Today, I’d like to share the kind of diet that helped ease my allergy and multiple chemical sensitivity symptoms.
Please keep in mind that this is based entirely on my own experience and may not be suitable for everyone.
First, here are the basic principles I follow when it comes to food.
My Approach to Food
- Make rice and whole grains my staple foods
I feel that about 80% of our diet is determined by what we choose as our staple food. - Eat a Japanese-style diet centered around seasonal vegetables and fish
I try to choose organic vegetables whenever possible and prefer smaller fish. - Use traditional, high-quality seasonings
Such as natural salt and naturally brewed soy sauce and miso. - Include fermented foods
Such as natto, pickles, and traditionally fermented seasonings. - Avoid processed foods as much as possible
I feel that the benefits of simply taking things away can appear relatively quickly. - Enjoy food with gratitude for the life that went into producing it
This is the most important one!
Since adopting this kind of diet, I’ve felt so much better physically.
My skin has become clearer, and I’ve even received more compliments about it.
I also feel that I have fewer gray hairs than I used to.
At the same time, I switched to an amino-acid-based shampoo made with 100% natural ingredients and reduced how often I wash my hair, so that may have played a role as well.
By carefully choosing my ingredients and seasonings, I’ve been able to enjoy a simple yet flavorful diet without getting bored with it.
I also think that cooking in an earthenware pot takes the flavor of my meals up a notch.
While cooking, I sometimes feel a gentle warmth around my stomach area, as if the pot were giving off far-infrared rays. It feels really nice. 😊
So, let me show you what I actually eat from day to day!
A Typical Day of Meals
Breakfast — 7:00 a.m.
- Mixed-grain rice
Rice + Japanese millet (hie), Job’s tears (hatomugi), barley, millet (kibi), foxtail millet (awa), and amaranth - Miso soup
Naturally fermented miso, nori, and bonito flakes placed in a bowl, with hot water poured over them - Natto
Seasoned with naturally brewed soy sauce only
Lunch — 12:30 p.m.
- Mixed-grain rice
Rice + Japanese millet (hie), Job’s tears (hatomugi), barley, millet (kibi), foxtail millet (awa), and amaranth - Dried sardines
With naturally brewed soy sauce and sesame paste - Fresh vegetable salad
Parsley and carrot
Dinner — 6:00 p.m.
- Mixed-grain rice
Rice + Japanese millet (hie), Job’s tears (hatomugi), barley, millet (kibi), foxtail millet (awa), and amaranth - Vegetable soup
Onion, komatsuna greens, pumpkin, and sea salt - Simmered hijiki seaweed
Hijiki, lotus root, dried baby sardines, chili pepper, and naturally brewed soy sauce - Shirasu (young whitebait)
No added salt - Ground black sesame seeds
Organic - Umeboshi (Japanese pickled plums)
Made with only plums, red shiso leaves, and natural salt
That’s it!
I try to choose organic vegetables whenever possible.
I also rarely snack between meals.
I cook enough rice for the whole day in my rice cooker. I eat it freshly cooked in the morning, then let the rest cool naturally and eat it at lunchtime and dinner.
Later, I learned that this naturally cooled “cold rice” may actually be good for the gut.
Apparently, as rice cools naturally, the amount of something called resistant starch increases.
Resistant starch is said to have properties similar to both soluble fiber, which serves as food for beneficial gut bacteria, and insoluble fiber, which helps support healthy bowel movements.
It may help support a healthy gut environment and regular bowel movements, and may also help with maintaining a healthy weight.
Come to think of it, since adopting this diet, I’ve naturally felt lighter and more comfortable, and constipation has no longer been an issue for me.
In the past, there were no rice cookers with warming functions, so people would naturally eat rice after it had cooled down. Perhaps, without even realizing it, traditional eating habits naturally supported a healthy gut environment.
And when you add fermented foods such as soy sauce, miso, and pickles, I imagine the gut bacteria must be pretty happy!
Traditional customs and the wisdom of previous generations really do make a lot of sense.
By the way, people often ask me, “Isn’t cold rice kind of…not very tasty?”
But I actually love it. The longer I chew it, the more I notice its natural sweetness.
Freshly cooked rice has its own deliciousness, and I feel that cold rice has a different kind of deliciousness.
Of course, everyone has different tastes, so I think the best way is simply to eat your food in whatever way tastes good to you!
At home, we leave the cooked rice in the rice cooker for the whole day, and I’ve never had an upset stomach from doing so.
If you’re concerned during the hot summer months, you might want to mix umeboshi into the rice or reheat it before eating it in the evening.
Also, since cooled rice may be a little harder to digest, I recommend chewing it well.
That may also help prevent sharp rises in blood sugar and keep you from overeating, so there seem to be plenty of benefits!
As for the balance of how much I eat throughout the day, it’s roughly:
Breakfast: moderate
Lunch: a good-sized meal
Dinner: light
I find that eating a lighter dinner helps me sleep better.
Another thing to be careful about is drinking too much tea or other beverages, as I feel that it can put a strain on digestion.
I usually have one cup of black tea in the morning and then just sip small amounts of water throughout the day.
If you find yourself going to the bathroom frequently, or waking up during the night to use the bathroom, it might be worth taking a look at what and how much you’re drinking during the day.
I personally think teas that are considered cooling to the body, such as green tea, are best enjoyed in moderation.
I used to wake up every night to go to the bathroom.
I asked the acupuncturist I was seeing at the time about it, and he asked me,
“What do you usually drink?”
When I answered, “Dokudami tea,” he suggested that I stop drinking it for a while.
And as soon as I stopped drinking dokudami tea, I completely stopped waking up to use the bathroom at night.
Dokudami tea is said to have various beneficial properties, including diuretic and detoxifying effects, but I think it’s important to decide how much and how often to drink it based on how your own body responds.
I still adjust what I drink while paying attention to how my body feels.
I’ve come to feel that a healthy diet isn’t something you create overnight. It’s something you gradually build through daily trial and error and practice.
It also changes depending on your age and lifestyle.
Our bodies are made from what we eat.
Even though we feel like we are the same person, the cells in our bodies are constantly being replaced.
The way we eat can change our bodies.
And when our bodies change, our lifestyle, personality, and even our lives may change as well.
I’ve learned through my own experience just how important food can be.
This time, I’ve shared the kind of diet that helped me feel better and improve my overall condition.
I hope that something here will be useful as you think about your own eating habits. 😊
Thank you so much for reading. 🍀