The ways of eating most often held up as healthy, above all the traditional Mediterranean diet and traditional Japanese home cooking, share a simple pattern. They put vegetables, legumes and whole grains at the centre of the plate. They eat fish more often than red meat, cook with good fats such as olive oil, and make room for fermented foods. They rely on fresh ingredients rather than ultra-processed ones, and they treat meals as something cooked at home and shared. There's no single superfood involved. What they share is a way of cooking.
This guide looks at what those cuisines have in common, where they differ, and how to borrow the best of them in an ordinary week of cooking.
The cuisines people talk about
The traditional Mediterranean pattern
The Mediterranean diet is probably the most studied way of eating in the world, and it's widely associated with good heart health. UNESCO added it to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2010, a reminder that it's a culture as much as a diet. The traditional version, as cooked in Greek, southern Italian and Spanish homes, leans heavily on vegetables, beans, lentils, bread and grains. Olive oil is the main fat, fish and seafood appear regularly, and meat is a smaller, occasional part of the meal. For the practical side, see our Mediterranean kitchen starter guide.
Traditional Japanese home cooking
Washoku, traditional Japanese food culture, joined the same UNESCO list in 2013. A classic home meal follows the pattern of "one soup, three sides": rice, a bowl of miso soup, and small dishes of fish, vegetables, tofu or seaweed, usually with a few pickles. Portions are modest, variety is high, and fermented foods such as miso, soy sauce and pickles appear every day. Japan is also often mentioned for its long life expectancy, although diet is only one of many factors behind that.
Other traditions worth knowing
The same threads appear elsewhere. There's the Nordic tradition of rye, oats, root vegetables, berries and oily fish, and Korean home cooking with its rice, soups and many vegetable side dishes, kimchi among them. Across Latin America, beans are paired with corn. In India, a daily dal sits beside vegetables and grains. And the plant-based Chinese tradition of yang sheng builds meals around rice, soups, tofu and seasonal greens. None of these cuisines was designed as a diet. They grew out of what people could grow, catch and preserve.
What they have in common
1. Plants at the centre
In all of these cuisines, vegetables aren't a garnish. They make up the bulk of the meal as soups, stews, salads, stir-fries and side dishes. This is the most consistent thread of all, and the one mainstream nutrition advice agrees on most widely.
2. Beans, lentils and other legumes
Chickpeas, lentils and white beans around the Mediterranean, soya beans as tofu and miso in Japan, black beans in Latin America, dal in India. Legumes are cheap, filling, rich in fibre and protein, and they turn up almost daily in traditional versions of these cuisines.
3. Whole and minimally processed grains
Traditional bread, bulgur, barley, rice, oats, buckwheat and corn. The grains differ, but they arrive as grains or simple breads rather than as packaged snacks.
4. Fish more often than red meat
Coastal cuisines eat fish and seafood regularly, and oily fish such as sardines, mackerel and salmon are prized. Red meat tends to be a smaller, occasional part of the meal, often cooked slowly with plenty of vegetables.
5. Good fats, used generously
These cuisines aren't low-fat. The Mediterranean kitchen uses olive oil freely, and nuts and seeds appear everywhere, from walnuts in Greece to sesame in Japan and Korea. What's missing is the heavily processed fat of fast food and packaged snacks.
6. Fermented foods
Yoghurt and cheese in the Mediterranean, miso, soy sauce and pickles in Japan, kimchi in Korea, sourdough and soured milk in northern Europe. Fermentation was originally a way to preserve food, and it adds deep flavour to simple meals.
7. Home cooking, and how the meal is eaten
Perhaps the most overlooked thread is how people eat. Food is mostly cooked from fresh ingredients and eaten at a table, with others, at regular times. Ultra-processed food plays a small role, and portions are sensible because meals are made of several small dishes rather than one very large one.
Where they differ, and why that matters
These cuisines don't agree on everything. The Mediterranean kitchen is rich in olive oil, and the traditional Japanese one uses very little fat. Japan eats rice while Greece eats bread. Some traditions are high in dairy, others use almost none. The traditional Japanese diet is also known for being high in salt, from soy sauce, miso and pickles, which is worth keeping in mind if you borrow from it.
The lesson is useful: there isn't one perfect cuisine to copy. The shared principles matter more than any single ingredient, so you can apply them to food you already love.
Borrow principles, not rules. You don't need to eat like a Cretan fisherman or a Kyoto grandmother. Start by adding one bean dish and one fish dish to your week, and cooking one more meal at home than you do now.
A week of borrowing from the world
Here's a simple, realistic week that uses these threads without a strict plan:
| Day | Dinner idea | Thread |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | A Greek white bean soup with bread and a tomato salad | Legumes, olive oil |
| Tuesday | Salt-grilled salmon, rice, miso soup and quick pickles | Oily fish, fermented foods |
| Wednesday | Lentil and vegetable dal with rice and yoghurt | Legumes, spices |
| Thursday | A big vegetable stir-fry with tofu | Plants at the centre |
| Friday | Grilled sardines or mackerel with roasted vegetables | Fish, vegetables |
| Saturday | Black beans, corn tortillas, salsa and avocado | Legumes, whole grains |
| Sunday | A slow vegetable and chickpea stew to share | Home cooking, together |
Recipes to start with
The World Healthy Kitchen collects this idea across a hundred cuisines, with 550 regional dishes kept whole rather than stripped of flavour. A few that show the shared threads clearly:
- Fasolada (Greek White Bean Soup): beans, vegetables and olive oil, the Mediterranean pattern in a single bowl.
- Lenticchie in Umido (Tuscan Braised Lentils): an everyday Italian legume dish.
- Sake Shioyaki (Salt-Grilled Salmon): the simplest Japanese way with oily fish.
- Oshinko (Japanese Quick-Pickled Vegetables): the small sharp dish that finishes a Japanese meal.
If you're curious about a related approach built around vegetables, spices and oily fish, our anti-inflammatory eating guide covers similar ground. You can browse more of the series in our world cooking collection.
Questions people ask
Which cuisine is the healthiest in the world?
There's no single answer. The traditional Mediterranean and Japanese patterns are the most frequently cited, but their strength lies in shared principles, such as plenty of plants, legumes, fish, good fats and little ultra-processed food, rather than in any one cuisine being "best".
Is the Mediterranean diet the same as Italian food?
Not quite. The traditional pattern comes from many countries around the Mediterranean and is based on vegetables, beans, grains, olive oil and fish. Much of what is sold as Italian food abroad is richer and heavier than what was traditionally eaten at home.
Do I have to give up meat to eat like this?
No. Most of these traditions include meat, but in smaller amounts and less often, with vegetables, beans and fish taking more of the plate.
Are fermented foods essential?
They're a common thread rather than a requirement. Yoghurt, miso, kimchi, sauerkraut and pickles are easy to add, but watch the salt in some of them.