Japanese Health

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 16, 1905

The Japanese are conceded to be among the very strongest people on the earth. They are strong mentally and physically, and yet practically they eat no meat at all. The diet which enables them to develop such hardy frames and such well-balanced and keen brains consists almost wholly of rice, steamed or boiled, while the better-to-do add to this Spartan fare fish, eggs, vegetables, and fruit. For beverages they use weak tea without sugar or milk, and pure water, alcoholic stimulants being but rarely indulged in. Water is imbibed in what we should consider prodigious quantities—to an Englishman, indeed, the drinking of so much water would be regarded as madness. The average Japanese individual swallows about a gallon daily in divided doses.

The Japanese recognize the beneficial effects of flushing the system through the medium of the kidneys, and they also cleanse the exterior of their bodies to an extent undreamed of in Europe or in America.

Another—and perhaps this is the usage on which the Japanese lay the greatest stress—is the deep, habitual, and forcible inhalation of fresh air as an essential for the acquisition of strength, and this method is sedulously practised until it really becomes a part of their nature.

The Japanese have proved that a frugal manner of living is consistent with great bodily strength—indeed, is perhaps more so than the meat diet of the white man. As to the water-drinking habit, which is so distinctive a custom with them, it is probably an aid to keeping the system free from blood impurities, and might be followed with advantage in European countries to a far greater extent than is at present the case. Hydropathy and exercise seem to be the sheet-anchors of the Japanese training regimen, and, judging from results, have been eminently satisfactory. — Medical Record.