Japanese Way of Health

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Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

The Japenese Way of Health

www.billsardi.com

 

Bill Sardi's three day report following his recent six day tour of

Japan.

 

Bill Sardi visits Wakayama prefecture, south of Osaka, a rich

agriculture area.

 

Bill Sardi with monster Daikon radish

 

Part I: Why the Japanese live so long and so healthy

 

Part II: When the Japanese can't eat rice

 

Part III: In Japan, everybody is having a rice day

 

Part I: Why the Japanese live so long and so healthy

 

 

Japan has become the modern land of health and longevity. The World

Health Organization now says the Japanese live the longest and have

the most years of disease- free living, compared to any other human

population.

 

Among 191 countries, the Japanese can expect to live 74.5 years in

full health. By comparison, the US ranked 24th at 70.0 years of

healthy living. [World Health Organization June 4, 2000]

 

The Japanese paradox is that many drink hard liquor (sake) and smoke

tobacco, yet they still live longer and healthier overall. Japanese

smokers don't develop lung cancer at the same rate as American

smokers.

 

To understand this phenomenon, I traveled to Wakayama prefecture in

Japan, a large agricultural center south of Osaka, to observe the

dietary and health practices of the Japanese.

 

Here is what I observed.

 

Island living forces the Japanese to live off the sea and grow their

own foods.

 

An island nation that has often suffered from a lack of food supply,

the only food that Japan is self sufficient in is rice. This has

forced Japan to use every available plot of flat land to cultivate

vegetable gardens or rice fields.

 

Therefore, many of the plant foods consumed by the Japanese are

obtained from local sources

 

and are freshly picked and may have more nutrient value. North

Americans are eating grapes picked in South America, lettuce grown in

Mexico, and apples crated in from New Zealand.

 

This means these foods may have lost much of their nutrient value by

the time they are consumed. Freshness is the hallmark of the Japanese

plant-based diet.

 

Table fruits and vegetables are likely to have been picked on the day

they were sold, often from a roadside market.

 

 

All available land is used

to plant rice.

 

Because Japan has been forced to search for food beyond its land

mass, fish and sea vegetables have become a major part of the diet.

The Japanese consume more fish per capita than any other nation.

Since fish consume omega-3-rich phytoplankton, this essential fat

which is required for the nervous system is consumed in greater

amounts than in many other countries. In approximately 20% of

Americans no tissue levels of essential omega-3 fats can be found.

The major fat in the human brain is omega-3. Any wonder why the

Japanese have a higher literacy rate than the USA? They feed their

brains properly.

 

The dishwasher problem

 

The Japanese have the biggest dishwashing problem in the world. They

serve a myriad of different foods at one meal on very small dishes.

While consuming a traditional Japanese plant-food based diet in the

mountain village at Mt. Koyasan I inquired of an 81-year old woman of

the Japanese diet. In her youth she recalled there was very little

food in Japan. Now food is readily available. She told me that the

Japanese will eat as much as 35 different foods in a day. This was

apparent by the many small dishes of food that were placed in front

of me, including Daikon radish, persimmon, sea vegetables, sweet

potatoes, tofu cakes (soy), onions, green leafy spinach and lettuce,

Inoki mushroom, cabbage, along with the pungent Wasabe and soy sauce.

The lesson here is variety in the daily diet.

 

 

The Japanese dishwasher problem- They eat a wide variety of foods

delivered on individual plates.

 

Agriculture products traced to farmers.

 

I visited a farmer's market, part of a growing chain of such markets

in Japan, where I observed huge heads of lettuce, cabbage and

radishes. These were grown to a large size by the farmers and would

dwarf the vegetables sold in supermarkets in the USA. The green

leaves were much greener than American vegetables, indicative of more

magnesium content, since magnesium is required for the production of

chlorophyll.

 

A remarkable practice at the farmer's markets is an identification

mark for each farmer on the produce sold. Small bar-code labels

include the farmer's ID in Japanese language. The farmers set their

own price for their products in these markets and the most respected

farmers can actually charge a bit more. Imagine knowing the name of

the farmer who grew your spinach or radishes? In these Japanese

farmers markets there is traceability and accountability. Problems

can be traced right back to the farmer, who is required to answer

consumer complaints directly.

 

Low dairy consumption

 

One observation is that all Asian populations appear to consume

plenty of food, yet they do not exhibit the obesity seen in western

countries. One reason is the lack of dairy products. In the USA

obesity is highest in Wisconsin, the dairy state. Just don't mention

this fact to the American Dairy Council.

 

The Japanese diet is low on calcium consumption because dairy

products must be imported. There are less than 1 million milk cows to

supply a population of 125 million in Japan. There are more than 9

million milk cows in the USA for a population of that is a bit more

than twice that of Japan. The overall mortality rates in the world

indicate those human populations that consume the most calcium from

dairy products have the highest mortality rates. (See chart below) As

much as calcium is promoted in the USA to prevent bone thinning

(osteoporosis) with advancing age, Japanese women consume marginal

amounts of calcium yet exhibit little osteoporosis.

 

In part this is due to the much lower consumption of salt in the

Japanese diet. Americans consume 4000 milligrams of sodium per day,

most of it being laced in canned and prepared foods to enhance taste.

 

Americans pay a price for over-consumption of salt with a high rate

of hypertension (high blood pressure) since salt retains more water

in the circulatory system, and in bone thinning since sodium competes

with calcium for absorption.

 

All-Cause Mortality Rate and Consumption of Milk

Source: International Journal Cardiology 33: 19, 1991

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JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

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