I'm going to be a bit scientific today. Have you ever heard such words as 'sympathetic nerve' and 'parasympathetic nerve'? Take a look at this if you have never heard these words.
I am Japanese, and Japanese people are quite good at details. We want to know specifically why certain things are good for you or bad for you, for example. These two words appear quite often in a wide range of media in Japan, be it for men or women, or for lifestyle or for business.
They are part of our 'autonomic nervous system', and we have to have a good balance between these two nerves. Sympathetic nerve gets activated during the day when we are active so that we can cope with stress. Parasympathetic nerves are for resting and for circulating the nutrition around your system.
What we need to know here is how to activate 'parasympathetic nerves' if we want to stay beautiful, relaxed, and healthy. (Who doesn't want to be?) We need to know how because 'sympathetic nerve' tends to get into overdrive when your worries, anxiety, and anger stay on in your mind when you should be resting, i.e. parasympathetic nerve should be taking over. Your nerve system becomes a bit like trying to hit the brakes while still accelerating. The difficulty is we can't consciously control these nerves because they are 'autonomic'.
The main benefit of active 'parasympathetic nerves' is, as you can see from the link above, it reduces any blockage in lymphatic system and blood flow. So, here's one way to activate it - the easy way. Do a little stretch exercise (just 2-3 minutes), soak in a lukewarm bath (39 degrees, to be precise) for at least 20 minutes, no books and no screens after bath, just lie down and sleep. Have a try and see if it works. Well...you wouldn't know if it's working or not because it's autonomic, but you might start feeling good :)
Healthy, spicy, salty, sweet, filling, and delicious soup for you to have before you take a bath. Oh, and let's not talk or think about the riot in London...
Ingredients (for 2-3 people):
400g carrots, chopped into 1inch chunks
20g butter
50g rice, cooked in water for 10-12 minutes
150ml milk
700ml chicken or vegetable stock
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, roasted and ground
handful of mint leaves, chopped
pinch of paprika
Put the butter into a pan and add carrot chunks. Cook on a low-medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add milk and stock, bring to boil, and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the cumin to the soup and blitz it with a blender. Whisk in the egg yolk and stir quickly. Add the cooked rice, season with salt and pepper, and serve in a bowl sprinkled with chopped mint and some paprika.