Stay young with herbs and spiritual exercise

Stay young with herbs and spiritual exercise

JAKARTA (JP): What makes the Javanese diet different from a
Western one?

If you are on Javanese diet, you have to be able to control
not only your appetite, but your emotions as well, through what a
jamu (traditional herbs) expert calls spiritual exercises.

"In the West, when you are on diet, you should not eat this
and that, while in Java, you have to be able to control your
emotions as well," Dr. Martha Tilaar told participants of the
ongoing first Asian Conference on Dietetics.

The three-day event, which was opened on Monday by Vice
President Try Sutrisno, involves some 500 participants from 18
Asian and Pacific countries.

Taking the so-called spiritual exercises, one would be able to
avoid stress and negative thinking while fasting, which will keep
him or her young, according to Tilaar.

There are a variety of Javanese diets, and ways of fasting as
well. Some people do not eat anything for a certain period of
time, while others eat only rice or vegetables. There are also
those who do not eat meat, or do not use salt.

"Spiritual exercise is part of the inner care to obtain health
and beauty," Tilaar explained about Javanese philosophy.

Beauty is an expression of harmony between the outer and inner
health. The elements of the inner care are spiritual exercises
and jamu. Body and facial treatment is included in the outer
care.

The use of herbs as a medicine as well as for health
maintenance among the people is as old as the civilization
itself. In Indonesia, it can be traced in ancient literature as
well as in the reliefs at the Borobudur and Prambanan temples in
Central Java, Tilaar pointed out.

`Dangerous'

Tilaar, president of Sari Ayu Jamu Company, said women are
more in need of jamu than men given that women have certain life
cycles which are not experienced by men, such as menstruation,
child labor, breast feeding and menopause.

According to the Javanese culture, entering a new cycle means
entering a new world, which can be "dangerous". Therefore women
must be prepared to face the danger through various rites and
ceremonies and at the same time it is recommended that they take
jamu.

Jamu for men is different due to the different hormone. Single
and married women have different jamu, too, in accordance with
their biological development.

"We have the love herbs specially formulated for married women
to improve vitality, dispel female frigidity and enhance feminine
charm," Tilaar said.

Herbs for fertility are a traditional formula for women
longing for a child, and helps improve blood circulation around
the uterus and stimulate ovulation, said Tilaar, who gave birth
to her first child at the age of 42.

The other speakers at the session were Dr. Lou Yi from
Xinjiang Clinical Nutrition Research Institute in China, who
talked about the Chinese medicated diet, and Itaro Oguni from the
Department of Food and Nutrition, University of Shizuoka, Japan,
who discussed the use of green tea to prevent cancer.

Oguni said the crude death rate from cancer in Shizuoka,
where the people habitually drink green tea, was lower than the
average in the rest of the country.

Even though current data shows that green tea is capable of
reducing the risk of cancer, it is necessary to carry out further
research to obtain the final proof that green tea is effective in
preventing human cancer, Oguni said. (sim)