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The Japanese diet is considered by many to be a longevity diet.
However, there is a very dark history in Japan's former diet that is little known.
Medieval Japan was a vegetarian paradise that lasted for thousands of years.
At the time, their state religions, Buddhism and Theos/Taoists, both advocated a plant-based diet.
Because of the shortage of arable land on the island, raising livestock required the occupation of plant farming land, and in medieval Japan, too many forests were cut down and reclaimed, too many livestock were killed, and The rulers of Japan issued a ban on meat.
For 1,200 years before 1872, most people in Japan could not eat meat, especially beef and poultry, and only upper-class officials or for medicinal purposes could eat meat.
If an ordinary person eats meat, he will face very big punishment.
If you are caught eating beef, you will be fasted for 100 days, and if you eat pork or venison, you will be penalized for 60 days.
It wasn't until 1872, when Emperor Mutsuhito of Meiji ate beef, that it all began to end, but his actions provoked a group of monks to protest and break into the imperial palace.
In the 19th century, after the Japanese learned to eat meat, nutrition took a qualitative leap and their height increased steadily.
In today's article, I will take you to understand the history of vegetarianism in Japan, and the changes after eating meat like crazy.
The Japanese have been vegetarian for 12 centuries
The earliest historical records of vegetarianism come from ancient India, especially for Hindu religious and Jains.
Later, some small groups in southern Italy and ancient Greek civilization also adopted some vegetarian eating habits.
In Japan, in 675 BC, under the influence of Buddhism, the Japanese people began to eat rice as a staple food, as well as beans and vegetables.
Only on special occasions, or celebrations, are small amounts of fish served, when they believe that meat is unclean and spoiled.
During this period, the Japanese (especially Buddhist monks) developed a vegetarian dish called shōjin-ryōri, which is native to Japan.
Ryōri means cooking or gastronomy, while shojin is the Japanese translation of virya in Sanskrit, which means "to have goodness and to stay away from evil."
To put it bluntly, it is to indirectly brainwash Japanese citizens, eating meat is a symbol of killing, and then better promote the concept of universal vegetarianism.
These advocates of vegetarian diets were closely related to nonviolent notions of animals (known as ahimsa in India) and were hijacked by the ideas and morals of religious groups and philosophers at the time.
Vegetarian diets lead to malnutrition and short stature
It must be mentioned that the Japanese diet at that time did make a lot of contributions to the vegan community, enriching the variety of vegetarian foods.
For example, miso, natto, tofu, tofu, curd bamboo, sweet wine, goma-tofu (sesame tofu), as well as various grains and gluten products, such as tofu, kimchi, seaweed, noodles, beans and so on.
But the variety does not mean nutritional balance.
The researchers found that vegetarians had lower calcium and vitamin D intake and lower bone mineral density compared to meat eaters.
Vegans also have fracture rates nearly a third higher than the general population.
Vegan children are relatively short in height and have relatively low bone mineral density.
In those years of vegetarianism, before learning to eat meat, the height of Japanese people was very low, the average height of women was 1.5m, and men were 1.6m.
Children who are vegan are prone to vitamin B12 deficiency, which can lead to nerve damage.
Calcium deficiency, easy to lead to osteoporosis, not high growth;
Iron deficiency can easily endanger brain health.
Many vitamins and minerals, mainly from animal products, can not be consumed in plants.
Inadequate nutrition can also lead to a variety of strange diseases, and at that time, a disease called beriberi (not Hong Kong foot) was caused by malnutrition (lack of vitamin B1).
The disease has plagued the Japanese for many years, and japanese princesses and relatives of the emperor have all died of beriberi.
(Japanese athlete's foot disease,)
Because they mainly eat polished rice noodles, do not eat meat such as pigs, cattle and sheep, and do not eat brown rice.
In the Meiji and Taisho eras, beriberi and tuberculosis were the two major "national diseases" in Japan, with extremely high morbidity and high mortality, and the army was a severe area of beriberi, because the main food of the army was white rice and pickles.
In 1875, every 1,000 Japanese soldiers, 108 people suffered from beriberi, according to incomplete statistics, during the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, about 250,000 people in the Japanese Army suffered from beriberi, about 28,000 people died, while only more than 50,000 people died in the same period.
Later, a doctor stepped forward and pointed out this dietary misunderstanding, adding brown rice and some meat to reduce a lot of beriberi.
After the Japanese learn to eat meat, nutrition changes
The Japanese learned to eat meat after the 18th century, when the Dutch first changed the Japanese's perception of eating meat.
