Exploring the Traditional Chinese Diet and Its Association With Health Status – A Systematic Review

Jizhao Niu*, Bai Li, Qing Zhang, Ge Chen, Angeliki Papadaki

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to conferenceConference Abstractpeer-review

Abstract

Background & objectives: Traditional dietary patterns can potentially reduce the increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases. To our knowledge, there is no consistent definition of the traditional Chinese diet. The aim of this systematic review was to systematically evaluate definitions in the literature, provide a concise definition of the traditional Chinese diet and assess the diet’s association with health outcomes.

Methods and study design: This systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Fourteen databases were searched up to April 25th, 2022; screening, data extraction and risk of bias assessment were conducted independently by three reviewers. The narrative synthesis was applied in reporting the results.

Results: Ninety-nine studies were included, 54 of which assessed associations with health outcomes. All studies reported the food groups, and 35 reported food items characterising the traditional diet. Food groups consistently reported in at least 75% of studies were rice and leafy vegetables; the most frequent food items were white rice, spinach, bokchoy, and cabbage. Studies referring exclusively to southern China (n=19) reported fish and seafood, while studies referring exclusively to northern China (n=12) consistently mentioned wheat and wheat products, as well as wheat with a filling as characteristic of these diets. The traditional Chinese diet was associated with a lower risk of obesity, was inversely associated with weight gain, and weakly associated with reduced risk of diabetes. The associations with other non-communicable diseases were not consistent. These inconsistent findings might be due to the different definitions of the traditional diet used in these studies.

Conclusions: This study was the first to systematically evaluate the definition of the traditional Chinese diet and its association with health outcomes. More studies are needed to establish the quantities of foods in the traditional diet and its potential role in preventing non-communicable diseases in China.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusPublished - 2023
Event14th Asian Congress of Nutrition -
Duration: 14 Sept 202317 Sept 2023

Conference

Conference14th Asian Congress of Nutrition
Period14/09/2317/09/23

Research Groups and Themes

  • SPS Exercise, Nutrition and Health Sciences

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