I said that one of the benefits of Shindofuji, eating locally grown seasonal food, was that it was environmentally friendlier. Some of you might wonder what it has got to do with your health. Sure, having a low carbon footprint is good for climate change, but does it directly affect our health?
That is what I am going to talk about today. Why do you want to be environmentally friendly to stay healthy? So stick around.
Hi, my name is Sachiaki Takamiya. I am in my late 50s but haven’t had any problems at my yearly checkups so far. I am the founder of the Ikigai Diet. The Ikigai Diet is a diet and an integrated lifestyle that will help you stay young and healthy so that you can enjoy your 100-year-life. It is based on the traditional Japanese diet and the modern understanding of health and wellness.
Three Reasons Why You Want to be Environmentally Friendly to Stay Healthy
1, Healthy environment enhances effective bacteria which play a key role in our health.
Bacteria are vital for our gut health, and we are more likely to access those good bacteria by leading a sustainable lifestyle such as eating organic food and locally grown food. To do it you want to support organic farming and localized poly-cultural farming. We need to shift from Globalized mono-cultural farming system. I am a little concerned when vegetables like avocados are labeled as a superfood, and they start being produced as commercial products in large mono-cultural farms.
2, Satoyama Lifestyle is a common element in Blue Zones.
I believe that one of the environmentally friendliest actions you can take is to lead a lifestyle called a Satoyama Lifestyle. That is to move to the countryside and live by circulating resources within a bioregion. You can grow your own food or support localized organic poly-cultural farming. The Satoyama Lifestyle was common in most villages in many parts of the world before the industrial age, and interestingly enough, many people in Blue Zones where we find longevity seem to lead this Satoyama Lifestyle: They constantly move around through doing their gardening, and that is being a good exercise for them, for example.
3, Being environmentally friendly leads to holistic health and Ikigai.
The last reason why you want to be environmentally friendly to stay healthy is that you need Ikigai to lead a healthy, long life. Ikigai is another element people in blue zones have in common.
Sanpo-Yoshi is a key concept in Ikigai Diet, and it differentiates Ikigai Diet from many other diets. Sanpo means three directions and Yoshi means good or happy, and Sanpo-Yoshi contains three Yoshi.
Jibun-Yoshi: I am happy
Aite-Yoshi: You are happy. You, in this case, means people around you such as your family and friends.
Seken-Yoshi: Society is happy.
When you think of health, it is crucial to consider social health or planetary health as well as personal health. When you expand your consciousness to the planetary level, you will be more in tune with your source which gives you a purpose and meaning in your life and guides you through your life, along with bacteria in your bioregion and your gut, to accomplish your life mission.