Traditional Japanese diet may benefit women’s brain health

Published on: Tuesday, April 23, 2024

By: ETX Daily Up

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A Japanese diet could be linked with less brain shrinkage in women compared with a western diet. (Freepik pic)

Japan – and in particular Okinawa, located in the south of the country not far from Taiwan – is known for its centenarians. In fact, the idyllic archipelago is home to a large number of seniors who have passed the 100-year mark.

Apart from their state of mind and active lifestyle, their diet is also thought to contribute to their longevity: vegetables of all kinds, as well as rice, fish and seaweed are on the menu. And they’re not the only people in Japan who follow this kind of diet.

That’s a good thing, because research suggests that these eating habits could help prevent age-associated brain shrinkage, especially in women. In older people, this could lead to cognitive decline and dementia.

“Adherence to healthy dietary patterns, with higher consumption of whole grains, seafood, vegetables, fruits, mushrooms, soybean products and green tea, potentially confers a protective effect against brain atrophy in middle-aged and older Japanese women but not in men,” said the study published in the Nutrition Journal.

A total of 1,636 Japanese adults aged between 40 and 89 took part in the research, which was supported by Japan’s National Centre for Geriatrics and Gerontology, and the University of Liverpool in the UK.

The participants’ eating habits were monitored for two years, enabling three main diets to be determined: the western diet; a diet based mainly on vegetables, fruit and dairy products; and finally the traditional Japanese diet.

The findings suggest that the secret to good cognitive health for women may lie in the consumption of green tea, mushrooms, miso, and other such foods. In fact, women who followed a traditional Japanese diet were found to have less brain shrinkage compared with those who followed a western diet.

The same was not true for men.

While the study notes that further research is required to confirm these results and ascertain underlying mechanisms, it nevertheless highlights the importance of sex-specific effects on the relationship between dietary patterns and brain health in diverse populations.