| Dietary Guidelines
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| Enjoy your meals |
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Have delicious and healthy meals that are good for your mind and body. |
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Aim to achieve a longer healthy life through your daily meals. |
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Enjoy communication at the table with your family and/or other people and participate in the preparation of meals. |
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| Establish a healthy rhythm by keeping regular hours for meals. |
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Have breakfast to make a good start to the day. |
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Avoid large snacks before bedtime and between meals. |
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If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation. |
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| Eat well-balanced meals with staple food, as well as main and side dishes. |
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Make a good combination of various foods. |
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Try to cook in various ways. |
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Combine wisely home-made meals with eating out, eating processed and prepared foods. |
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| Eat enough grains such as rice and other cereals. |
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Eat grains at every meal to maintain sufficient intake of energy from carbohydrate. |
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Make the best use of grains such as rice and other cereals, suited to Japan’s climate and soil conditions. |
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| Combine vegetables, fruits, milk products, beans and fish in your diet. |
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Eat enough of vegetables and fruits everyday to get vitamins, minerals and fibers. |
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Drink milk and eat green/yellow vegetables, beans, and small fish to get a sufficient amount of calcium intake. |
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| Avoid too much salt and fat. |
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Avoid salty foods and reduce the amount of salt intake to less than 10 grams per day. |
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Avoid oily and fatty foods and make a balanced choice of fat from animal, plant, and fish. |
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Check nutrition labels in choosing foods and setting menus. |
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| Learn your healthy body weight and balance the calories you eat with physical activity. |
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Weigh yourself as soon as you feel like you have gained someweight. |
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Have a habit of appropriate physical exercise. |
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Good health is essential to beauty. Do not attempt to lose too much weight. |
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Chew your food well and do not eat too quickly. |
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| Take advantage of your dietary culture and local food products, while incorporating new and different dishes. |
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Enjoy nature’s bounty and the changing seasons by using local food products and ingredients in seasons, and by enjoying holiday and special-occasion dishes. |
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Respect your dietary culture and apply it to daily diet. |
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Acquire knowledge of foods and cooking. |
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Be open to trying new foods and dishes. |
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| Reduce leftovers and waste through proper cooking and storage methods. |
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Avoid buying and cooking too much food. Try to gauge how much food you need to avoid leftovers. |
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Pay attention to “best by” and “consume by” dates on food products. |
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Check the contents of your refrigerator and cupboards on a regular basis and try to create menus that maximize what you have. |
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| Assess your daily eating. |
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Set your own health goals and have a habit to assess your diet. |
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Think and talk about your diet with your family and friends. |
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Learn and practice healthy eating habits at school and at home. |
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Promote appreciation of good eating habits from a early stage of life. |
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Copyright
(c)
. The Japan Dietetic Association All rights reserved
The eating habits of the Japanese people have changed in recent years. These changes have brought problems, including poor nutritional balance, attributed to a higher average fat intake, and greater waste of food, a consequence of people preparing more food and throwing away more leftovers. Other changes in eating habits reflect lifestyle changes. These include skipping meals; eating alone; separate meals for individual family members, with each member eating what he or she likes; and inadequate instruction of children on recommended eating habits, owing largely to fewer opportunities for family members to eat together.