[One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day One Thousand Characters] "You Need to Keep Your Jang Healthy to Feel Better Mentally"

"First, you need to be physically healthy for your mind to be clear, which in turn improves relationships with family and friends. My health can be seen as leading to social health."

People often say that the era of living to 100 has arrived because diseases that were once incurable can now be treated. However, the "healthy lifespan," excluding the time bedridden due to illness or injury, is only 66.3 years. Although life expectancy has greatly increased, living more than 30 years without good health means longevity is not necessarily a good thing.

Yoon Ki-cheon, chairman of Dudu Bio (age 74), recently told a reporter that to increase healthy lifespan, "we must cultivate a healthy gut, which is the root of our body's health." To do this, gut immunity must be strengthened because 70% of our immune system is activated in the gut.

Yoon Ki-cheon, Chairman of Dudu Bio.

He said, "To know whether your gut immunity is good or bad, you need to closely observe your bowel movements." Healthy bowel movements are odorless and shaped like a banana. However, nowadays, Koreans' bowel movements have become smelly and loose due to the westernization of their diet. Recently, the number of young colorectal cancer patients has also increased. Korea has a relatively high incidence of colorectal cancer. According to Statistics Korea, in 2021, the colorectal cancer death rate was 17.5 per 100,000 people, ranking third among cancer deaths in the country after lung cancer (36.8) and liver cancer (20). There are terms like "gut-lung axis" and "gut-brain axis," meaning that the gut always accompanies major organs in our body. If the gut collapses, the body naturally deteriorates."

This is exactly why Chairman Yoon developed a health functional food made by converting soy protein into amino acids. It has been 17 years since he founded the company. "We ferment kimchi lactic acid bacteria and milk lactic acid bacteria with soy to deliver probiotics and their food to the large intestine, where the most microorganisms live in our body. This increases the composition of beneficial gut bacteria (probiotics), keeps the intestinal mucosal cells healthy, helps good bowel movements, and enhances immunity." He said that since COVID-19, as health management including gut health has become more important, many regular customers have emerged. Gut health is also connected to mental health because over 90% of serotonin, known as the "happiness hormone," is produced in gut cells. This means that if gut health is not secured, the mind is likely to suffer as well.

He emphasized that physical activity is also essential to maintaining gut health. For those preparing for the 100-year life era, he recommended walking. Chairman Yoon said, "'Walking 10,000 steps' has been practiced in Japan for 50 years. Walking is the core exercise to move the five viscera and six bowels." He advises that if it is difficult to set aside time for walking, people should practice it in daily life, such as by using public transportation. Thanks to walking intermittently throughout the day, Yoon said he reaches 8,000 steps daily without taking separate walks.

Chairman Yoon said, "When the body is stable, the mind improves, and social health, which involves caring for others, is completed." Of course, he also stressed the need to practice having a good mind. "In human society, conflicts inevitably arise due to bad emotions like envy, jealousy, and arrogance. It is also important to unconditionally give up what you cannot do. This is because we are born as imperfect humans."