By Takehiro Ito / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Writer
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This series discusses the present and future of washoku traditional Japanese cuisine. This installment takes a look at how traditions are maintained through changes.
“It’s said that washoku is healthy. However, there are few academic papers on this theory, so it’s regarded as something of an urban legend around the world,” said Tsuyoshi Tsuzuki, an associate professor at Tohoku University who studies food chemistry.
Two years ago, a research group led by Tsuzuki announced that the main Japanese diet from around 1975 had health benefits.
“Up to now, most studies focused on components such as catechins in green tea, and the effects of the whole diet on health were unknown,” he said.
The group started by reproducing the diets of various eras, based on the health ministry’s National Health and Nutrition Surveys, cookbooks and other resource materials. When they were fed to mice, the researchers found that the diet from around 1975 could be effective in extending longevity and preventing diabetes and a fatty liver.
The group also conducted an experiment involving two groups each composed of 30 mildly obese people. Three times a day over 28 days, one group consumed the 1975-type diet and the other was provided a modern-day diet. Among the effects seen in the first group were declines in body weight and so-called bad cholesterol, improvement in indicators for diabetes, and increases in so-called good cholesterol. (236 words)
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