Curious Cook: Telomeres and the science of ikigai

A curious ikigai role is to eat only until you are about 80% full, which is said to reduce oxidative stress from too much food. — NADIN SH/Pexels

The Japanese concept of ‘ikigai’ (translated as ‘worth of life’) can be approximated to the French ‘raison d’être’ or a valid purpose for a human to continue living. And there is actually no science in ikigai, although there is a curiously large body of science supporting it.

Ikigai differs somewhat from raison d’être in that ikigai involves less of sense of duty to observing rules or conventions. For example, the raison d’être of a bookkeeper is to manage company accounts, but the simplest meaning of ikigai is to be at peace with doing what makes one happiest. So, for some people ikigai may really mean being a good, diligent bookkeeper, but it would be done for personal joy, rather than as a wage-earning obligation.