Association of Nutrition Improvement Practice
& Ochanomizu University

Osamu Igarashi

Around the time I was born, Sumida-ku still had fields and a natural landscape where we would chase dragonflies, besides the commercial and residential areas. No sooner did I start elementary school than the war broke out and I had to evacuate by myself to relatives in Niigata. My generation grew up in a world of rampant disease in the days of poor distribution and black markets even after the war had ended. Nevertheless, everyone loved polished rice in those days, so beriberi was widespread. The agricultural chemistry I studied at university was a very broad field, but I started by researching food chemistry and then switched to nutritional science where I analyzed how the vitamin E homologues functioned in the body, identified the discrimination mechanism of α-tochopherol stereoisomers and was long involved in research in the food and health sciences to note the metabolism of fatty acids and metabolic regulation using food components. Of the vitamin E homologes,α-tochopherol is the most active in the human body. In recent years, I have been working to elucidate the active mechanism of the metabolite of γ-tochopherol, which selectively discharges sodium from the body to the urine.
More recently, my biggest interest has been to improve current eating habits in preparation for Japan's aging society. Rice is the perfect theme for this symposium as brown rice has more vitamins than any other food and is important towards a balanced diet. I want to appeal to people to correctly know their own body and that it is important to correct one's eating habits. I look forward to interacting with other researchers.

Hobbies:	Good at cleaning fish, experienced in computering
In Wakayama:	I want to smell the fresh air in front of a beautiful sea.