Exciting New Study Reveals an Anti-Obesity Food!

Exciting New Study Reveals an Anti-Obesity Food!

How is that for a headline?  It got your attention, didn’t it?

Many people who read information about this study will be surprised. Anyone who has read just a few articles on this site will not be surprised at all.

The study was conducted by Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts in Kyoto, Japan. Researchers calculated that the consumption of only 50 g of this food per day per person could reduce worldwide obesity rates by 1% (from 650 million adults to 643.5 million). What food do you think it could be?

Tomatoes? Broccoli? Olive Oil? Whole Wheat Bread? Beans?

Although these are all foods found in most Mediterranean diets, the food that was studied is a staple food in most traditional Asian Diets. The food? ….. Rice.

The study was presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Glasgow

Dr. John McDougall and Jeff Novick RDN

Dr. John McDougall has been singing the praises of starchy foods like rice for over 40 years. Luckily for a lot of his Asian-American patients, he didn’t have to wait for this study to recommend a traditional Asian diet high in rice and other starches.

Jeff Novick RDN has been recommending traditional Asian diets rather than Mediterranean diets as a way to fight obesity for at least the last six years. His article from 2013 makes a very strong case for Asian diets over Mediterranean diets.

Although the Doshisha study focused on just one food, the lead researcher, Professor Tomoko Imai, came to a similar conclusion as Jeff Novick. He states “The observed associations suggest that the obesity rate is low in countries that eat rice as a staple food. Therefore, a Japanese food or an Asian-food-style diet based on rice may help prevent obesity.”

My Thoughts

As Jeff Novick reminds us in this article, we should never make conclusions based on one study. But this study just adds to the preponderance of evidence supporting the likelihood that a whole food plant based (WFPB) diet provides the best protection against chronic disease.

Rice just happens to be a staple food for people who eat traditional Asian diets. We’ve known for a long time that chronic diseases like type II diabetes and Coronary Artery Disease are rare in these populations. When these populations start eating a more westernized diet, the prevalence of chronic disease rises dramatically.  Rice is not a magic food. But I think it’s safe to conclude that it is an important component of health-promoting Asian diets.

Stay Healthy and Strong!