Eating an Asian diet it pretty good for our overall health. Today I want to focus specifically on the Japanese diet as this has received a lot of media attention since the life expectancy in Japan is the longest of any country. What is it about the foods that are eaten in this country that makes them so healthy?

Of course, it is true that longevity has more to it than just diet. However, it is hard to deny the important role that diet plays in health. So even if it does not account for everything, we know that diet and foods are certainly a major factor.

Japanese People Eat Rice

Rice is much more popular in Asian countries than in the West. This is their staple food rather than potatoes. Almost all of the ways of preparing rice are low fat. Primarily it is simply boiled in a rice cooker. These machines are really very easy to use. There is no real worry about over or under cooking the rice. It is really just a simple matter of adding a specific amount of rice and a corresponding amount of water.

Fishing Community

Just by looking at the geography of the county, you can see that Japan has a massive coastline to land mass ratio. Of course, this means that they are a fish eating nation. Not only that, they consume all kinds of foods from the sea. This includes whale, fish, shell fish and seaweed.

You may not agree with eating whale. However, looking at it from a nutritional standpoint, the Japanese diet does contain a ton of nutrients derived from foods that they take from the sea. The different kinds of seaweed that they eat are very low calorie sources of minerals.

Vegetables are Grown all over the Country

When you think of Japanese food, you might not instantly think of vegetables. Things like sushi more readily spring to mind. You may be surprised to hear that vegetables are also a big part of the Japanese diet. It is typical for them to be served at every meal time. For instance, often at breakfast, pickled vegetables are eaten. Then at lunch and dinner time some type of green, often spinach, is served as an accompaniment.

A Balanced Diet

When we look at the foods eaten in Japan, it is the epitome of a balanced diet. They do not eat to excess. Also the Japanese consume foods from all major food groups. A regular person living in this country will have no problem in consuming their five portions of fruit and vegetables per day. They don’t really have to go out of their way to do so either. So if you want to improve your health and eat great tasting food, take a closer look at the Japanese diet.