The 25 participants of the study were physically active, healthy Japanese volunteers (10 men and 15 women; mean age 36 ± 10 years, BMI < 18.5). They gave informed consent and the study was granted full ethics approval by the Local Research Ethics Committee at Kyorin University School of Medicine and was registered at clinicaltrials.gov, NCT 00928824. The study had a randomized cross-over design with two dietary intervention periods during which the subjects received either Japanese or control (non-Japanese) diet. The exclusion criteria were any serious illnesses, infectious diseases and use of systemic medication. Study subjects had an overnight fast on the morning of saliva and blood collection and blood pressure recording. There were two smoking participants and they were instructed not to change their smoking habits during the study period.