On September 10, the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare released a report saying that by the end of September, the number of elderly people over the age of 100 in Japan had reached a record high, reaching 17934, an increase of 2,459 over last year, which has been continuously increasing for 32 consecutive years. According to Japan's population of 65.438+0.2 billion, there are more than 654.38+0.4 centenarians for every 6.5438+0.4 million people.

Why can Japanese people's life span create miracles again and again? Some Japanese experts believe that this is closely related to the traditional Japanese "harmony with food".

"Harmony" is light.

"Heshi" has a history of thousands of years and has various names, but its essence cannot be separated from three daily foods: rice, Japanese miso soup and seasonal dishes. Perhaps in our eyes, these three foods are too ordinary and simple to be compared with the four famous dishes in China, and they are not as fresh and attractive as the increasingly popular European and American restaurants. However, the above three kinds of food are expensive because they are light.

Mr. Tian, the author of "Promoting Blood Circulation, Diet and Life" and the head of the Health Medical Center of Chi Hui Medical University in Tokyo Tzu Chi, broke the mystery of "harmony with food". "The traditional Japanese diet is dominated by vegetables, which consumes less oil and contains a lot of ingredients to promote blood circulation, which can not only prevent excessive energy absorption, but also prevent lifestyle diseases."

Mr. Hotan pointed out that the basic way of combining rice with miso soup can make the nutrition get a proper balance. Because some essential amino acids in protein can't be synthesized in the body, it's unrealistic to hope that it can be supplemented by only one food, but the combination of rice and bean products (miso soup is made of soybeans) can achieve complementary effects. As for vegetables, Japanese scholars admire seasonal vegetables most, because they are not only cheap, but also delicious and have high nutritional value.

In addition to "harmony food", Japanese daily diet, including the familiar main and non-staple foods such as sushi, sashimi, wheat tea, buckwheat noodles, natto, kelp, pancakes, milk and kimchi, embodies the essence of Japanese vegetarian culture.

Longevity is inseparable from seafood.

On the other hand, Japanese people's longevity diet is absolutely inseparable from rich seafood. Japan is a country that relies heavily on seafood in the world. In most cooking methods such as sashimi, roasting, frying and boiling, fish is the protagonist. Japan eats 70 kilograms of fish per capita every year, which is five times the world average.

Japanese people eat fish without even letting go of fat, especially sashimi such as salmon, which is almost not fat and not up to grade. Unlike the fat of land animals, fish fat is rich in long-chain unsaturated fatty acids.

In particular, HDA (eicosahexaenoic acid) and eicosapentaenoic acid (eicosapentaenoic acid), which are rich in blood-clearing components, are the first choice to prevent arteriosclerosis, and can also promote the activities of the brain and retina and prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Another important seafood is seaweed. Trace elements and dietary fiber contained in seaweed are the killer to resist hypertension and diabetes. Bocks Hill Johan, a pharmacist at North Island University of Technology, pointed out that "Japan's meat consumption is far less than that of Europe and the United States, but the consumption of seaweed is the highest in the world, which should be one of the secrets for Japan to become the longest-lived country." Okinawa Prefecture, where longevity is most concentrated, is the largest consumer of Japanese seaweed.

Dietary tradition is impacted by Europe and America.

The Japanese diet also has some hidden concerns. With the invasion of European and American food, Japanese food culture has obviously appeared a tendency of sharp westernization. After the war, only 7% of Japanese energy intake came from fat. By the 1990s, the energy intake from fat had soared to 25%. The consumption of vegetables in Japan has dropped to102kg per year this year, which is 10% lower than that in 1980. There is a best-selling book in Japan called Recommended Coarse Grains. Hideo Inauchi, the author, said worriedly, "The traditional food culture accumulated by the Japanese for many years is actually the most suitable for us. Being infatuated with European and American cuisine is like making a horse eat meat instead. In recent years, the surge in obesity and diabetes in Japan is the result of people's departure from traditional foods. " (Wu Minzhong)

With the slogan of "food safety" and taking the popular route, the Japanese supermarket model is transforming to attach importance to "self-employed".

At present, when Japanese consumers enter supermarkets to choose vegetables and buy fruits, they should not only know the price, but also carefully check the place of origin, understand the production process and understand the place of origin of farmers.

The so-called "disaster comes from the mouth, disease comes from the mouth", Japanese people's strict selection of food, after the "mad cow disease" many years ago, a series of food fraud last year, and the recent poisoning incident in jiaozi, we are now stepping up our review on how to establish a safe food supply network.

All supermarkets vigorously promote "food safety". Some supermarkets hang pictures of farmers on food stalls to tell customers that producers are "outstanding" and can buy with confidence. Other supermarkets introduce new technologies on a large scale, and input farmers' information, production process, what raw materials are used for fertilization and other data on the price tag of vegetables, so that customers who need to know the details of farmers can scan the records with their mobile phones.

A housewife who went to the supermarket to buy food said in an interview: "Although she can't read professional data such as fertilization information, she can see the photos of farmers and know the production process, and she will feel safe when eating these dishes."

The supermarket that introduced farmers' computer information replied: "This system is not only transmitting safety information to consumers, but also urging farmers to be responsible for the vegetables and fruits they produce. In the event of any problems, supermarkets can also conduct investigations based on these materials, which is extremely important for establishing a food safety net. "

Consumers should improve their safety awareness.

Ito Ikuko, vice president of the Japan Consumers Association, believes that "ensuring food safety depends not only on manufacturers, but also on consumers themselves. At present, the safety activities of disclosing raw materials are exaggerated, but they are also instilling food safety knowledge into customers. I believe this will be a virtuous circle, so that supermarkets will not get lost in the popular market, and can serve as an intermediary center for consumers and farmers to work hard for food safety. "

In addition to the farmer's public identity in exchange for the customer's peace of mind, even the cattle raised on the farm have "nowhere to hide", so a beautiful "birth paper" must be printed to reassure the customers who eat beef.

Hamburg is equipped with "birth paper" for cows.

The slogan of the operator of a new safe beef farmers' school in Shi Gen, Hokkaido is to let customers "eat happily and swallow with peace of mind". Every hamburger is sent to the hamburger shop it runs, and a copy of the information about the cow's birthplace, which farm it was raised on, what feed it ate, etc. will be attached to let customers know that the cow they ate is "innocent" and there is no "mad cow disease".

However, some Japanese natural bakeries that specialize in producing non-preservative products are not far behind. Recently, they set off a leisure activity to visit the farm, so that customers can get a close look at where the flour they eat every day comes from.