Importance of healthy gut bacteria
The people of Okinawa, like many Japanese, have a diet that includes plenty of fish and other seafood, including raw fish, green vegetables, seaweed and soya bean products and they are knowledgeable about the benefits of a balanced diet and how cuisine can also be medicine. Fermented food, which is known to increase good bacteria in the gut and improve wellbeing also plays a major role in their diet.
While most people around the world start the day with cereal, coffee and toast or dairy products, the Japanese do so with something more traditional like tofu, miso soup and even fermented dried fish as a side dish.
Miso is a Japanese seasoning made by fermenting soy beans with selected ingredients.
Mika Tsuneyoshi, vice president of licence and business development for MI Innovation Labo Tokyo, says it’s customary for Japanese mothers to make time to cook a healthy, balanced breakfast for their families and fermented food plays a key role in all main meals.
“As a child, I had to be forced to drink miso soup for breakfast but now I know the huge benefits it offers the body.”
The Japanese diet on the whole contains a wide variety of fish and there’s a good balance of nutrients in each meal, she adds.
“We don’t just eat to live but care about what we eat.”
She says that centenarians have very unique microbiome in their gut and this is linked to their diet and lifestyle which is very connected to nature, particularly the ocean.
Basically, what they eat and their lifestyles influence their genes.
“It’s important to have your gut well balanced because it’s linked to everything, from your immune system to how your brain functions and how our genes express themselves.”
While the Japanese do have more of these beneficial microbiomes in their bodies compared to people from other coun- Ideas believes good, strong bacteria in the body is the key to Japanese longevity. tries, those from Okinawa have even more than the average Japanese, which explains why the area has more centenarians than other states in Japan, says Dr Celine Valentine Caillaud, clinical trial director of Innovation Labo Tokyo.
Their lifestyles are connected to the sea and ocean produce like seaweed and seafood, both of which offer these good microbiomes.
“Raw fish in their diet also makes a difference. Fish has a certain microbiota and when you consume raw fish, you also ingest that microbiota.”
Ideas agrees. While the Japanese diet is rich in fish and algae, it’s what’s inside these items that counts, he says.
If it’s just standard vitamins and minerals or proteins, we could get it from other foods. But he believes the secret, “invisible” thing contained in these oceanic foods is bacteria from the sea and when we eat fish, we ingest this beneficial bacteria. Algae