Our director, Yamada Toyofumi, created and advocates Yamada-style Ultimate Diet, a plant-based diet consisting primarily of nutrient-dense, fresh, and zero or minimally processed foods. We recommend adopting this diet as the primary diet.

The following are the mindsets you should develop for this diet:

・ To choose foods that are less refined and less processed
・ To eat more foods rich in the three major minerals: magnesium, zinc, and selenium
・ To eat more foods rich in dietary fiber and resistant starch
・ To be careful about how you take oil (fatty acids)
・ To reduce foods from animal protein sources and increase those from vegetable protein sources
・ To select foods grown from pesticide-free and/or chemical-free fertilizer as much as possible
・ To consume a sufficient amount of raw food and fermented food

It is common knowledge that exercise is good for your health. Exercise benefits go beyond weight loss and bones and muscle strengthening. For example, a brisk walk can help your body increase the number of mitochondria in your body cells and become more endurable. Exercising will stimulate muscles and is also expected to increase blood levels of growth hormones and promote the synthesis of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein essential for nerve cell growth.

Water is critical for survival. Like animals and plants, our bodies comprise a collection of cells made up of mostly water. In other words, our bodies are made of water, and we must drink water to maintain them. Recently, harmful soil nitrate-nitrogen has been detected in tap water and many kinds of mineral water because of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Therefore, we should realize that protecting the environment and preserving natural water are as equally important as protecting our bodies.

You can obtain Vitamin D from mushrooms and dried foods. Vitamin D is vital in facilitating immunity system activity and bone growth. Vitamin D can also be produced in the body through exposure to sunlight, remarkably ultraviolet light. Blue light is abundant in sunlight at dawn. Our eyes and skin cells have receptors to detect this blue light. Early morning exposure to blue light adjusts the body’s biological clock and keeps the biorhythm working.

Sound and music are as important as food and nutrition. Just as we consume essential nutrients from food, we must hear “essential sounds” from our environment. A fetus cannot get visual information about its surroundings when it is in the womb. However, it does hear sounds. It is said that the most essential element of sound is not the melody but the vibration. You not only hear sound with your ears but also with every body cell as they resonate with the vibrations. The resonance greatly influences our vital biological activities.

Among your body functions, nothing uses more energy than digestion. When the stomach is empty and digestion halts, the preserved energy is used to repair and maintain other body cells. In Buddhism, there is a teaching which says, “Eat small portions in the morning, normal ones during the daytime, and nothing at night.” Following this teaching, if you finish lunch at 1:00 p.m. and do not eat dinner, you will fast for about 18 hours before the next light breakfast at 7:00 a.m. Apply temperance in your life by taking high-quality meals in small quantities and making regular fasting a habit. You will reap the full health benefits from ketones.

Air and breathing are also key factors. Just as the best time to get sunlight is at dawn, the best time to breathe the cleanest air is in the early morning. When you are relaxed, the parasympathetic nervous system is dominant. Slow and deep breathing creates this state. Modern people are often over-sympathetic, unconsciously breathing shallowly, or accustomed to mouth-breathing. You should make time to take deep breaths through the nose so that the parasympathetic nervous system becomes dominant. Practicing meditation in the early morning is an ideal way to start the day.

Body cells are constantly damaged daily by excessive ultraviolet rays, active oxygen, environmental toxins, etc. Even so, our body has a mechanism to repair damaged cells properly. Since cellular repair mainly occurs during sleep, sleep quality is crucial. People tend to be concerned about the quantity of sleep (hours of sleep) when they should improve sleep quality. Eliminating negative factors that interfere with sleep and making it a habit to go to bed early and get up early will lead to regular REM and non-REM sleep cycles.

In Japan, there is a traditional belief in nature worship, honoring numerous gods and spirits, “Yaoyorozu no Kami,” who are omnipresent. This belief recognizes that the deities are in all elements of nature, flowers, animals, mountains, etc., and humans are a part of nature. Humans regulate their internal environment with nerves and hormones in response to changes in temperature, air pressure, humidity, and all-natural phenomena. If you are in harmony with nature, you can enjoy good health. If not, you will increase the risks of illness. It is an irreverent act against nature to control by only human abilities the illnesses and poor physical conditions caused by disharmony with the natural world.