Subsequently, the Japanese began to see the carnivorous diet of Europeans as a symbol of progress and a symbol of breaking the feudal hierarchical society at that time.
In just five years, Tokyo's beef consumption has soared 13-fold.
Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries updated the statistics on meat and eggs, and due to rapid economic growth and westernization of eating habits, fish consumption decreased, while meat consumption increased.
Per capita meat consumption in 2018 was higher than in 2017 (about 33.2 kg). These are data by category: chicken 13.8 kg, pork 12.9 kg, beef 6.5 kg.
In the past few years, the number of imported pork has been around 800,000 tons, and has increased in the past two years (916,000 tons in 2018), mainly from the European Union, the United States and Canada.
As for chicken, it is mainly imported from Brazil, which also grew by 545,000 tons in 2018. 90% of chicken products come from Thailand and China.
Japanese people also eat a lot of seafood, tuna salmon and other kinds of seafood rich in nutrients.
Japan's per capita egg consumption also reached a considerable figure of 330 per year, ranking second in the world after Mexico. Egg imports account for about 5% of domestic consumption, of which 90% of imported egg powder comes mainly from Italy, the Netherlands and the United States.
The government not only sees meat as a sign of Japan's modernization and improves the healthy way Japanese citizens eat, but also as a dietary solution to strengthen the Japanese military.
Because before eating meat, Japanese people are generally thin, and 16% of military candidates cannot meet the minimum height standard of 1.5m.
After learning to eat meat, his height soared
Since Japan began to change its traditional diet, more and more people have recognized eating meat healthier.
Eating meat has caused the Japanese to grow in height rapidly
This diet has brought about major changes in the country, especially for the japanese collective high level, which is growing rapidly.
As Japan's food supply and consumption (especially animal protein intake) increases not only in quantity but also in quality, children's height has increased significantly.
Over the past 30 years, the average height of Japanese men has increased by nearly 10 centimeters, while the average height of women has increased by about 7 centimeters.
According to data released by Japan's Ministry of Health and Welfare, the average height of Japanese men in their 20s is 1.72cm, which is similar to many European countries.
Japanese children began to eat meat in large quantities, and their height increased dramatically. The average Japanese teenage male student is 2 centimeters taller than before (1960s to 1970s).
In the early 2000s, the per capita supply of animal products in Japan showed a clear upward trend, and these foods had a huge impact on children's height development.
Today's Japan is moving toward a carnivorous country, and the consumption of beef and other meats continues to increase, with Japanese people eating nearly 20 percent more meat per person today than they did two decades ago.
Japanese research data also found that the change in height of Japanese men and women born since 1870 was directly proportional to the increase in animal foods in their diets.
It has to be said that the nutrient density of meat is so high and it is easy for the human body to absorb, which helps many Japanese teenagers to develop and grow well.
(Changes in height of Japanese men and women born in 1870)
Meat is the only nutritious food
Animal food (especially organ meat) contains all the proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals our bodies need.
Eating meat is too important for human evolution and is an iconic food in the course of human history.
Compared to plant-based foods, meat does not contain any "anti-nutrients", such as phytic acid, oxalic acid, and tannins, which interfere with the digestion and absorption of nutrients such as vitamins and minerals.
"Heme" iron, the form of iron found in meat, has at least 3 times more absorption and utilization than "non-heme" (plant) iron.
Vitamin A obtained from animal sources is also 12 to 24 times more absorbed than vegetarian sources.
Vitamins B12 and K2 are only found in animal foods.
Meat is low in carbohydrates: This means that eating meat does not raise insulin a lot, and long-term overstimulation of insulin can lead to many, many problems, such as inflammation, cell damage, dyslipidemia and fat metabolism disorders, as well as a series of chronic diseases, which cannot be ignored.
Key Skinny Dragon said
Japan has changed from a vegetarian country to a carnivorous nation, and has also gone from being short to reaching the world's average height.
Eating meat has brought great changes to the Japanese people, greatly improving the nutritional level of the descendants of this nation.
Today's Japanese people often win gold and silver in various world sports, and it has a lot to do with their dietary changes.
(Famous Japanese footballer)
Although, there are many factors that affect growth and development, such as genetics, genes, environment and so on.
However, the day after tomorrow is well nourished, and eating more animal foods with high nutrient density can help maximize growth and development.
If you are also worried that your child is not tall, you can let your child eat more meat and offal, eat less sugar and processed snacks, bask in the sun, and sleep more.