The non-profit organization Japan Functional Food Research Association (JAFRA) held the Health Forum 2007 at Marunouchi Building Hall in Tokyo on July 29, 2007. The forum was the first big event after the association's approval as a non-profit organization by the Cabinet Office last year. Four lecturers, each active in the front lines of their respective fields, were invited to the forum with the theme “Immune system enhancement and anti-aging by food.” Daiwa Pharmaceuticals, who had been supporting the activity of JAFRA as a full member (corporate member) since the start, also gave its full backing to this event. The forum was a success, attracting as many as 400 participants from the medical profession and general public.

Dr. Yuzo Endo, Instructor at the Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, held a lecture entitled “Antiinflammation and anti-aging: Aging can be prevented by inhibiting inflammation.” The basic factors leading to aging of the human body are (1) damage caused by the long-term effect of weakly active oxygen, and (2) glycation (glycosylation of protein by glucose), and Dr. Endo thinks that these factors can be suppressed by the right choice of food and functional foods. As for the aging phenomenon associated with chronic inflammation which is the main factor responsible for the damage caused through the long-term effect of weakly active oxygen, he explained that active oxygen destroys molecular structures in reaction to various molecules in the body, and continuous damage of DNA by active oxygen, for example, will result in gene abnormalities associated with the development of cancer, meaning that chronic inflammation is considered a cancer-promoting factor. Continuous mild chronic inflammation within the blood vessel results in inflammation of the endothelial cells, causing blood clots at the lesion or promoting the formation of arterial sclerosis, thereby leading to ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular diseases, and deep-vein thrombosis, he warned. Referring to animal data from studies on the biophylactic effect of modified arabinoxylan from rice bran, he concluded that reforming the body through food and the right choice of appropriate functional food were important for anti-aging by antiinflammation.

“Key to healthy long life: Enteric bacteria and functional food” was the title of the lecture held by Prof. Emeritus Tomotari Mitsuoka, Doctor of Agriculture at the University of Tokyo. The composition of intestinal flora reflects the intestinal metabolism, and greatly influences the nutritional state of the host, drug action, physiological function, aging, cancer development, immunity, infection, and other states, and maintaining a flora balance, with the dominance of beneficial bacteria over harmful ones, leads to the prevention of disease and the maintenance and promotion of health, he explained. Harmful substances, such as decomposed materials produced by harmful intestinal bacteria, bacterial toxins, cancer-causing agents, and secondary bile acid cause direct damage to the intestine itself, and are also partially absorbed and thereby damage various organs such as the liver, pancreas, heart, kidneys, brain, and reproductive organs, where they are likely to cause cancer, arteriosclerosis, hypertension, liver damage, autoimmune diseases, and reduced immunocompetence and thus cause lifestyle-related diseases. Through such discoveries, it became obvious that control of intestinal flora balance is vital for the prevention of lifestyle-related diseases, including cancer, and for maintenance of good physical conditions. A variety of functional foods that take advantage of this mechanism have been developed, Prof. Mitsuoka explained expressing his expectations for functional foods. He explained functional food in three categories, based on their active mechanisms, i.e. probiotics, prebiotics, and biogenics.

He emphasized that healthy dietary habits form the basis for health and longevity. It is important to know what, how much, and how should be taken according to one's constitution and health condition, and to select and use the right functional food based on this knowledge.

Dr. Yoshihiro Fukuo, CEO of the Hakujikai Institute of Gerontology, gave a lecture entitled “Cancer control measures for Mibyo in an era of compulsory health checks.” Dr. Fukuo was concerned that the health checks set to become compulsory in April 2008 target metabolic syndrome, which is a typical situation of “Mibyo,” or presymptomatic state, while tests for hepatitis C and colon cancer, for example, may be reduced leading to a delay in the early discovery of these diseases. He explained about cancer control measures in the Mibyo state. He stressed that the main component of Maruyama vaccine, arabinomannan (arabinose + mannose), is a polysaccharide extracted from tuberculosis bacteria, which is strongly immunoactive like arabinoxylan (arabinose + xylose). He explained that it usually takes 10 to 20 years for a cancer to grow from its occurrence as an anomaly at the single cell level until it is so large that it causes symptoms. It is important to discover and control the cancer during this phase, since once there are symptoms of metastatic cancer, the disease is often beyond cure. As cancer control measures in the Mibyo state, Prof. Fukuo stressed that it is important to protect oneself from factors that we encounter in daily life very often and initiate gene damage, such as by virus, fungi, tobacco, and food containing cancer-causing agents, and those that promote and accentuate the gene damage, such as by tobacco, salt, fatty acids, free radicals, denatured oxidized substances, and advanced glycation end products (AGEs).

The lecture of Dr. Mamdooh Ghoneum, Professor at UCLA/Drew University, was entitled “Evaluation of functional food on enhancing immune system-Evaluation of my research over 25 years.” In the lecture, Dr. Ghoneum gave an overview of his research into immunology. Impaired immunity due to aging manifests itself as increased occurrence of infection, cancer and autoimmune disease. Impaired immunity is obviously a multifactorial matter and loss of immunity is significantly associated with the diseases mentioned above. Based on these facts, Dr. Ghoneum studied the immunomodulating effects of various biological response modifiers (BRMs) over 25 years and elucidated the active mechanisms of these substances that he presented in the lecture. His research revealed some BRMs with immunomodulatory action; however, since they lacked desirable characteristics concerning toxicity and the duration of action, Dr. Ghoneum changed the subject of his research to functional foods without toxicity. According to the lecture, he discovered the following remarkable reactions in modified arabinoxylan from rice bran: 1) it enhances human NK cell activity in 1 to 2 weeks, without showing any reduction of its activity; 2) it promotes the growth of T- and B-cells and the production of IFN-γ; and 3) it induces apoptosis of cancer cells. Based on these results, Dr. Ghoneum concluded that ideal BRMs, with no toxicity and long-lasting immunomodulatory action, are definitely needed to reverse and decelerate the aging process.

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