In a recent review article published in the journal Advances in Nutrition , researchers synthesized the components of traditional Latin American, Asian, and African heritage diets and their association with diet quality and health markers. Perspective: Beyond the Mediterranean Diet—Exploring Latin American, Asian, and African Heritage Diets as Cultural Models of Healthy Eating . Image Credit: akiyoko / Shutterstock Traditional diets, defined as culturally and environmentally aligned eating patterns featuring home-cooked, biodiverse foods, face displacement by processed foods, leading to diet-related diseases.
This "nutrition transition" poses significant public health challenges, especially in the United States, where dietary acculturation often decreases diet quality and exacerbates health disparities among racial and ethnic groups. This review, which identified and narratively synthesized relevant biomedical, biological, and social scientific literature, highlighted the value of common elements across traditional Latin American, Asian, and African diets in improving dietary guidance and called for more research on their health impacts and cultural relevance. Traditional Latin American, Asian, and African diets typically follow a "core-fringe-legume" pattern, emphasizing unrefined carbohydrates, vegetables, small amounts of meats, and legumes.
While historically, some traditional diet elements, like high salt for preservation, pose health risks, others are beneficial. Cult.
