Red koji has been used for a variety of fermentation food such as sake from old in China and South Korea, etc. and it has also been used from a Ryukyu dynasty for Tufuyo, a traditional bean curd food preparation in Okinawa in Japan, and “Red koji color (Monascus color)” extracted from Red koji is widespread as natural colorant.
Recently, lovastatin (Monacolin K) that has the hypocholesterolemic activity is discovered from a part of Red koji, though statins are prescription medicines used now for about 30 million people all over the world to decrease LDL-cholesterol that is the risk factor that causes atherosclerosis, and moreover the Red koji that contains this natural statin becomes available for the processed food such as dietary supplement, and it is expected a beneficial use in the primary care of the lifestyle disease by the eating habits improvement. In this paper, we would like to clarify the history as the food of Red koji, the active ingredients as the functional food material and the mechanism, the effectiveness and safety, including the clinical trial results such as improvement of lipid metabolism, and also introduce the probability as the beneficial material for complementary and alternative medicine as well as for dietary supplement in health conditioning and the prevention of the lifestyle disease.

Apple polyphenols are polyphenols that consist chiefly of procyanidins extracted and purified from unripe apples. Analysis of the polyphenols in apples has progressed as part of recent research, and they have attracted much attention as an ingredient since animal testing and clinical studies have shown that they improve fat metabolism; suppress fat absorption, reduce body fat, and reduce cholesterol. Other previously unknown physiological functions have also been detected such as anti-fatigue.
Apple polyphenols have been confirmed to be very safe given the long history of eating apples and based on studies of repeated administration, mutagenicity tests and other toxicological tests, and clinical studies. Furthermore, the FDA has approved apple polyphenols as Applephenon^® for the GRAS list.
Apple polyphenols may be taken safely and continuously as part of a normal diet, and thus are a useful health food supplement for life related disease sufferers of a diverse range of lifestyles.

According to a 1999 epidemiological survey by the Fatigue Study Group of the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in Japan, 60% (47 million) of workers complained of fatigue. However, there have been no established recommendations for fatigue, and few anti-fatigue medicines or foods have been developed. Physical or mental load induces oxidative stress, resulting in fatigue. Accordingly, antioxidants are candidate anti-fatigue substances. Imidazole dipeptides (carnosine and anserine) have strong anti-oxidative effects, and chicken breast is rich in such dipeptides. The results of two human studies suggested imidazole dipeptides were effective and useful in attenuating fatigue induced by physical loads and daily activity. In short, imidazole dipeptides are novel anti-fatigue ingredients.

In the present study, in order to investigate the healthy functionality of superheated steam cooking, we examined triacylglyceride, RLP-cholesterol, ascorbic acid and d-ROM levels in blood after intake of fried pork cooked using superheated steam or in a deep fryer. At 6 hours after intake, in the superheated steam cooking group, triacylglyceride and RLP-cholesterol levels were lower, while ascorbic acid levels were higher and d-ROM levels were lower when compared with the deep fryer group. These results suggest that superheated steam cooking has healthy functionality with regard to the inhibition of postprandial triacylglyceride increase and lipid peroxidation in blood.

Objective: In the present study, we investigated the effects of enveloping-airflow air conditioner on health maintenance and fatigue in healthy volunteers. The enveloping airflow is that of gently holding the whole room space along the ceiling, wall, and floor.
Design: In a randomized placebo-controlled crossover trial, 10 healthy women who had feeling cold, stiff shoulder and knee pain very often under air conditioner working, participated in the study. They performed fatigue-inducing desk work for 2 hours, and rested for 30 minutes in the air conditioned room controlled by enveloping airflow or direct airflow.
Methods: We evaluated subjective sensation by Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), peripheral blood flow by laser-Doppler flowmetry, and body temperature.
Result: The enveloping airflow prevented hypothermia, increased blood flow, moreover attenuated feeling of cold, knee pain and fatigue, increased sensation of comfort as compared with the direct air flow.
Conclusion: Enveloping-airflow air conditioner is effective in maintaining health and attenuating fatigue.

Objective According to a survey conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2002, 72% of workers feel fatigued, clearly indicating the degree to which the Japanese populace is affected by this problem. However, few scientifically proven anti-fatigue devices have been developed for the benefit of the Japanese society. An automated air massage chair provides soft stimulation with air bags, not spot stimulation with knead balls, over the muscle surface with movements that push the muscles upward. In the present study, using established methods to evaluate fatigue, we investigated the effect of this automated air massage chair on fatigue in healthy volunteers.
Method Ten healthy subjects participated in a randomized two-way crossover trial. As fatigue-inducing desk work, subjects performed 8 sets of a 30-min Uchida-Kraepelin psychodiagnostic test and 30-min advanced trail making test (ATMT) during the test day. Subjects rested 15 min on the air massage chair or control chair 4 times: immediately before and at 4, 6 and 8 hours after the start of the workload. We evaluated the subjective feeling of fatigue by visual analogue scale, work performance by ATMT, and analyzed underlying mechanisms by biochemical parameters in saliva and urine.
Result Stimulation by air massage chair alleviated the subjective sensation of fatigue and suppressed the decline in work performance. Furthermore, increase in salivary amylase activity and decrease in urine homovanillic acid/creatinine ratio was suppressed.
Conclusion Automated air massage chair attenuated fatigue induced by desk work, most likely by correcting the imbalance in the autonomic nervous system. The air massage chair is thus recommended for relieving fatigue induced by work and daily activities.

Objective Enveloping airflow, as opposed to direct airflow, warms the room by gently circulating the airflow along the floor, wall, and ceiling, thereby uniformly warming the entire room. The objective of our study was to determine the effects of air-conditioned heating by enveloping-airflow on sense of fatigue and comfort in healthy volunteers.
Design Eight healthy women, who often felt discomfort in an air-conditioned heating environment, participated in a randomized placebo-controlled crossover trial. Subjects rested for 30 minutes in a room air-conditioned either by enveloping airflow or by direct airflow, and then performed fatigue-inducing tasks for 2 hours.
Methods We evaluated the sense of fatigue by visual analogue scale (VAS), peripheral blood flow by laser-Doppler flowmetry, and sympathetic nerve activity by urinary vanillylmandelic acid level.
Result Air conditioning by enveloping-airflow, as compared to direct airflow, enhanced peripheral blood flow and attenuated sympathetic nerve hyperactivity caused by performing fatigue-inducing tasks. Moreover, it helped to maintain subjective levels of motivation and comfort, as well as to alleviate sense of fatigue and cold.
Conclusion Air-conditioned heating by enveloping-airflow is effective for attenuating sense of fatigue and discomfort as well as health maintenance.

In the present study, we investigated the effects of plasma cluster ions on moisturizing skin and increasing comfort sensation in healthy female volunteers. Thirty-two healthy women who often experienced dry skin participated in a randomized crossover trial. We evaluated skin moisture using the Corneometer CM825 and comfort sensation using the visual analogue scale. Plasma cluster ion concentrations of 25000 pcs/cm³ increased skin moisture, while concentrations of 7000 pcs/cm³ increased comfort sensation. These results suggest that plasma cluster ions have an effect on skin moisture contents and comfort sensation.