Japanese Food for Health and Longevity
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Japanese Food for Health and Longevity Japanese Food for Health and Longevity: The Science behind a Great Culinary Tradition By Yoshikatsu Murooka Japanese Food for Health and Longevity: The Science behind a Great Culinary Tradition By Yoshikatsu Murooka This book first published 2020 Cambridge Scholars Publishing Lady Stephenson Library, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2PA, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2020 by Yoshikatsu Murooka All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-5275-4936-4 ISBN (13): 978-1-5275-4936-4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface ..................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgements .................................................................................... x Chapter One ................................................................................................ 1 Lactic acid bacteria used in traditional Japanese fermented foods 1.1 Probiotics are microorganisms that benefit health 1.2 Taxonomy is important to understand microorganisms 1.3 Primitive experiments at making yogurt 1.4 Lactic acid bacteria used in Japanese fermented foods are of plant origin 1.5 Lactic acid bacteria are effective for allergic episodes 1.6 Lactic acid bacteria prevent cancer and infectious diseases 1.7 Bifidobacteria live in the large gut 1.8 Further effects of probiotics on our health 1.9 Summary Chapter Two ............................................................................................. 25 Natto, fermented steamed soybeans 2.1 Natto bacteria originally lived in rice straw 2.2 Scientific evidence that natto is good for the health 2.3 Can we believe the functions of all supplementary foods? 2.4 Tempeh: Indonesian fermented soybeans like natto 2.5 Genetically modified (GM) soybeans 2.6 Safety and GM foods 2.7 Summary Chapter Three ........................................................................................... 45 Koji, Aspergillus mold used for making Japanese fermented foods 3.1 Japanese koji is a treasure 3.2 The genomes of koji mold designate an enzyme’s special features 3.3 Japanese koji does not make aflatoxin 3.4 Mold species used in several foods 3.5 Koji contains several bioactive substances 3.6 Amazake, sweet sake which is produced using koji 3.7 Summary vi Table of Contents Chapter Four ............................................................................................. 66 Sake, Japanese rice wine 4.1 Sake and Japanese culture 4.2 Brewing good sake depends on water and rice 4.3 Traditional sake brewing nurtures biotechnology 4.4 Shochu, Japanese spirit, and Awamori, Okinawa spirit 4.5 Various types of alcoholic beverages are different from Japanese sake 4.6 Bio-alcohols were once Japanese specialties in World War II 4.7 Is sake the best medicine? 4.8 Is it true that red wine prevents arteriosclerosis? 4.9 Japanese sake is produced in the USA 4.10 Summary Chapter Five ............................................................................................. 93 Japanese rice vinegar: Komesu and Kurosu 5.1 Vinegar is made from alcoholic beverages 5.2 Rice vinegar is made from Japanese sake 5.3 The traditional technique of vinegar fermentation has been passed down several generations 5.4 Italian traditional Balsamic vinegar is similar to kurosu 5.5 Kurosu vinegar is made using various microbes 5.6 Kurosu vinegar is a healthy beverage 5.7 Summary Chapter Six ............................................................................................. 111 Shoyu, soy sauce is an umami seasoning 6.1 Umami, the fifth taste, was born from Washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine) 6.2 Japanese fermentation techniques created the industrial production of umami 6.3 Traditional and modern methods of soy sauce production 6.4 Soy sauce is good for the health 6.5 We can buy soy sauce at many stores all over the world 6.6 Summary Chapter Seven ......................................................................................... 128 Miso: Fermented soybean-barley paste 7.1 Miso is full of local colors 7.2 Miso maintains your energy 7.3 Miso prolongs our life Japanese Food for Health and Longevity vii 7.4 Miso keeps the doctor away 7.5 Miso is exported abroad 7.6 Summary Chapter Eight .......................................................................................... 