The Japenese Way of Health

[Guest guest]

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

_________________

_________________

JoAnn Guest

mrsjoguest

DietaryTipsForHBP

www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Genes

 

 

 

 

AIM Barleygreen

" Wisdom of the Past, Food of the Future "

 

http://www.geocities.com/mrsjoguest/Diets.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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