tea consumption is significantly and inversely associated with CVD and all‐cause mortality; black tea consumption is also significantly and inversely associated with cancer and all‐cause mortality. Vegetables, fruits, legumes, fish, and eggs are the food groups associated with reduced risk of all‐cause mortality.
The China‐Cornell‐Oxford Project, or simply the China Study, sought to explore the dietary habits along with the prevalence of age‐related diseases in 10,200 Chinese of both genders. The study found that rural populations adhering to this traditional dietary pattern manifested very low prevalence of heart disease, breast and prostate cancer, obesity, and osteoporosis, compared to Western societies. However, urban Chinese adhering to a more Western‐type diet with high intakes of animal‐derived foods were more likely to be obese and suffer from heart disease, as well as breast and prostate cancer. When all the analyses were completed, Dr. Campbell, the principal investigator of the China Study, commented: “In the final analysis, we have strong evidence from this and other studies that nutrition becomes the controlling factor in the development of chronic degenerative diseases” Indeed, in a systematic review of 18 studies on the prevalence and trends for MetS in the Asia‐Pacific region, more than 20% of the adult population had MetS.
Key Point
Nutrition becomes the controlling factor in the development of chronic degenerative diseases.
A detailed description of the Asian dietary model and a sample menu plan can be found in Appendix B.10.
FIGURE 6.5 Illustrations for the Chinese dietary guidelines launched in 2016: (a) Chinese Food Guide (CFG) G‐Pagoda is the main graphical illustration; (b) CFG‐Plate; and (c) CFG‐Abacus function as supplementary illustrations for CFG‐Pagoda.
Source: Reprinted from Yang et al. (2018b).
Take‐Home Messages
The traditional Asian diet is followed in most Asian countries, and although it varies in many aspects between countries, it holds many similarities regarding the consumption of traditional Asian foods.
The Asian diet is primarily characterized by high consumption of rice, foods of plant origin (e.g., soy products), fish and seafood, as well as fruits and vegetables.
The Japanese and the Chinese dietary guidelines represent two well‐documented examples of healthy Asian diets.
The incidence of several chronic diseases, such as CVD and cancer, has been shown to be lower in most Asian societies compared to most Western countries.
The recent shift from the traditional Asian diet to a more Western‐like diet is characterized by an increase in meat consumption and a decrease in rice consumption.
Self‐Assessment Questions
1 What are the main characteristics of the Asian diet?
2 State two well‐documented examples of healthy Asian diets.
3 What kinds of foods are included at the base of the “Chinese Food Guide Pagoda”?
Bibliography
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2 Akhlaghi, M. (2020). Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH): potential mechanisms of action against risk factors of the metabolic syndrome. Nutr. Res. Rev. 33 (1): 1–18.
3 Ali Mohsenpour, M., Fallah‐Moshkani, R., Ghiasvand, R. et al. (2019). Adherence to Dietary
