The Star
The Japanese are known to have the longest life span on earth, and that has not happened by chance. The Star had a glimpse of their mindful and purposeful healthy living practices that amazingly permeates all aspects of their lives.
By LOH FOON FONG
MANY have wondered and even examined the diet and lifestyle that contribute to the long life span of the Japanese.
With life expectancy a high 82 years, they are the most long-lived people in the world and it is widely known that the low-fat traditional Japanese diet, made up of rice, some meat, various vegetables and soy-based products, has a lot to do with it.
“The longevity that the Japanese enjoy today is the result of their consumption of traditional Japanese food, although that may not be the practice now,” said Futami Daisuke, senior managing director at the Japan Dietetic Association in Tokyo recently.
 |
The Japanese government provides healthy lunches to almost all public schools to encourage children to eat healthily.
|
According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s National Health and Nutrition Survey, the proportion of obese (BMI 25 or more) Japanese men in 2005 increased, with one in three men between 40 and 60 years old affected.
Ironically, among its women, one in five between ages 20 and 30 are too thin (BMI 18.5 or below), resulting in low birth weight babies, said Daisuke.
Will the growing obesity problem shorten the lives of the Japanese?
Daisuke said it is unlikely.
“In fact, with better diet, it is possible for our life expectancy to increase by another three years,” he said.
Knowing the benefits of the Japanese traditional diet is one thing, but maintaining the good diet can be a challenge amidst burgeoning fast food and pre-packed meals.
In this respect, the Japanese do not take things lying down but continue to beef up healthy diet efforts.
In schools, for instance, despite more than half a century after World War II, and with most Japanese no longer poor, the Government continues to provide healthy lunch meals at a highly subsidised rate in public schools.
“Almost all public schools have lunch meals based mainly on the traditional Japanese diet. This is to encourage good diet and healthy eating habits,” said Daisuke, one of the speakers invited by Yakult Honsha to give foreign journalists a talk on the Japanese health status.
More than that, in recent years, a national registered dietician is put in every school. Besides planning for the children’s diet, they now teach children about balanced and healthy diets, he said.
“This is an unprecedented initiative in the world,” he said.
Before, only one dietician takes charge of several schools to ensure proper meals are planned for the children.
The Japanese’s longevity is not just based on good diet but also supported by a good health system and government initiatives that promote healthy living, said Daisuke.
Their health efforts received a greater boost in mid 2005 when the Syokuiku Promotion Law (that draws out the basic philosophy for dietary education and legal framework) was introduced.
“Syokuiku Promotion is necessary for living and is considered an intellectual, moral and physical education necessity,” said Miho Kawano, assistant counsellor at the Food Promotion Cabinet Office.
It is a national movement that nurtures people into practising a healthy lifestyle, she said in her talk Formulation of Basic Syokuiku Promotion Law and Syokuiku Promotion.
(The Syokuiku Promotion Law is currently voluntary for the people and organisations to implement.)
The Syokuiku Promotion is not only about improving diet but also about deepening understanding and appreciation of food, continuing traditional food culture practices and considering diet that takes advantage of regional uniqueness,” she said.
That is because, just like other advanced countries, Kawano said there is concern in Japan about dietary change due to lifestyle changes, increase in nutritionally unbalanced or irregular foods, increase in obesity and lifestyle related diseases, increase in extremely thin women, outbreaks linked to food safety, dependence on food from abroad and loss of traditional culinary culture.
Children are having dinner with the whole family less frequently, and there is an increasing trend for people to eat out, eat pre-prepared foods and skipping breakfast, she said.
There is also a trend towards taking excessive amount of fat and less vegetables, she said.
More than 16.2 million people or 1% of the population are suspected of having diabetes, and one in two men or one in five women between ages 40 and 74 are suspected of having metabolic syndrome, she said.
To increase health awareness, a handbook on dietary education is distributed to families, nurseries and schools, she said.
“There was an aggressive introduction of local cuisine into school lunches and schools are encouraged to use food ingredients from their own prefecture. This is to encourage them to appreciate local produce,” she said.
National registered dieticians, chefs and cooks are stationed in schools to beef up health awareness and create a healthy diet, she said.
In the larger community, communication is encouraged between manufacturers and consumers and farmers are encouraged to rejuvenate environmentally sound practices in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries.
The promotion of these practices are done through hands-on activities for children such as cutting rice and working in a dairy farm while city folks are encouraged, through green tourism, to visit agricultural villages.
Besides governmental efforts, the business community too is very involved in promoting health food.
