KATHMANDU: The world needs to comprehend Japan’s Ikigai – meaning, a reason for being — as it not only gives you value and joy in life but has a positive effect on mental and physical health.
Needless to say that Japan, an island country, boasts of rich culture and peculiar lifestyle, and most importantly, the Japanese are known to have the longest lifespan — longevity is mainly high in women.
Reports suggest men live about 79 years while women a little over 86 years. Therefore, experts and researchers indulged in finding the lifestyle with the longest lifespan believe it is the lifestyle and the food they consume.
Interestingly, it isn’t because the Japanese visit doctors 12+ times a year.
The European Journal of Clinical Nutrition states “the expectancy of Japanese lifestyle has been increasing over these years” particularly because of the low consumption of red meat, and fatty acids.
The report suggests Japanese consume fish and plant food which reflects the low rate of obesity (4.8% for men and 3.7% for women).
The typical Japanese diet such as plant food and fish is associated with longevity in Japan, reports suggest even though their diet includes more rice than bread.
It’s believed that the Japanese never seem to be full after eating as most of them skip deserts and only eat 80% of what they were hungry for.
Another aspect of a healthy diet is Japanese is more tended toward less cooked food.
No matter how health-conscious our diet is, everything concludes as to how our body reacts to it.
Moreover, exercising or any form of physical activity that burns down calories is important, and the Japanese have taken that part well enough.
According to reports, Japanese adults walk an average of 6500 steps a day due to which Japan remains the country with the longest average life expectancy.
The higher life expectancy of Japanese is particularly due to fewer deaths from ischemic heart disease and cancers — attributable to a low rate of obesity, low consumption of red meat, and high consumption of fish and plant foods like green tea and soybean — reports have suggested.
That’s not all. This island country is also popular for having a clean and hygienic surroundings, and moreover, the central part of Buddhism is cleanliness.
It is believed that washing away dirt spiritually is as important as washing away dirt physically.
There are multitudinous things that we can learn and adapt to the Japanese lifestyle.
Comparing the Japanese lifestyle with any other lifestyle is a daunting task. Although people in japan do quite similar things as we do. They work, study, and celebrate but it diverts everything to how they do it.
The improvement that the Japanese consider that has been impacting their longevity is necessary to be learned about and adapted.
Japan being a country with people having the longest lifespan can influence our lives remarkably.
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