It’s the start of the new year and many of us are suffering after excessive eating, drinking, and lazing around during the Christmas period. This time of year often leaves us feeling tired and unhappy, but this certainly doesn’t have to be the case. Following our advice, start the new year with a Japanese-style detox that will get you feeling like an even better
version of your usual self. Set a healthy tone for the rest of 2022 with these top tips, and reap the benefits of a healthy mind and body!
Drink Matcha Tea
Tea plays an important role in Japanese culture, with the
Japanese Tea Ceremony being a specialised and respected art form in Japan. When it comes to removing toxins and boosting your energy, matcha green tea is a brilliant source of health and brilliant at helping you to detox. If you’re a regular tea or coffee drinker, try and swap at least one cup of your usual tea or coffee with a cup of green tea instead. Why not pick up a traditional
Japanese tea set and hold your own tea ceremony? As the benefits of green tea have become well-known, it has increased in popularity right across the globe. A great source of antioxidants, green tea has endless benefits to your body, including increasing energy levels and helping with weight loss. This cup of green goodness is an integral part of the Japanese healthy lifestyle and will definitely help with your detox. If you’re not a fan of matcha, check out the health benefits of other teas on our previous post about
seven types of Japanese teas!
Introduce More Fish into Your Diet
The Japanese are known for their health and long life expectancy and the presence of fish in many of their meals plays a large role in contributing to this. Salmon and fresh tuna are among the types of fish favoured by the Japanese and are great for their high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids, which have brilliant benefits for your heart and also your mood. Introducing more fish into your diet has many health benefits and is a brilliant way of detoxing in the new year. So, if fish was lacking from your 2021 diet, use the new year as an excuse to try new things. Try some Japanese influences in your diet, and see the
health benefits of Japanese food for yourself! We even offer a cookbook of
Japanese Food Made Easy, full of delicious recipes for beginners and enthusiasts alike.
Try Some Japanese Superfoods
Nothing shouts health more than the term
‘superfood’. Wakame and konnyaku are two Japanese superfoods that are brilliant at helping you detox during the new year. Now, these certainly aren’t your regular supermarket purchases, but you can get your hands on both of them from specialist online food stores and food shops specialising in Japanese food.
Wakame is an edible seaweed (bear with us), that has some
amazing health benefits. This edible seaweed is a great source of magnesium, iodine, calcium, iron, and many vitamins! Wakame is often incorporated into healthy salads (above photo).
Konnyaku is a plant of which the core can be incorporated into a healthy diet. There isn’t much taste to the jelly-like texture but this superfood contains almost
no calories, yet still fills you up. It is often incorporated into Japanese broths and soups. The absence of fats also means that konnyaku has been associated with great health benefits too, including the normalising of cholesterol levels and blood sugars. If you’re thinking about incorporating more of a Japanese diet into your meals, why not invest in some
authentic Japanese tableware to make your meals extra special?
Make the Effort to Do More Exercise
Raise your hand if you’ve bought or are planning to buy a gym membership this year. Many people vow to increase their exercise in the new year, but it doesn’t have to be something you dread. Much of the exercise that the Japanese do doesn’t involve going to the gym for a workout. Instead, they make the effort to be active in various ways throughout the day. Many choose to walk and cycle to work or their chosen destination, rather than drive. If you’re visiting somewhere close or perhaps your work is only a ten-minute walk away, it can be so easy to automatically jump in the car and get there more quickly. However, take some inspiration from healthy Japanese lifestyles and make the effort to walk or cycle when possible. Not only is this great for fitness, but it can also help to build your energy levels and is great for clearing your head – much better than sitting in commuter traffic! For those searching for something a little more intense, the
Japanese Tabata workout is a form of interval training inspired by the training sessions of Japanese skiing Olympians! The basic construction of these workouts involve 20-seconds of high intensity and then a 10 second break. Making these adjustments to your lifestyle and diet is a Japanese-style detox that will help you to feel revitalised and healthy. Make sure you keep up to date with our
blog for more advice and
Japanese cultural insights and check out our shop for amazing
Japanese gifts for yourself or a loved one this New Year!
