Time magazine features Okinawa diet

How to live to be 100 (and not regret it)

That's the title of the Time magazine cover story for the week of August 30th.

The Time article begins, "New research suggests that a long life is no accident. So what are the secrets of the world's centenarians?" Well, the "secrets" are out and can be found in the Okinawa Diet™: "Only about 20% to 30% of how long we live is genetically determined. The dominant factor is lifestyle."

Here's an excerpt from the Time article:

Each day, Seiryu Toguchi, 103, of Motobu, Okinawa, wakes at 6 a.m., in the house in which he was born, and opens the shutters. "It's a sign to my neighbors," he says, "that I am still alive." He does stretching exercises along with a radio broadcast, then eats breakfast: whole-grain rice and miso soup with vegetables. He puts in two hours of picking weeds in his 90-sq-m field, whose crops are goya--a variety of bitter gourd--a reddish-purple sweet potato called imo, and okra.

At 12:30 Toguchi eats lunch: goya stir-fry with egg and tofu. He naps for an hour or so, then spends two more hours in his field. For a night-cap he may have a sip of the wine he makes from aloe, garlic and turmeric. And as he drifts off, he says, "my head is filled with all the things I want to do tomorrow."

Scientists working for the U.S. National Institutes of Health and Japan's Ministry of Health have been following oldsters like Toguchi since 1976 in the Okinawa Centenarian Study (OCS) and they've learned that he's typical. Elderly Okinawans tend to get plenty of physical and mental exercise. Their diets, moreover, are exemplary: low in fat and salt, and high in fruits and vegetables packed with fiber and antioxidant substances that protect against cancer, heart disease and stroke. They consume more soy than any other population on earth: 60-120 g a day, compared to 30-50 g for the average Japanese, 10 for Chinese and virtually 0 g for the average Westerner. Soy is rich in flavanoids--antioxidants strongly linked to low rates of cancer. This may be one of many reasons why the annual death rate from cancer in Okinawa is far below the rate of Western countries.

But it's not just what Okinawans eat; it's how much. They practice a dietary philosophy known as hara hachi bu--literally, eight parts out of 10 full. Translation: they eat only to the point at which they are about 80% sated. That makes for a daily intake of no more than 1,800 calories, compared to the more than 2,500 that the average Western man scarfs down. And as scientists have learned form lab animals, the simple act of calories restriction can have significant effect on longevity.

Aging Okinawans also have a much lower incidence of dementia - Alzheimer's or other forms of senility - than their U.S. and European counterparts do. Part of that may also owe to diet; it's high in vitamin E, which seems to protect the brain. But perhaps just as important is a sense of belonging and purpose that provides a strong foundation for staying mentally alert well into old age. maintain a sense of community, ensuring that every member, from youngest to oldest, is paid proper respect and feels equally valued. Elderly women, for example, are considered the sacred keepers of a family's bond with the ancestors, maintaining the family altars and responsible for organizing festivals to honor them. OCS data show that elderly Okinawans's express a high level of satisfaction with life, something that is not as true in Western societies, where rates of suicide and depression are high among the elderly.

Need Convincing evidence that our modern lifestyle can shorten lives? Look what happens when Okinawans move permanently off the island. They pick up the diet and cultural behaviors of their adopted country - and within a generation, their life-spans decrease and their rates of cancer and heart attack zoom. Even on the island, young males are following the seductive, virulent Western style and renouncing imo for hamburgers. "Okinawan male life expectancy used to be No. 1 in Japan," says Dr. Makoto Suzuki, leader of the study of Okinawan elders. "It started to decline 10 years ago and hit 26th out of 47 prefectures in the 2000 census. I expect it to decline even further in the next census."

Some additional highlights from the Time article:

• Apparently, some people on the planet are still not aware of this: "...the Japanese islands of Okinawa are home to the world's largest population of centenarians, with almost 600 of its 1.3 million inhabitants living into their second century--many of them active and looking decades younger than their actual years."
• Co-creator of the Okinawa Diet™ program, Doctor Bradley Willcox, shares his thoughts: "You could have Mercedes-Benz genes," says Dr. Bradley Willcox, of the Pacific Health Research Institute in Honolulu, "but if you never change the oil, you are not going to last as long as a Ford Escort that you take good care of. Those who have healthier genes and live healthier lives--those guys really survive a long time."
• Living a long, healthy life requires commitment: "At least that's true for many Westerners, whose fat- and calorie-packed diets and largely exercise-free lives are a prescription for heart disease and plenty of other ills. For Okinawans, by contrast, the traditional way of life seems tailor-made for living forever--one day at a time."