A whopping 703 food products have been given the Foshu (Food for Specified Health Uses) approval, said Toshiaki Kitsukawa, director of Food for Specified Health Uses Department at the Japan Health Food and Nutrition Food Association.
The market size of Foshu products in 2005 amounted to 630 billion yen, similar to that of over-the-counter drugs in Japan, he said.
The Foshu mark, introduced in 1991 by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan, is for products that have positive mild effects on a person’s health such as foods for special dietary uses, foods with health claims (such as Foshu) and foods with nutritional function claims.
“The Foshu system came out of an increased health awareness among Japanese and their demand for positive use of various food functions to improve public health,” said Kitsukawa in his paper Foods for Specified Health Uses (Foshu) and the Claims regulation in Japan.
With such highly visionary and responsible practices, one need not wonder why the Japanese continue to enjoy healthy long lives.
Gut knowledge
Friendly bacteria is vital for good gut health.
By LOH FOON FONG
MOST Malaysians may know that beneficial bacteria are good for their gut, but not many know that Yakult was the first company in the world that came up with fermented milk drink containing beneficial bacteria.
 |
Senior managing director of Yakult Honsha and head of International Business Department Naomasa Tsuritani said Yakult has been ahead of the times in contributing to the health of the Japanese people.
|
Three years later he became the first in the world to succeed culturing a fortified strain of lactic acid bacteria beneficial to human health, said William R. Henning Jr, public relations coordinator at the International Business Department of Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd.
Yakult, a fermented milk drink that deliversLactobacillus casei Shirota strain to the intestines alive, was introduced to the world in 1935. The name originates from the Esperanto word “Jahurto”, meaning yoghurt.
“Then, Japan was not a wealthy nation and medicine was only thought of as therapeutic medicine and Shirota’s main concern was to help people in rural areas who have little access to healthcare,” said Henning during a Yakult familiarisation trip in Tokyo for journalists.
Hence, to best explain how Yakult benefits people’s health, direct communication was necessary and Yakult hired women to promote the products directly to the people.
Until today, Yakult Ladies delivering the drink is the mark of the company.
Senior managing director of Yakult Honsha and head of International Business Department Naomasa Tsuritani said besides the excellent healthcare and diet that had contributed to the Japanese longevity, Japan has for a long time made proactive efforts to embrace foods which are considered to be healthy and probiotic products has firmly been established in the Japanese diet for many years, he said.
Moreover, building on the idea of using one’s diet to prevent lifestyle-related diseases, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has established the Foshu, the mark for foods for specific health uses, while new societal approaches, such as the movement for consumers to personally think about engaging in a healthy lifestyle, are being promoted.
“In this context, we at Yakult have been ahead of the times in contributing to the health of Japanese people,” he said.
Senior Research Fellow Dr Masaaki Watanuki of Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research in Tokyo said all of Yakult’s 34 functional food products have the Foshu (Food for Specified Health Uses) mark approved by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.
In his presentation Probiotics and functional food, one health claim approved by Foshu is – the L. casei Shirota strain reaches the human intestine alive to effectively increase the population of good bacteria living there while reducing bad ones. This improves the intraintestinal environment and helps maintain the proper functioning of the digestive tract.
From studies shown, there is a reduction of E. coli after consuming Yakult products for three weeks, said Watanuki.
The gut is kept healthy when the good bacteria suppress the production of harmful substances released by intestinal bacteria and help with digestion and food absorption, synthesise vitamins and enhance immunity and resistance, he said.
When there is an imbalance in the intestinal flora, it causes intestinal putrefaction, producing mutagenic/carcinogenic substances and toxins, he said.
There are more than 300 species of bacteria living in a normal healthy gut and most are harmless but some potentially harmful, he said.
“Of all the Lactobacillus strains, the Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain has the highest resistance against gastric juice and is able to reach the intestines alive and improve the balance of intestinal flora to positively affect our health,” he said.
Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria are the most significant bacteria that contribute to a healthy gut flora, he said.
Besides fermented milk, Yakult also produces cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.
Yakult’s cosmetics, mainly skincare products containing lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria and their metabolites, such as hyaluronic acid, and antioxidants, are ranked 31st in the Japanese cosmetics market, said Nakajima Kaoru, a staff member from Yakult Honsha Cosmetics Department.
They are only sold in Japan, with some in Brazil, and are delivered house-to-house by Yakult Beauties, she said.
On whether there is a limit to the number of bottles one could consume, Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research senior research fellow Masaroro Osamu said based on studies required by Foshu standard, people in the studies drank three bottles a day for two weeks and there had been no side effects.
