Food is medicine. Eat well, live well. This philosophy, often referred to in the United States as ‘You are what you eat,’ bridges health and diet. For centuries, this notion has been woven into the fabric of daily life in Japan, China, and other Eastern countries. In Japanese, the concept is now referred to as “Ishoku-Dogen.” Ishoku-Dogen is a tangible concept, a widely-held belief that diet has direct influence on health and wellness. Not only does the food we put in our body affect our overall health, but the medicine, vitamins, and supplements like Effisoy and AglyMax also have an impact on our overall state of well-being.
This notion of interconnectivity trickles into everything in Japan, not just the food consumed but how it is consumed, and when. For a long time, food has been viewed as functional. The term “Ishoku-Dogen” was coined in Japan, but evolved from texts and knowledge of other eastern countries, most predominantly China. Chinese knowledge of herbs, spices, and food, as well as the effect on the body, was fundamental to how people lived. Evidence from texts that date back millennia show how connected herbs were to body health.
In 5 AD, the Shennong Bencao Jing 神農本草経, a classic collection of Chinese herbal medicine, stated, “Herbs have five tastes: sour, salty, sweet, bitter, and pungent.” This simple classification system also showed how to use the tastes. For example, the text states:
One should consume sweet taste for the liver. Non-glutinous rice, beef, and jujube are sweet. One should consume sour taste for the heart. Adzuki beans, dog meat, plums, and Chinese chives are sour. One should eat bitter taste for the lungs. Wheat, mutton, apricots, and scallions are bitter. One should consume salty taste for the pancreas. Soybeans, pork, and chestnuts, are salty. One should consume pungent taste for the kidneys. Millet, chicken meat, peaches and Welsh onions are pungent. Pungent taste disperses, sour taste contracts, sweet taste relaxes, bitter taste hardens, and salty taste softens.
This knowledge was elaborated upon throughout centuries, although it was not alway used amongst the common people. Various folk traditions were intermixed with the notion of five distinct flavors, but it wasn’t referred to as Yakushoku-Dogen, the Chinese origin of Ishoku-Dogen. For example, for families centuries ago who couldn’t keep to a diet that was so specialized, or a diet that required specific preparation, they would still utilize folk knowledge and remedies. If someone was ill, the family would encourage him/her to eat bee worms or larvae, saying it was “good for health” but the family also understood it was a source of protein. In a sense, this is an extension of Ishoku-Dogen, but without the specific categorization.
It wasn’t until the 20th century that the term Ishoku-Dogen rose in popularity. In the September 1972 issue of a Japanese magazine, NHK’s Kyō no Ryōri (Today’s Cooking), the reference was originally made. This article elabroated upon the concept of Yakushoku-Dogen 薬食同源(yaoshi tongyuan in Chinese) but the physician Arai Hirohisa coined a new term, Ishoku-Dogen 医食同源. This term was similar in sentiment to Yakushoku-Dogen but changed the first character 薬(medicine or drug) with the character for 医(medicine or healing), thereby creating the important distinction that the concept was focused on health rather than chemical drugs. This is a vital component of the concept. The food itself is healing, and has curative properties. Modern practices include the important of physicians and more Western medicine as well, but the overall emphasis is on food as medicine, the connection between the two.
In the last fifty years, the concept has also been promoted through country-wide education programs, as well as family choices. Japan has a unique law, called the Basic Act of Food Education, that combines food and health courses for school children along with dietary habits. The emphasis is on educating young people about the connectivity of food and health, rather than just giving students “healthy” meals. Students are encouraged to understand why and how the food they eat can affect their health.
Though it may seem intuitive, most countries and states do not educate school children about the interconnectedness of diet and health. In fact, many American medical universities don’t prioritize diet as one of the courses for graduate students. There are maybe two classes, over the course of four years, that emphasize diet in traditional American medical programs. This mentality also trickles into school systems. American schools have long had Coca Cola vending machines. It was a battle to eliminate them from many schools as the interests of large corporations were favored over the health of students who, given the chance of easy access to processed sugar, weren’t making the best health choices. The Japanese, in comparison, don’t have vending machines in schools. It’s not even an argument, or a battle of business interests; it’s a simple truth that Japanese will emphasize health and diet in tandem.
Some scholars say that education of “Ishoku-Dogen” must happen at the younger ages, starting with youth and extending through adolescence. Whether this is practiced through drinking tea for various illness, or uses spices to combat a flu or inflammation in the body, is open for exploration. But others believe that as one ages, it becomes more apparent that health and diet are connected. No longer can you eat fried chicken and ice cream without feeling the effects. Therefore, other scholars believe that time will reveal the truth of the connectedness, and everybody will have to learn to honor the simple truth: eat well, live well.
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