The “slow aging” diet increases as a new trend over generations in Korea

By Lee Gyu-Lee

The idea of ​​delaying or turning up was a long -standing puzzle for humanity, especially between older generations, who are looking for external sources to reverse the aging process.

Recently, when younger generations have raised their awareness of health, “slow aging” in Korea is becoming increasingly popular in the generations.

Slow-aging nutritional habits contain various factors, consumption of suitable portions of every meal and avoiding simple sugar, refined carbohydrates and red meat.

The most popular diet is the Mediterranean due to the neurodegenerative delay (at least), which was proposed by the pioneer of the slow aging trend in Korea, Jung Hee-Won, a medical professor and doctor from the Department of Geriatric Medicine of the Asan Medical Center in Seoul.

The mind diet is a concept that combines the Mediterranean diet, which consumes less processed foods and balances whole grain and protein intake, whereby the dietary approaches to spoil hypertension (dash) diet (dash) prevent.

How to eat

The key is to avoid simple sugar and sophisticated grains and at the same time to integrate whole grain products, beans, vegetables, berries, nuts, poultry, fish and olive oil to slowly increase the glycemic index (GI) during meals.

In his book “Slow Alterning Diet”, Jung suggests a mind-diet in the Korean style under six principles: to obtain essential nutrients from whole grains, beans and nuts; to eat a lot of vegetables and fruit; Primarily use olive oil for cooking; Consume more fish and poultry and at the same time restrict red or processed meat and cheese; Reduction of the absorption of simple sugar and refined grains by fried foods, snacks and carbonated drinks; And to limit alcohol consumption to about one glass of wine per day.

Since rice is a staple in Korean cuisine, lentils, oats, brown rice and white rice suggests 4: 2: 2: 2 instead of simple white rice to slowly increase the blood sugar level and at the same time increase the appropriate protein intake from the banks.

In order to produce healthy hormones, he also recommended that roasted dishes to less than once a week and snacks to 30 grams or less up to four times a week, since these contain trans fats that cause inflammation and develop high insulin resistance. Such diseases lead to the body in order to increase blood sugar higher and faster with the same amount of food.

Regardless of the nutritional proposals, the professor emphasized that a slow diet is more of a lifestyle than a simple solution. The most important factor is to find a balance in life.

“Aging is not easy. Life habits such as movement and nutrition are only the results of the principles in which we operate our lives. If we get involved in the basis, there are factors such as stress and sleep, and these life balance sheets are ultimately created by our view of life, ”he told the Korea Times.

“If, for example, only one of these three things – sleep, stress or nutrition – go wrong, the other two often collapse one after the other and create a vicious circle. For example, if I don't get enough sleep, my hormone balance collapses, which is more sensitive to stress, and I'm looking for sweet food to comfort tiredness and easily damage my eating habits, “he said.

Why is the younger generation interested?

According to a market research company, Embrain trend monitor, a survey of the age of 1,000 between the ages of 19 and 69 in July 2024 showed that about 55 percent of respondents in the twenties made efforts to maintain health, while 49.5 percent of people in the 30s answered the same.

When asked about their willingness to invest time and money in the delay in aging, 81 percent of those in the 20s and 88 percent of those in the thirties answered yes, which indicates a growing interest in health problems.

This shift in lifestyle decisions is evident in the increasing popularity of health -oriented group groups.

The market for the second -hand market and the Community platform Danggeun has shown that the number of newly created “salad groups” has increased by 78 percent in the past six months compared to the same period last year. The number of users participating in these meetings also increased by 128 percent.

Salad groups gather members to exchange proof of their salad consumption, exchange information about salad transactions in the neighborhood and to discuss recipes. They also organize events to create challenges, such as: B. eating a salad area per day.

Jung said that the younger generation recognized the dangers of modern lifestyle and was increasingly interested in preventing unhealthy aging.

“In the past, there was a strong perception that 'everything is fine if you are young', but today's younger generation has experienced obesity and various diseases in connection with lifestyle at a young age. This has led to a feeling of the crisis that “we may age faster than the generation of our parents,” he said.

“Millennials and gene cerse appreciate the balance of work-life balance and actively introduce themselves to self-sufficiency, which perfectly corresponds to the concept of slow aging as a way of life. Since health management is now viewed both as a self -improvement and as a form of leisure, the younger generation reacted enthusiastically. “

Market

Despite hectic life, more and more younger consumers are looking for ways for slow aging nutrition, and companies are responding with the introduction of meals and desserts to meet the growing demands on a health -conscious diet.

CJ Cheiljedang has introduced a new line of microwavable rice, het track, which follows the recipes recommended by young, including four to two conditions of lentils, oats, brown rice and white rice.

One of his Hetbahn products, which offers a mixture of Konjac and rice as an alternative to Simple White Rice, achieved around 18.6 million sales by December 2024 and promoted total sales for the Hetbahn brand.

Another Korean food company, Ottogi, launched three types of frozen rice balls that oats use instead of simple white rice as the main ingredient for the slow-aging diet last November. It had also expanded its immediate rice product line by introducing Suhyangmi Brown -Rreis, combining white rice and fragrant brown rice in a ratio of 5: 5.

Practical store brand 7-elves worked with young to release slow product lines-chicken breaststeak ready-eat meal, chicken breast-grain rice balls, full-grain-mustard-chicken-chicken-brood-gimbap, chicken breast-multi-grain sandwich and bean quark ball with egg salad.

“I wanted to show that food for Convenience Store can be both delicious and healthy. With this initiative, I hope that even busy modern people can practice slightly slow aging, ”said Jung.

The Korean coffee franchise -Mega -mgc -coffee showed a new dessert line, including the ACAI Bowl, which received explosive answers. In just one month it sold over 300,000, which set up the company's record among the dessert menu.

Will this trend continue?

Despite its growing popularity, some experts wonder whether slow aging will remain a long-term lifestyle movement or is simply another fleeting health trend.

Choi Chul, professor of consumer economy at Sookmyung Women's University, PHOI CHUL, who can be viewed that the concept could shift more rather than take.

“Aging was usually the main concern for older people. (So,) younger people who are particularly interested in aging should already be seen in a special light … but personally I think that this could be more of a temporary trend than something that is upright, ”he said.

“Because young people tend to share and consume a lot about social media and other platforms. So if you look at what is currently attracting attention and what young people like in the same generation and buy a lot, it is easy to see how strong the motivation for others is to participate in this experimental consumption. “

Although the slowly aging keyword may not go beyond the trend, the professor found that the pursuit of a healthy lifestyle and well -being would generally still have the requirements of consumers.

“Regardless of whether they are young or older, everyone is interested in things that prevent aging,” he said. “I think there will continue to be uniform interest and consumption of products or menus that promote well -being, health improvement, beauty and other functional advantages.”