●Introduction
In order to maintain the necessary function for a sound social life, a healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body. Within the "Healthy Japan 21 (Round 2)" initiative launched in 2013, new items related to important points and courses of action for mental health were added. Functional foods can have effects such as reducing blood pressure, blood glucose level, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels, and research results have reported on physical health maintenance and improvement from a variety of perspectives. However, mental health benefits remain largely unclear. In this lecture, I hope to consider the important preference and taste points for implementing a rich and varied diet, while also introducing research results related to meals, moods, and nervous system activity.
●How can mood changes be detected? Can they be quantified?
The effects of food on mental state, such as feeling relaxed after having dashi soup stock, have also been proven experimentally. In order to consider the mood-changing effects of food, these changes must be expressed in a quantitative way. However, with only subjective indicators obtained via questionnaires and similar methods, accurate expression of the functionality of foods is difficult. For this reason, I think it's also important to prove changes resulting from the interaction of related items. In our research, we combine objective and subjective indicators for food function confirmation, attempting to achieve more precise proof of these functions through this method. For the subject indicators, we use a refined questionnaire survey which can evaluate short-term changes in mood and condition (changes of pace, etc.). In addition, since autonomic nerve activity is known to have a close relationship to mood conditions, we use evaluation of autonomic nerve activity via heart rate measurement as an objective indicator. Through these methods, we have carried out consideration of the effects food and drinks have on human mood conditions.
●Designing a diet for maintaining mental health
Through our research, we have discovered that non-alcoholic drinks can have the same level of mood transition effectiveness as alcoholic drinks. For example, drinking a wine-flavored non-alcoholic drink can cause striking changes, especially among women. Although no major changes were identified when no drinks were consumed (the control), subjects' outlook shifted to a more positive orientation when they consumed non-alcoholic drinks. Also, these effects are seen in autonomic nerve activity as well, confirming that non-alcoholic drinks can affect mood to the same extent as alcohol. Using these methods, we are carrying out further investigations to consider the ways in which not only commercial beverage products but also a variety of different consumables such as specific elements of food (aroma + taste, aroma only, etc.) and dishes with numerous composite elements affect mood conditions.
●Mental effects of Japanese cuisine
In recent research, we have discovered that dashi stock not only adds flavor to Japanese cuisine but also has health promoting effects on the mind and body. One of the major types of dashi stock, bonito flake stock, provides nourishment and also has fatigue recovery effects which have been proven experimentally. In addition to these effects, we also identified mood improvement and fatigue reduction when carrying out calculation tasks after consuming the soup. In addition, our results suggest that the aroma of dashi stock plays an important role in its effectiveness.
●Conclusion
Feeling a shift in your mood and a sense of relaxation when eating or drinking something might just be the most familiar function of food that we use in our daily lives. In order to achieve a certain mood, what foods should we taste, and what aromas should we breathe in? The ability to effectively induce a variety of moods could be an extremely useful method for maintaining and improving mental health.
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