Three Japanese Lifesavers
I wasn’t sure about the title for this post as it really depends on your perspective and whether you believe the hype. I am talking about the three Japanese foods most popularly claimed to help you live a long and healthy life.
- Umeboshi
- Soba
- Green tea
Umeboshi is the Japanese term for pickled plum. My cycling friends call Umeboshi “The Japanese Miracle” and most of them love to eat them when we are racing. They are salty, sweet and also sort of bitter in a way that could scar the hardiest of tongues. They come in a range of forms from the hard almost impenetrable rocks that come in a lot of Obento (lunch boxes) to the big, fat, falling apart exquisiteness of more gently treated plums. Traditionally, umeboshi are said to keep rice fresh, aid digestion and the all important…keep you young and healthy. I went on a strict diet of daily umeboshi for a few months (a two a day habit) and I can definitely say that during that period I did not die and so they must work. I have cut back a bit recently but earlier this week I bought a new jar of hachimitsu (honey) umeboshi. They are decidedly more tame than the other types but still taste very good.
Soba noodles are one of my all time favourite foods. You can dress them up or cover them with whatever you choose, but I don’t. My favourite way to eat them is plain with dipping sauce and wasabi. After the noodles are gone (usually way too soon) the dipping sauce is topped up with the cooking water from the noodles and is drunk like tea.
Soba noodles are made from buckwheat flour and supposedly this is what makes the eater so genki. Even the guys who you see rolling the noodles by hand look ancient. So either they help old people lead healthy happy lives or they make young soba makers look very old. During winter my cycling team will often break a hard training session for an early soba lunch. Afterwards I always feel absolutely stuffed but somehow still ready to ride again. It is very simple food and I guess it is quite easy to digest so within half an hour of eating Soba our bodies feel amazingly good again. I picture each strand of noodle going down an artery or vein and filling the muscle with energy (biologists laugh, but sports psychologists understand).
Green tea is one of the more popular healthy beverages worldwide today. Of course there are a million varieties of tea in Japan. They range from the powdered tea used in traditional tea ceremonies to more conventional green leaf tea and on to the burnt black smokey varieties. The first and the last don’t excite me, but in between are a myriad of beautiful green leaf teas to choose from. All of these versions are apparently loaded with antioxidants which I am told are essential for anyone who wishes to live a long and healthy life. The accuracy of this claim I can not vouch for, because until a few years ago I was not even aware that I was oxidized let alone needing to drink an antioxidant. But I find that there are other distinct health benefits to drinking green tea. The primary benefit I can see is that it is nearly impossible, and also publicly unacceptable to drink your tea while you run around like a mad thing. Tea should be drunk sitting down and relaxing. It is a quiet and contemplative experience and is often shared with friends. If drinking anything (including beer or sake) can create the same life pauses, then some of the same benefits may be realised. When we sit down for tea, we immediately leave the hectic madness of life behind for a while. Japan is known for it’s pace and stress but this is easily escaped by hiding away with a cup of tea. There is always somewhere your mind can travel to, when you are drinking good tea and I think this may be one important reason why drinking green tea can help you live a long and healthy life.
These three Japanese Lifesavers combined should help anyone exceed their natural life expectancy. If not in quantity of life, at least in quality of life.
