A Cheer for Chopsticks

Eating Asian-Healthy during Pregnancy

By Kelly Burgess

Five thousand years ago – while Europeans were charring a hunk of raw bison over an open flame – the Chinese had already developed a method of quickly cooking small pieces of vegetables and fish with rice or noodles and eating them with chopsticks. In other words, stir-frying. The modern Asian diet hasn't changed very much from those ancient antecedents.

During pregnancy, this may just be the ideal diet to follow. According to Mary Saucier Choate, food and nutrition educator for Co-op Food Stores, Hanover and Lebanon, N.H., the Asian diet is an excellent food pattern to use during pregnancy. "The [Asian] diet provides important nutrients for fetal health such as folate from greens, citrus and beans, and healthy oils from seeds and nuts and fish," says Choate. "Like many traditional diets, the Asian diet is based on plant foods such as grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds."

In 1995, senior scientists from Harvard School of Public Health, Cornell University and other institutions released an Asian Diet Pyramid, which is based on a generalized summary of the traditional healthy diets of Asian populations. They did this as a healthier alternative to the 1992 U.S. Food Guide Pyramid. What these scientists felt the U.S. Food Guide Pyramid lacked was a distinction between plant and animal foods.

And it's an important distinction. These scientists were prompted by studies done in their own universities and organizations showing that the traditional, plant-based rural diets of Asia were linked to much lower rates of certain cancers, heart disease, obesity, osteoporosis and other chronic, degenerative diseases than those found in the United States.

Mary Choate agrees. "Plant foods have been shown to have a protective effect on heart health and against cancer and other chronic diseases," she says. "Since plants are complex, providing a cocktail of nutrients and other compounds in every bite, it is difficult to tease out whether it is the fiber, the plant compounds called 'phytochemicals,' the vitamins and minerals, unsaturated fats or some other reason that they are so beneficial. Some researchers feel it is the synergy, or the power of eating these healthful foods together over time, that results in the health benefits."

The basis for the Asian diet is very simple. Rather than taking protein from milk and meats, it uses rice, beans, fish, nuts, grains and seeds as its protein sources. Meat, poultry and eggs are used sparingly. Since meat and meat products are linked to heart disease and cancer, a diet low in these foods naturally leads to a lower incidence of these diseases.

Rice, noodles, breads and grains are used as the main components of dishes that include generous amounts of mushrooms, fruits and vegetables. The fruits and vegetables are high in fiber and add to the protection against heart disease while providing extra vitamins and antioxidants.

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