Sun & Ssukgat
The Korean Art of Self-Care, Wellness & Longevity
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A charming, life-changing guide to living a longer, happier, healthier life, rooted in Korean self-care practices. From the country scientists predict will top longevity charts in 2030.
Ssukgat, or Chrysanthemum greens, are treasured in Korean culture for their healing abilities. You can coax its withered stalks to bloom again, with sun, water, soil, and care. It’s a fitting metaphor for eco-entrepreneur and CEO Michelle Jungmin Bang, who found herself in excruciating pain due to the constant sacrificing of her health and wellness for work—a trade many of us make daily.
Thus started her fascinating journey to overhaul her health and reconnect with her heritage in South Korea. She found answers in the mountains with Buddhist nuns and the keys to microbiome health, a seaside village with haenyeo (female free divers who forage for seafood) and their practice of healing with breath, centenarians with easily adoptable daily habits, and Korean bathhouse culture and its “wellness for everyone” approach to youthful skin. Natural, effective, and environmentally conscious, these traditions have been passed down for centuries in Asia, like gifted heirlooms, and they quietly and radically shift our philosophies on well-being towards holistic health and preventative care.
Informed by her travels, research, and East-West nutrition training, Michelle reflects on the power of food as medicine, how we can eat for healing, live sustainably, reconnect with nature, form deeper relationships with the Korean concept of Jeong (the warm, invisible connection between loved ones and places), and more. Also included are simple and delicious healing recipes that can be used for recovery, like a mushroom broth the Buddhist nuns turn to for colds; her grandmother’s secret Myeolchi (anchovy) broth; Samgyetang (chicken and ginseng soup) for combatting fatigue; as well as Hoedeopbap (raw fish bibimbap), her most-requested dish that requires no cooking.
Stunningly written and accompanied by Michelle’s gorgeously hand-drawn illustrations and infographics, Sun & Ssukgat is on a mission to empower anyone stuck in the unhealthy whirlwind of modern life to transform our well-being in the little things we do every single day.
This beautifully designed book is perfect for:
Fans of Korean and Asian food and cultureGifting to friends and familyFood-as-medicine enthusiasts seeking natural ways to improve their healthTravel aficionados and environmentally-conscious readersProfessionals and students looking to boost performance and wellness
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This informative debut from Bang, cofounder of sustainable fashion brand the R Collective, details the wisdom she learned while traveling throughout South Korea in search of traditional wellness practices to restore her health after the stresses of her punishing work schedule landed her in the hospital. She recounts visiting a Buddhist monastery in Naejangsan National Park where nuns grow and forage their own food, and afterward adapting her own diet to more closely match theirs, which involved ditching artificial sweeteners for organic honey and learning to ferment her own food. (Fermentation, she explains, fosters the growth of good bacteria that aid digestion.) Elsewhere, Bang explains how the hot water in jjimjilbangs, or traditional bathhouses, relieve muscle tension and improve blood flow, and how seaweed of the kind collected by Jeju Island's haenyeo, or female free divers, has been shown to lower insulin resistance and cholesterol levels. Distilling what she learned from her travels into her own "holistic approach to healing," Bang recommends breathing exercises to reduce stress and walking after meals to prevent glucose spikes. A bounty of recipes for baesuk (a pear-based cold remedy), juk (porridge), and chicken and ginseng soup, among other dishes and drinks, will help readers implement the dietary guidance. A smart mix of travel writing and health advice, this hits the spot.
