Abstract
This study was performed to discover the factors of indigenous food for health and longevity in the Korean longevity belt. The research method was based on the examination of individual cases through in‐depth interviews with 96 subjects, aged 65–102 years old. In Korea, the Kugoksundam longevity belt, their main dietary styles were similar to Korean villages consisting of rice, soup, kimchi and side dishes. However, they consumed a great variety of wild herbs and ripened wild seeds through cultivating and gathering wild types of edibles. The cold side dishes (Namools) include plenty of seasonal wild plants and herbs, and the portion of dried or preserved wild herbs outnumbered any other kinds of food stuff. There were more than 60 kinds including acorns, pine, Zanthoxylum piperitum, bamboo seeds, arrowroot starch, mugwort, sedum, shepherd's purse, sowthistle, aster scaber, Hemerocallis fulva, Ligularia stenocophala, Viola mandshurica, chard, mallow, dandlion, mulberry leaves, japanese ginger, aster romena, royal fern, Scilla scilloides, etc. In the longevity belt these plants were consumed appropriately to exert their tonic properties. These wild herbs appeared to provide a variety of functionality such as anti‐oxidative, anti‐aging, anti‐inflammatory, and anticancer effects through a variety of phytochemicals and fibers contained in these wild plants.
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