The Japanese diet is famously healthy – packed with vegetables, fish, fermented foods, and beans – but now, a major study suggests it could also guard against depression. Researchers studied around 12,500 working adults and found that those who most closely followed the washoku diet – Japan’s traditional way of eating, rich in white rice, miso soup, fish, mushrooms, soy-based foods, seaweed, and green tea – were significantly less likely to report symptoms of depression than those who ate a more Western-style diet, typically high in processed meats, refined grains, sugary snacks, and fried foods.
Those who followed a more modern, health-conscious version of the diet, which added fruits, raw vegetables, and dairy while cutting back on salty foods, saw an even greater benefit. The study revealed a clear pattern: the more closely someone’s diet followed these Japanese eating habits, the less likely they were to experience depressive symptoms. Compared to those with the lowest adherence, people with the highest adherence to the traditional diet were 17% less likely to report depression. For the modern version of the diet, the risk was reduced by 20%.
