Many benefits are attributed to the traditional Japanese diet, to the point that it has always been linked to a longer life expectancy. Experts believe that it is due to the prominence of seasonal vegetables, fresh or fermented fish in Japanese cuisine. All of them are local, sustainable and healthy products that are part of multiple dishes in the country beyond sushi and ramen.
To find out if a diet conforms to the Japanese eating pattern, researchers use the 12-Component Modified Japanese Diet Index (mJDI12). As its name advances, this scoring system gathers twelve foods, among which are rice, pickles or soybeans. Depending on the amount of these products included in the studied diet, it is scored from 0 to 12, so the more points you get, the more it will resemble the Japanese eating pattern.
Now, a research group from the Osaka Metropolitan University (Japan) has studied the relationship between the foods best valued by this system, muscle mass and the progression of liver fibrosis in 136 patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). visiting each other at Osaka Metropolitan University Hospital.
In this variant of the disease (another of the most common is alcoholic fatty liver), diet plays a crucial role in its prevention. Although there are several factors that can contribute to its appearance, diet is the most important.
The study, led by Dr. Hideki Fujii and Associate Professor Yoshinari Matsumoto, found that subjects on diets with higher mJDI12 showed less progression of liver fibrosis. In addition, a higher intake of soy, shellfish, and seaweed products showed a suppressive effect on disease progression.
Another benefit that they observed among people who ate more soy-derived foods was that they had greater muscle mass, and that in turn they presented a slower progression of this pathology.
"This study indicates that the Japanese dietary pattern may be effective as a dietary treatment for patients with NAFLD. We hope that further intervention studies will lead to the establishment of an effective diet for such people," says Professor Matsumoto.
In other research, this diet has been linked to weight loss and associated improvements in serum lipid metabolism. However, until now there were no reports concluding that it can have a preventive effect against this liver disease.
It should be noted that the beneficial effects are associated with the more traditional Japanese diet, which according to experts is a model that is at risk, and which is less and less adopted in large cities. Something similar to what happens here with the Mediterranean diet, whose adherence gradually decreases.