145 A variety of healthy garnishes in Japanese cuisine 8.1 Edible wild plants, San-sai, in four seasons 8.2 Several varieties of Japanese pickles, Tsuke-mono 8.3 Wasabi is essential for sashimi and sushi 8.4 Substrates contained in garnishes promote the apoptosis of cells 8.5 Seaweed contains healthy substances 8.6 The secret of longevity is Japanese Washoku 8.7 Anti-aging genes prolong life due to calorie restriction 8.8 BMI assesses your health 8.9 Even Japanese foods make you fat if you eat them too often 8.10 Summary Chapter Nine ........................................................................................... 172 Japanese food is loved in the world 9.1 Ranking Japanese dishes loved by foreign people 9.2 Traditional auspicious foods for special days 9.3 The taste of Japanese food in foreign countries 9.4 Today’s lunch is bento: a box lunch 9.5 The rice grown in Japan is delicious 9.6 The first vitamin was found in rice bran by a Japanese scientist 9.7 Rice cultivation will recover the earth 9.8 Summary Chapter Ten ............................................................................................ 192 Japanese food and safety 10.1 It takes a long time to master good sushi 10.2 Food sanitary education using HACCP 10.3 The theory of sterilization and preservation 10.4 New sterilization technologies 10.5 Washoku 10.6 Local dishes made from Japanese dishes 10.7 Japanese restaurants in the world 10.8 Japanese food is loved by people all over the world 10.9 Japanese treasures which Japanese people do not notice 10.10 Summary Afterword ............................................................................................... 209 PREFACE We often hear that Japanese food is good for health. But how popular is Japanese food, Washoku, with people from foreign countries? Why are the local foods of few countries popular with travelers all around the world? A survey by Hotel.com ranked people’s favorite cuisines: the most popular country is Italy, the second is France and, the third is Japan, then China is next, followed by Spain, the USA, Mexico, Thailand, and India at tenth place. Surprising that Japanese food beat Chinese food. This might be due to its increasing popularity across the world. According to another survey, Japanese food is the most preferable (report from the Japan External Trade Organization 2013). The inclination towards Japanese food seems to be because it is good for health and longevity without compromising on delicious taste. Japanese women and men have had the longest longevity in the world since 1990 (report from the World Health Organization 2015). It is thought that the reason for the longevity is their dietary habits and lifestyle, including medical care, the high quality of hygiene, and a rather mild climate all year round. However, although many Japanese cooking books exist, books about Japanese foods from the scientific aspects of the health and longevity were rarely published. Once I was asked to write about the scientific evidence of Japanese traditional fermented food as a source of health and longevity in a review paper for a scientific journal (Murooka and Yamashita 2008). Although I am not completely satisfied now, this paper is the most read and cited among many of my original papers and reviews concerned with bioscience and biotechnology. When I spent my younger days in foreign countries, I could do without Japanese food for a couple of years. But now that I am getting old I long for Japanese food. I particularly prefer simple foods like Udon (noodles made of wheat flour), Soba (noodles made from buckwheat), and Ochazuke (steamed rice with hot tea poured on it), as these foods are non-fatty and non-heavy. Since I am not a foodie, I cannot introduce you to the charms of Japanese cuisine. Japanese Food for Health and Longevity ix Therefore, in this book, I will explain the background of the Japanese food boom from a scientist’s point of view. Also, for people who are not familiar with Japanese foods or Japanese culture, I will introduce typical dishes and traditional lifestyles; this will be based on my previous book, written both in Japanese (Murooka 2013) and English (Murooka and Saeki 2015). Furthermore, I will shed some light upon biochemistry, life sciences, molecular biology, and genetics, in simple terms for those who are not familiar with these topics. References Murooka Y (2013) “Dakara Yappari Nippon Shoku: Kaigai Kara Mita Nippon Shoku no Miryoku”, Tokyo Tosho Shuppan, Tokyo, Japan (in Japanese). Murooka Y and Saeki I (2015) That’s why Japanese Food is Loved All over the World, Science PG, New York, USA. Murooka Y and Yamashita M (2008) Traditional healthful fermented products of Japan, Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, 35: 791-798. January 2020 In Hiroshima MUROOKA, Yoshikatsu 室岡義勝 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to