Erika Angyal has supported many beautiful women as the official nutrition consultant for Miss Universe Japan. While she has always shared the nutrition and dietary benefits of beauty, she has recently been focusing on mental health as well. She will be publishing a new book on July 24th. We spoke to her about tips for living a beautiful life, both physically and mentally. Erika first came to Japan as an exchange student at the age of 15. During her two-month stay, her acne and other skin problems completely cleared up, sparking her interest in nutrition and Japanese food. Since coming to Japan, she has been advising finalists striving to become the world's most beautiful woman on how to eat to become beautiful. She explains, "Japanese women are highly motivated by fashion and style. However, I feel that many women lack confidence, often due to low self-esteem." After learning from a survey that showed significantly lower rates of self-worth among Japanese women compared to women in the United States, South Korea, and China, she wondered if there was a way to train people to change negative feelings into positive ones, rather than comparing themselves to others. "In the past, when humans were hunter-gatherers, we had to be able to make instant decisions and change our moods based on whether there was prey or an enemy. In today's world, we're in an era where we can learn to change our moods in the blink of an eye, just like practicing the violin. As a result, we can switch our feelings from negative to positive." She says that the confidence born from this is important for Japanese women, and interprets the word "confidence" as "accepting yourself." "Taking care of your body and mind means loving yourself. I believe that by taking care of yourself first, you can extend a helping hand to those around you." On July 24th, she published "How to Acquire the Perfect Dress: Confidence," a book aimed at Japanese women that compiles methods for becoming beautiful from the inside out. "I introduce specific and simple methods. I hope that by first gaining confidence, you'll find something you're passionate about," she says. July is drawing to a close, and summer is finally upon us in Japan. To maintain physical and mental beauty in the hot and humid weather, she advised, "It's important to drink small amounts of fluids throughout the day, even if it's just a little at a time, by mixing 100% juice such as pomegranate juice with water. You can also float ice with blueberries or lemon in the water, or put sliced cucumber in the water like a muddler and drink it."
