National Diets and How They Affect The Risk of Heart Disease

National Diets and How They Affect the Risk of Heart Disease

By Mr Ghaz, September 28, 2010

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National Diets and How They Affect the Risk of Heart Disease

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In a bid to pinpoint a cause for the many coronary disorders prevalent in the West, researchers are increasingly looking at evidence from other cultures whose diets are quite different from our own.

What the Japanese Eat

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It is no coincidence that the Japanese whose diet contains just over 30 per cent fat (mostly polyunsaturated), compared with 40 per cent in Britain and 55 per cent in Denmark, should also enjoy one of the lowest rates of heart disease in the world.

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Their cuisine is strongly associated with fish in forms such as sushi, sashimi and tempura; on average the Japanese eat 100g (3 ½ oz) a day. However, the staple food is rice. A basic meal includes steamed rice, a soup such as miso (made with soya bean paste) and small side dishes which may contain meat, vegetables (including seaweed), seafood, fish, eggs, chicken and noodles, in different sauces and combinations.

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As in the West, the Japanese eat three meals a day. Traditionally, breakfast consists of rice and a miso soup made with ingredients such as seaweed, tofu or leek and a side dish such as grilled fish. A typical lunch might contain chicken and vegetables cooked in soup stock blended with eggs and served on rice. Dinner, the most important meal of the day when the family gathers together, may include a little grilled fish as well as a meat dish such as stewed beef and potatoes, served with boiled greens, miso soup and rice.

The Mediterranean Diet

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Although people living in France, Greece, Spain and Italy eat slightly more fat than the British, most is unsaturated and their risk of fatal heart disease is between a quarter and half the rate in the UK.

Staple foods of the Mediterranean countries are rice, bread, potatoes, pasta or cereals such as couscous, accompanied by plenty of vegetables.

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Olive oil is widely used in cooking; other sources of fat include nuts, seeds and oily fish such as sardines. Butter consumption in Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, but not in France, is far lower than in the UK.

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Mediterranean breakfast is light-frequently made up of rolls, coffee, and fruit juice, or fruit. Lunch may include bread or pasta to accompany a protein dish of meat, fish or poultry, sometimes with a vegetable. At both lunch and dinner, salad is served, often as a course on its own. Dinner is typically an extended meal of several courses, accompanied by wine.

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People living in southern Europe, eat more pulses, nuts and vegetables than the British; on average the Mediterranean diet includes five servings of fruit and vegetables a day compared with only two in Britain.

British Meals

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The UK diet is traditionally high in saturated fats from animal sources.

Typically, British people eat one portion of fish, two portions of beef and lamb, three portions of pork and poultry and seven portions of other meat or meat products every week. They drink 2 liters (3 ½ pints) of milk a week-equivalent to a glass of semi-skimmed and a glass of whole milk a day; other dairy foods such as cheese and yogurt, make up 15 per cent of the total fat consumed. Fat spreads account for 16 per cent; however, margarines are now more popular than butter.

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In Britain, vegetables make up 11 per cent of the fat intake, but half of this comes from roast and fried potatoes, including chips.