VOX POPULI: Delicious food can be a curse to moderation

Novelist Bunroku Shishi (1893-1969) loved ayu (sweetfish), a light freshwater fish that is low in calories. But Shishi was anything but a health food fanatic. On the contrary, he believed in gorging himself on his favorite food to his heart's content.

Shishi once devoured 26 ayu, lightly salted and broiled, at a restaurant by the Nagaragawa river in Gifu Prefecture. He was 58 at the time, and had undergone an operation six months earlier to remove a stomach ulcer.

Sadly, the sheer bliss of savoring the finest food lasts only as long as the food is in one's mouth. Since time immemorial, gourmets and gourmands around the world have tried every trick to prolong the pleasure to be derived from every mouthful. But even with unlimited time and money at one's disposal to enjoy good food, one's stomach would eventually protest. There is one's health to consider, too.

Will such a thing as a "slimming pill" ever be invented? A University of Tokyo research team, headed by Toru Miyazaki, has reportedly discovered a protein that reduces body fat by inhibiting production of fat and promoting consumption of stored fat. Injected with this protein, obese lab rats were said to have lost the human equivalent of 20 kilograms in five weeks.

Aside from proving effective in treating and preventing so-called adult diseases, injecting this protein into "problem areas" may also help reduce the unsightly bulge.

I'm sure the good professor and his team wouldn't even dream of making use of their breakthrough to encourage overeating. I'm reminded of ancient Roman nobles who gorged themselves and then purged themselves with self-induced vomiting.

The human body is designed to crave and greedily assimilate sweets and fats that are needed for survival. Apparently, humans carry genes that make us recall experiences of hunger. But our brains curb the instinct to avoid overeating. The end result is unwanted and unnecessary pounds. Delicious food is a curse.

In his book "Yojokun" (Life-nourishing principles), Kaibara Ekiken (1630-1714), a neo-Confucian philosopher of the early Edo Period (1603-1867), preached moderation in eating: "Even when enjoying a rare delicacy, one should stop when one is 80 to 90 percent full. Eating until one is thoroughly sated will only cause problems later."

Leaving a little space in one's stomach is not only good for one's health, but it will also ensure one's enjoyment of the next meal. To rely on neither a digestive aid nor a slimming pill is the correct path for all gourmets to follow.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 14

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.