Japan

Japanese Diet, Cuisine and Health

Japan is at the top of the list for life expectancy and health. There are strong regional variations although the diet in recent decades has become more westernised and the variations in diet are becoming less distinct throughout Japan.

A wide variety of dipping sauces accompany most meals. Udon is a thick wheat flour noodle and yakisoba is a buckwheat noodle. Soba is the Japanese name for buckwheat.

Despite the increase in dairy, egg and meat consumption in recent decades, Japan (according to the National Health and Nutrition Surveys) still consumes a predominately plant-based diet.

Hookaido had the lowest percentage of plant-based foods at 74.5% in 1980 and 82.2% in 2012. In 1980, Kanto II had the highest percentage at 78.2% with Hokuriku topping the list in 2012 with 84.5%.

Australia and the US consume approximately 30% of their diet from plant-based sources.
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18 August 2020
Ancel Keys and the Mediterranean Diet

In 1951, Keys was working at Oxford when the Food and Agriculture Organization asked him to chair their first conference on nutrition in Rome. He states, “The conferees talked only about nutritional deficiencies”. When he asked about the new epidemic of coronary heart disease, Gino Bergami, Professor of Physiology at the University of Naples, said “coronary heart disease was no problem in Naples”.

In 1952, Keys and his wife Margaret visited Naples. Margaret measured serum cholesterol concentrations and found them to be very low except among members of the Rotary Club. Heart attacks were rare except amongst the rich whose diet included daily servings of meat. He obtained similar results in studies in Madrid.

Ancel Keys and colleagues posed the hypothesis that differences among populations in the frequency of heart attacks and stroke would occur as a result of physical characteristics and lifestyle and diet. Surveys were carried out between 1958 - 1970 in populations of men aged 40-59, in sixteen areas of seven countries. Follow-up surveys were continued until the 1990s. Most of the areas were stable and rural and had wide contrasts in habitual diet.
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23 May 2020
Moderation is a Fatal Thing

Everything in moderation is a near unanimous response by health professional, health support organisations and media commentators to solving our health crisis.

The same argument was used in in the 1950s and 1960s to convince people to reduce smoking. After all, you would not want to deprive people of the “solace, relaxation and enjoyment to mankind” that smoking has provided for more than 300 years. These days, doctors do not suggest that people reduce smoking but to stop.

One problem is that moderation cannot be defined. One person may consider a hamburger or packet of cigarettes a week as being moderate. This can easily become two hamburgers a week or just one more cigarette.

Doing things in moderation does not change a habit. To change a habit requires consistency and commitment over a period of several weeks or months.
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5 January 2019
How do Your Genes Affect Obesity and Diabetes

The purpose of the DIETFITS Trial was "to determine the effect of a healthy low-fat (HLF) diet vs a healthy low-carbohydrate (HLC) diet on weight change and if genotype pattern or insulin secretion are related to the dietary effects on weight loss".

It a popular area of research to determine if there are genetic causes of obesity, diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disease, depression and any other illness or condition that is plaguing our society.

This area of research ignores the fact that often our genetics does not determine health outcomes. Ignoring this will not solve the problems of our society's rapidly failing health.

The conclusions of this paper are:

In the 12-month study, there was NO significant difference in weight change between a healthy low-fat diet compared with a healthy low-carbohydrate diet.

Neither of the 2 hypothesized predisposing factors [genotypes] was helpful in identifying which diet was better for whom.

Frequently the problem is not that complicated.
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7 November 2018
What are the Health Benefits of Coconut Oil?

Coconut Oil is passionately advocated as a wonderful product that has a multitude of health benefits. An example of the potential benefits is shown below.

The health benefits of coconut oil include hair care, skin care, stress relief, cholesterol level maintenance, weight loss, boosted immune system, proper digestion and regulated metabolism. It also provides relief from kidney problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, diabetes, HIV, and cancer, while helping to improve dental quality and bone strength. These benefits of oil can be attributed to the presence of lauric acid, capric acid and caprylic acid, and their respective properties, such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-fungal, antibacterial and soothing qualities.
It sounds too good to be true.
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10 January 2014
Dan Buettner – Blue Zones

In the early 1970s, National Geographic magazine approached the world-renowned physician, Alexander Leaf, asking him to visit, study, and write an article about the world's healthiest and most long-living people.

More recently, Dan Buettner began his research into Blue Zone examining communities in Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; Monterrey, Nuevo Leon and Loma Linda, California.

He published an article Secrets in Longevity in National Geographic Magazine's November 2005 edition In April 2008, Buettner released a book on The Blue Zone: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who've Lived the Longest, through National Geographic Books. A second edition has recently been published.
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1 July 2013