What is the Korean slow-ageing diet and does it work?
A Korean eating pattern built on wholegrains, legumes, vegetables, fruit and fish is linked in several studies to fewer depressive symptoms, better muscle strength and a slower rate of biological ageing. Combine it with sufficient physical activity and regular meals for the strongest effect.
The Korean slow-ageing diet is not an officially defined programme with a fixed name, but a pattern that emerges from Korean nutrition research: wholegrain rice, legumes, vegetables, fruit and fish as the foundation, with little refined grain, sugary drinks or red meat. The idea is that this pattern slows ageing through less chronic inflammation, preservation of muscle strength and better overall health.
Cutting calories suppresses harmful signals that build up with age and drive inflammation. Substances that mimic this effect produce similar results on how cells process energy. This provides a believable biological explanation for why a moderate, not overly heavy diet may slow ageing.
Korean women in middle age who followed the healthiest eating pattern were 44% less likely to report depressive symptoms than women who ate the least healthily. The most unhealthy pattern, high in noodles, sweets and soft drinks, was linked to nearly twice as many depressive symptoms. Whether the diet caused this, or whether healthier people simply tend to eat differently anyway, cannot be determined from this research.
For muscle strength in later life the picture is similar. A varied, balanced eating pattern was linked, after eight years of follow-up, to better grip strength in women and a 14% lower chance of muscle weakness. In men, a diet rich in refined grains was associated with lower muscle strength. Eating slowly and skipping meals were also linked to weaker muscles, though the direction may be reversed here: people who are already weaker may simply eat more slowly. Regular physical activity strengthened the effect of a good diet and was associated with a 16% lower chance of muscle weakness in women.
In a Korean group of nearly 2,000 people, better cardiovascular health, measured through a combination of diet, sleep, not smoking, physical activity and blood values, was linked to a slower rate of biological ageing at the cellular level (a measure of how quickly your cells age biologically). What contributed most differed by sex: in men, not smoking and stable blood sugar were the strongest factors; in women, physical activity, blood sugar and body weight.
This answer draws on a review of inflammation mechanisms in ageing, a Korean study of biological ageing at the cellular level (nearly 2,000 participants), a study of Korean women aged 45 to 69 looking at diet and depression, and an eight-year prospective study of eating patterns and muscle strength in older Koreans. All evidence on diet and health outcomes comes from research in which people were followed over time without being told what to eat; cause and effect therefore cannot be established. The researchers themselves rate the strength of the evidence as moderate, partly because reverse causation and other explanatory factors have not been fully ruled out.
Is brown rice healthier than white rice?
Brown rice is more nutritious than white rice and produces a lower blood sugar spike, but only in its ordinary form, not the quick-cook version.