Yakult probiotic drink is ideally consumed within two weeks from the time it arrived at the supermarket. However, when kept in the fridge, it can last 45 days, he said.
“It is best stored below 10 degrees Celsius and the drink should be discarded if it has been left outside the fridge for more than half a day,” he said adding that babies after six months old could also take the drink.
On whether there has been any mutation of the Yakult bacteria strains, he said product character and stability had been checked and they are found to be stable.
In natural sources, probiotic food are dietary fibre (such as whole grain), pectin and guagum while prebiotic food are food that contains oligosacharrides, he said.
“Both probiotics and prebiotics are useful for health,” he said.
Delivery ladies
A look at the Yakult Ladies of Honsha Co. Ltd, one of the leading fermented milk drink suppliers in the country.
By LOH FOON FONG
IT was drizzling heavily on the morning we, journalists, set out on bicycles to observe the work of women delivering Yakult fermented milk drink and yoghurt to their neighbourhood in Japan.
 |
There are 593 Yakult centres in Tokyo itself and it takes 180 Yakult Ladies and 60 staff members to ensure smooth delivery of their products to a million customers daily, said Hitoshi Sasaki, president of the Yakult Touto Sales Co.
|
The Japanese believe that besides a healthy traditional Japanese diet, it is important to keep the gut healthy by consuming probiotic (food containing beneficial bacteria) and prebiotic food (food for beneficial bacteria).
The streets in the Edogawa district, Japan, were quiet and tranquil, since most adults had gone to work and children tucked away in schools.
Kimiko Okuda, 36, cycled with a 30kg load of products kept in ice in a special storage box at the back of her bicycle and in the front basket.
Everyday at 9am, from Monday to Saturday, Okuda, like all Yakult Ladies, goes to the Yakult Centre near her house to collect the stock for pre-ordered products as well as store up for those who wish to buy the products on the spot.
By 1pm, Okuda returns to the Centre, returns unsold products and keeps an account of the sales she has made for the day.
“I decided to take on the part time job to earn some money while the children are at school,” said Okuda who has two children in elementary school and one in kindergarten.
Of all the products that the women distribute, the most popular products are the Lactobacilli fermented milk drinks, said Okuda.
 |
Yakult Lady Kimiko Okuda, 36, in a raincoat, delivers fermented milk to Katsuko Kobayashi, 71, in the Edogawa district of Japan.
|
At one of the homes, Katsuko Kobayashi, 71, who looked twenty years younger than her age, said she started consuming the drink more than 40 years ago.
“Now my grandchildren are also drinking it,” she said. She orders 20 bottles every week and gives them mostly to her grandchildren.
Hiroyuki Wada, 56, owner of the Marumoriya Restaurant in Edogawa district, said he had been taking the drink for six years for they made him healthier.
Car parts yard owner, a paraplegic and retirees were among those we encountered while trailing Okuda in her journey in that morning.
There are 593 Yakult Centres in Tokyo and it takes 180 Yakult Ladies and 60 staff members from 15 Yakult Centres to ensure smooth delivery of the products to a one million population daily, said Hitoshi Sasaki, president of the Yakult Touto Sales Co.
Its managing director Kouichi Nakayama said more than 60% of Yakult products in Japan are distributed by Yakult women while the rest are marketed through supermarkets, he said.
“Door-to-door sales through the Yakult Lady system is more profitable than supermarkets sales,” he said.
Women interested in the job can be high school or university graduates and there is no age limit, he said.
Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd International Business Department’s public relations coordinator William R. Henning Jr said 35% of women in Japan deliver the products by car, 31% by motorbike, 28% by bicycle, and 3% each by walking and push cart.
The Yakult Lady system started in 1963 and as of March, there are 43,753 Yakult women in Japan and 35,336 overseas, he said.
“Everyday, more than 25 million people consume Yakult. The recommendation is for people to drink one bottle a day,” he said.
In Malaysia, 31 Yakult women have been hired in Ijok, Kuala Selangor and Rawang, said Hideki Kawasaki, sales and marketing director of Yakult (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan-listed Yakult Honsha Co Ltd. established in 2002.
“They only cover areas within their own neighbourhood. This helps ensure their safety as they are familiar with their own area and are within their own community,” he said.
Yakult products were introduced to Malaysians in 2004. Currently, only its Lactobacilli fermented milk drink Yakult Ace is available in Malaysia.
All of Yakult’s 34 functional food products have received the FOSHU mark, Japan’s recognition for food with specific health benefits.
