What is shokuyojo?

Shokuyojo (食養生) is a holistic diet practice of oriental medicine that developed in ancient China for over 2,000 years and was later introduced into Japan. The central idea of shokuyojo is “Yakushoku-dougen (薬食同源),” meaning that food is as powerful and vital a source of health as medicine is to our body.

In ancient China and its surrounding regions, people would care about what they ingested and refrain from taking medication. According to shokuyojo, foods are powerful enough to keep illness away. However, this depends on people’s lifestyle, dietary habits, physical features and even season and weather. Therefore, there are no solid answers for shokuyojo, while Western medicine offers treatment that is said to work for everyone.

Foods to prevent and treat your unwellness

Shokuyojo has two effects: prevention and treatment. Eating what is good for health in everyday life makes us well-balanced and prevents unwellness. On the other hand, foods may cure a feeling of unwellness, just like prescriptions. To give some examples, for stiff shoulders, ingredients that have the function of cleansing blood like onions, garlic, ginger and blue-backed fish are recommended because it is said that the concentration of blood vessels in joint areas causes stiff shoulders. For edema, foods such as summer vegetables, sprouts and seaweed may discharge and enhance the flow of water in the body to help decrease edema.

The five flavors and five features

To choose an appropriate food to practice shokuyojo, it is essential to understand the idea of gomi-gosei (五味五性), meaning five flavors (sweet, bitter, sour, salty and pungent) and five attributes (cold, cool, neutral, warm and hot). In oriental medicine, it is believed that all foods can be categorized into five flavors and attributes, and each of them has a different function. For example, tomatoes and asparagus are categorized as foods belonging to the “cool” attribute. Foods categorized as ”cool” bring down the body temperature. To enjoy health and wellness, it is vital to keep the intake of those five food categories balanced. In other words, appropriately consuming or avoiding foods from different flavor categories is one way to promote wellness.

10 principles to live healthily and sustainably

In addition to gomi-gosei, there are 10 principles to practice shokuyojo.

1. Eat locally-grown foods that suit the climate and terroir of the region
2. Eat seasonal foods
3. Eat whole foods
4. Ingest a large number of vegetables, beans, fermented foods and crops like brown rice
5. Refrain from consuming food additives and processed foods
6. Eat moderately (do not overeat)
7. Chew well for every single bite
8. Do not drink too much water
9. Gather around to enjoy mealtimes
10. Appreciate foods

Although all the principles focus on health and wellness, these give modern society hints of sustainable food consumption. It can be said that learning from ancient wisdom to enhance health may be a key to tackling the food crisis.