Contents
Japan – a distant country where for years there has been a very low rate of people suffering from civilization diseases, such as obesity or cancer. The Japanese diet is among the healthiest as it focuses on variety, fish and many raw foods. According to statistics, the Land of the Rising Sun is in second place in terms of life expectancy of its inhabitants. What is their secret?
Of course, according to scientists, it’s not just about what the Japanese eat, but also about their lifestyle. People who live longer are usually active, sociable and exercise a lot. However, the diet is not without merit here – it is mainly due to the lack of a problem with civilization diseases such as cancer and obesity, which have become the norm in many developed countries.
Health is in the details. Food celebration and taste
W Japanese diet both how the food is prepared and how it looks are important. Dishes are supposed to provide not only taste sensations, but also to satisfy the aesthetic ones – the dishes look appetizing, are prepared with finesse, and must have a varied consistency. The taste is varied only by a few spices: rice vinegar, soy sauce, miso, wasabi, sesame, rice wine. Food preparation is more about emphasizing these natural flavors, and using raw ingredients, or dipping them in oil for a while, or grilling them. What’s more, many dishes are prepared immediately before serving (e.g. soup is cooked immediately on the table by adding individual ingredients to it and using specially designed equipment).
Ingredients list. Mainly rice and seafood
As Japan is an island country, it is not surprising that the basic ingredients of meals are fish, algae and seafood. You do not need to prove to anyone that fish is the same health – it is a wealth of unsaturated omega-3 acids that protect our heart and circulatory system. In addition to sea delicacies, rice and soy products are also important, which, thanks to the content of phytoestrogens, make Japanese women less likely to have problems with menopause-related ailments and bone fragility.
Algae, actually alien to our food culture, are a source of thyroid health and the entire metabolism (we digest meals faster and do not gain weight), because they contain a lot of valuable iodine. The Japanese diet is dominated by rice, bread is eaten occasionally, soy, buckwheat or rice noodles, which are cooked half-hard, are often used. Another valuable element Japanese diet is green tea, which has powerful antioxidants and many vitamins. Diet can be used as a way to lose weight, or introduce certain habits permanently. The main ingredients that should be included in the Japanese diet are:
- Sesame and its preserves,
- japanese rice,
- Soy sauce,
- Good quality green tea
- Fishes and seafood,
- algae,
- Buckwheat, soba, soy, rice noodles,
- Soy,
- Vegetables – mainly cabbage, broccoli, legumes,
- Tofu