Brain-Healthy Eating With Traditional East Asian Foods
This guide helps you choose foods from East Asian cultures that work with the Mediterranean Diet for brain health. These items come from Hong Kong, Japan, China, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan.
Equivalent foods for each component of the Mediterranean Diet
Fiber (whole grains, roots/tubers)
- Brown rice
- Wheat noodles
- Corn
- Corn grits
- Barley
- Oats
- Foxtail millet
- Sorghum
Healthy Fats
- Fresh- and salt-water fish
- Dried fish
- Shellfish
- Sesame seed
- Sunflower seed
- Lotus seed
- Peanut
- Walnut
- Almond
- Hazelnut
- Pine nut
- Pistachio
- Cashew
Lean protein
- Chicken
- Duck
- Goose
- Raw fish
- Fish boiled with soy
- Roast fish
- Boiled fish paste
- Dried fish
- Pork tenderloin
- Rib chops
- Dried legumes:
- Soybean flour
- Dried bean
- Bean flour
- Roasted broad bean
- Tofu
- Tofu product
- Red bean paste
- Mung bean paste
Fresh Produce
- Spinach
- Bok choy
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Tomato
- Cucumber
- Zucchini
- Mushroom
- Soybean sprout
- Pea with pod
- Mung bean sprout
- Fresh or dried seaweed
Probiotics
- Miso soup
- Seaweed
- Pickle
- Kimchi
- Shiokojizuke
- Nukazuke
Seasonings
- Soy sauce
Try substituting condiments with low sodium versions, e.g. low sodium soy sauce, liquid aminos, coconut aminos.
Drinks
- Green tea
- Sanpin cha
- Jasmine tea
- Coffee
- Awamori (millet brandy)
Acknowledgements & References
Heidi Wulzen, MPH, RDN, LD, Heritage Health, Brain Health & Risk Reduction Action Team Member
Note. Adapted from “Cultural Adaptations Addressing Diversity and Health Access in the Mediterranean Diet: A Realist Synthesis”, by Bourne, N.A., Gill, G.K., Cooley, K. (2014). Canadian Association of Naturopathic Doctors Journal, 31(1), 37–46. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.54434/candj.146
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