"Japan Diet" and Health-The Present and Future

Feasibility pilot study of a Japanese teaching kitchen program

Background

This pilot study examined the feasibility of a new lifestyle modification program involving a "Teaching Kitchen" in Japan. Our goal was to explore (1) feasibility of the program; (2) acceptability for class frequency (weekly vs. bi-weekly); and (3) changes in biometrics, dietary intakes, and lifestyle factors.

Methods

A total of 24 employees with obesity in a Japanese company were recruited. Participants were randomly divided into two groups (weekly or bi-weekly group), each attending the program consisting of four two-hour classes (lectures on nutrition, exercise, mindfulness, and culinary instructions). Participants were observed for changes in dietary intakes, biometrics, and health related quality of life over the subsequent 3 months. We tested the between-group differences in changes using linear mixed-effect models.

Results

The program completion rates were 83.3% in total (91.7% for weekly group and 75.0% for bi-weekly group). From baseline to post-intervention, significant decreases were observed in weight (p < 0.001), body mass index (p < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure (p = 0.03), body fat mass (p < 0.001), and dietary intakes in total fat (p = 0.03) and sodium (p = 0.008) among 17 participants who were available for measurements. Improvements in biometrics remained significant 1 month after the intervention (all p ≤ 0.03 in 14 participants). Participants' health related quality of life was significantly improved in bodily pain, general health, vitality, and mental component score (all p ≤ 0.047).

Conclusions

The new Japanese Teaching Kitchen program is feasible with high program completion rates in Japanese office workers with obesity. While this was a small feasibility study, significant multiple improvements in dietary intakes, biometrics, and health related quality of life suggest that this line of inquiry warrants further exploration to address obesity and obesity-related diseases in Japan.

Effects of Nutrition Education Program for the Japan Diet on Serum Phospholipid Fatty Acid Compositions in Patients with Dyslipidemia: Re-analysis of Data from a Previous Randomized Controlled Trial

AIM

We investigated changes in serum phospholipid fatty acid compositions with intake of the Japan Diet (JD) (higher consumption of fish, soybeans, vegetables, seaweed/mushrooms/konjak, and unrefined cereals with reduced consumption of animal fat, meat and poultry with fat, sweets and alcoholic drinks) recommended by the Japan Atherosclerosis Society.

METHODS

A randomized parallel controlled clinical trial on JD intake was conducted on Japanese patients with dyslipidemia. Nutrition education, based on the JD or partial JD (PJD) at baseline and at 3 months, was provided and the participants were followed up for 6 months. Fatty acids comprising serum phospholipids were measured in the JD (n=44) and PJD (n=44) groups.

RESULTS

Fatty acid intakes of C20:4, C20:5 and C22:6 increased in the JD group as compared with the PJD group. The percentages of serum phospholipid, C22:1 and C20:5 increased, while those of C18:1, C20:3(n-6) and C20:4(n-6) decreased in the JD as compared with the PJD group at 3 months. Changes in the phospholipid concentrations of C20:5, C22:5 and C22:6 reflected those intake volumes. Serum phospholipid C20:5 and C22:6 showed inverse correlations with C18:1, C18:2, and C20:3(n-6) at baseline and the changes at 3 and 6 months. In contrast, no correlation was observed between C20:4(n-6) and those n-3 fatty acids. The ratios of fatty acid concentrations, C16:1/C16:0 and C18:1/C18:0, decreased, but the ratio of C20:4(n-6)/C20:3(n-6) increased in the JD group.

CONCLUSION

Nutrition education on the JD changed serum phospholipid fatty acid profiles in favor to prevent against cardiovascular risk factors in patients with dyslipidemia.

Inverse association of a traditional Korean diet composed of a multigrain rice-containing meal with fruits and nuts with metabolic syndrome risk: The KoGES

Background

Hansik, a traditional Korean diet, may have a beneficial impact on metabolic syndrome (MetS) risk as dietary westernization increases its prevalence. We examined the hypothesis that adherence to the hansik diet may be inversely associated with the risk of MetS and its components and sought to understand the gender differences in 58,701 men and women aged over 40.

Materials and methods

Hansik was defined using 14 components from which the Korean dietary pattern index (K_diet-index) was generated by summing their scores. Low-hansik intake was defined as the K_diet-index with <8. MetS was categorized based on the 2005 revised NCEP-ATP III criteria modified for Asians.

