Superiority of Korean Diet for Prevention of Cardiovascular Diseases

심장병 예방을 위한 한국 식사의 우수성

We compared three nations' diets on Year 2000 Korean, American and Mediterranean in the aspect of contribution of each to the development of cardiovascular diseases. We searched all the available evidences published. Korea has a very low incidence of cardiovascular diseses compared to the other countries even though they are increasing recently. In addition to many risk factors to these defenerative diseases such as diabetes millitus, hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, sedentary lifestyle, etc., dietary factors are also contributing a lot to their development. High calorie, trans fatty acids, cholesterol, saturated fatty acids, alcohol, salt intakes are examples. Korean diet has superiority of low calorie, low fat, good fat proportion, high omega-3 fatty acids, vegetables, beans, and garlic and onions These are believed to contribute to low incidence of cardiovascular diseases in Korea. Korean diets was also found to have some issues for improvement such as high salt, low calcium, and higher use of barbequed meats. We concluded Korean people stay better off with Korean diet with some modifications.