My grandma said that there was a time when Japanese women used to eat very small amounts of food. Of course, she was not talking about Japanese women living today who can go anywhere in the world if they want to. She was talking about the Japanese women in the Heian era (794-1192).
In the Heian era, the ruling class living in Kyoto established their own independent culture. It was during this era that many excellent books were written by women who served in the Kyoto palace. One of the greatest Japanese novel, “the Tale of Gengi” said to be the oldest novel in the world, was also written by a woman working in this palace. Many stories written in this period colorfully depict their unique and elegant lives, but interestingly, they don’t say anything about meals in their stories.
It seems very strange but there was a good reason for it. They did not write anything about food at all because they considered eating to be a shameful act. The women hid themselves while they had meals as they did not want to be seen by others. Coincidentally, they were particular about choosing their food. They preferred expensive foods regarded to be sophisticated such as dried fish and meat. (Fresh fish and meat were not available at that time). They did not like vegetables, which were thought to be foods for the lower-class people.
So what happened if they ate only restricted types of small amounts of foods? In fact, they didn’t eat much and only ate low-fat foods.
Researchers I learned have found that the noble class people in the Heian era were quite susceptible to many types of diseases such as diabetes, beriberi and anemia. It's thought that these diseases were caused by their diet and lack of exercise.
In the Heian era, the ruling class living in Kyoto established their own independent culture. It was during this era that many excellent books were written by women who served in the Kyoto palace. One of the greatest Japanese novel, “the Tale of Gengi” said to be the oldest novel in the world, was also written by a woman working in this palace. Many stories written in this period colorfully depict their unique and elegant lives, but interestingly, they don’t say anything about meals in their stories.
It seems very strange but there was a good reason for it. They did not write anything about food at all because they considered eating to be a shameful act. The women hid themselves while they had meals as they did not want to be seen by others. Coincidentally, they were particular about choosing their food. They preferred expensive foods regarded to be sophisticated such as dried fish and meat. (Fresh fish and meat were not available at that time). They did not like vegetables, which were thought to be foods for the lower-class people.
So what happened if they ate only restricted types of small amounts of foods? In fact, they didn’t eat much and only ate low-fat foods.
Researchers I learned have found that the noble class people in the Heian era were quite susceptible to many types of diseases such as diabetes, beriberi and anemia. It's thought that these diseases were caused by their diet and lack of exercise.
My grandma explained that heavily restricting the amounts of foods intake was not the way to reduce weight. She said that improving the body function including the ability to burn fat is the shortest way to achieve the goal.
Unlike the women in the Heian era, there is a lot of information which supports this theory.
Shikibu Murasaki written by Mitsuoki Tosa
No comments:
Post a Comment