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Japomediterranean diet?

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 58, pages 1324–1325 (2004)Cite this article

The letter from our Japanese colleagues Tokudome et al (2004) addresses an important issue related to the healthful benefits of certain diets: their content of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and particularly the ratio of n-6 PUFA/n-3 PUFA. They report a 50–60% increase of this ratio in the traditional Japanese diet, assuming that this shift may enhance the risk of certain diseases. The authors referred to our recently published cross-sectional study to illustrate the typical Mediterranean diet pattern (Serra-Majem et al, 2003). We agree with the authors that both the Mediterranean and Japanese traditional diets are the patterns associated with lowest mortality rates, particularly from coronary heart diseases. However, the health benefits of these diets could be explained by different mechanisms, since:

  1. 1)

    the Japanese diet is a low fat, low-saturated fatty acid (SFA), with a relatively high proportion of n-3 PUFA.

  2. 2)

    the Mediterranean diet is a high fat, high-monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), with relatively low proportion of n-6 PUFA and trans fatty acids (Trichopoulou et al, 2003).

the Japanese diet is a low fat, low-saturated fatty acid (SFA), with a relatively high proportion of n-3 PUFA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain

    L Serra-Majem

  2. Foundation for the Advancement of the Mediterranean Diet, University of Barcelona Science Park, Spain

    L Serra-Majem

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  1. L Serra-Majem
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Serra-Majem, L. Japomediterranean diet?. Eur J Clin Nutr 58, 1324–1325 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601972

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