Results

The K_diet-index score was negatively associated with the dietary inflammation index and showed that the high intake of a meal with multigrain rice, fruits, and their products, and nuts, and low intake of fried foods were inversely associated with MetS by 0.707, 0.864, 0.769, and 0.918 times, respectively, after adjusting for covariates. More women and participants with more educated and lower income belonged to the high-hansik group, and participants with high self-rated health scores consumed more hansik. All participants on a high-hansik diet were associated with a 0.87 time lower risk of MetS. Specifically, the association between hansik intake and MetS risk was not significant among men following stratification by gender. Body composition, including the body mass index, waist circumference, and fat mass, was inversely associated with hansik intake, while the skeletal muscle mass index was positively associated with the hansik intake in each gender and all participants. In all the participants in the high-hansik group, no significant changes were seen in the serum glucose and HDL concentration. However, a high-hansik intake showed lower blood pressure and serum LDL and triglyceride concentrations only in men and a higher glomerular filtration rate in both genders.

Conclusions

Hansik intake might improve MetS risk, with its primary beneficial effects on body composition, dyslipidemia, and blood pressure gender-dependently.

Combined higher frequency fish consumption and healthy lifestyle may lower the triglyceride/HDL-C ratio in middle-aged Japanese males: Anti-atherosclerotic effect of fish consumption

BACKGROUND

Fish consumption may be associated with a low risk of coronary artery disease. We aimed to investigate whether higher fish consumption results in improved lifestyle behaviors and thus lower triglyceride/high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (TG/HDL-C) ratio--a predictor of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD).

METHODS AND RESULTS

This cross-sectional study included 2947 middle-aged Japanese males with no history of ASCVD or lipid-modifying therapy, who presented at the Health Planning Center of Nihon university hospital between April 2018 and March 2019. We performed an analysis of variance using fish consumption as a categorical variable (0-2 days, 3-4 days, or 5-7 days per week). The serum TG/HDL-C ratio in the 5-7 days fish consumption group was significantly lower than those in the 0-2- and 3-4-days fish consumption groups (p < 0.0001 and p < 0.01, respectively). Multiple regression stepwise analysis revealed that weekly fish consumption negatively and independently determined the TG/HDL-C ratio (β = -0.061, p = 0.001). As fish consumption increased, the proportion of subjects with smoking habits decreased (p = 0.014), those engaging in aerobic exercises and aggressive daily physical activity increased (p < 0.0001 for both), and those with alcohol habit increased (p < 0.0001). In addition, we developed the risk stratification for ASCVD by combining the serum HDL-C level and the serum TG/HDL-C ratio with fish intake.

CONCLUSION

Increased frequency of fish consumption and improved lifestyle behaviors due to daily fish intake may work additively to lower the serum TG/HDL-C ratio. These associations may explain why high fish consumption is associated with a lower risk of ASCVD. Our findings may help physicians and nutritionists in treating patients with heart diseases and metabolic conditions by recommending a high fish diet in middle-aged Japanese males.

Frequency of consumption of balanced meals, bodyweight gain and incident risk of glucose intolerance in Japanese men and women: A cohort study

AIMS/INTRODUCTION

This cohort study assessed the risk for bodyweight gain and development of glucose intolerance based on the frequency of consumption of balanced meals including grain, fish or meat and vegetables.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The participants (8,573 men, 3,327 women) were employees of a company in Japan. A self-administered questionnaire was used to evaluate the frequency of balanced meal consumption. Bodyweight changes and the incidence of glucose intolerance (glycated hemoglobin >6.0%) during the 3-year follow-up period were determined through annual health examinations.

RESULTS

The mean bodyweight change over a period of 3 years was 0.78 kg for men and 0.84 kg for women. A lower frequency of balanced meals was associated with a higher bodyweight gain for men (P for trend = 0.004), but not for women. During the study, 464 men and 115 women developed glucose intolerance. Overall, the frequency of balanced meals was not associated with the risk of glucose intolerance in either sex. However, the interaction between the frequency of balanced meals and degree of obesity had a significant effect on the incidence of glucose intolerance in men (P = 0.005), with less frequent consumption of balanced meals being associated with a higher risk for glucose intolerance among men with a BMI ≥25.0 kg/m2 (P for trend = 0.007).

CONCLUSIONS

A higher frequency of balanced meals, including grain, fish or meat and vegetable dishes - important components of healthy Japanese food - was associated with a lower risk of glucose intolerance in obese men, but not in non-obese men and women.