Okinawa, healthiest island in the world

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Okinawans’ secret is said to be their food and attitude towards life. Their regular diet is based on rice, fish and vegetables. One of their popular dishes, Mimiga, is made from pig ears. It’s low in fat and high in calcium. The people also eat plenty of tofu (bean curd made by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into soft white blocks) and vegetables such as bitter gourd (bitter melon) and sweet potato, which is extremely nutritious. One baked potato contains over 20,000 IU of beta carotene and Vitamin A.

To understand why and how the healthy living of Okinawans has accounted for their longevity, the Okinawa Centenarian Study was conducted, basing on reliable age-verification data. Throughout Japan (including Okinawa prefecture), every city, town, and village records birth, marriage and death data (among other data) in a koseki (family register). This system was instituted throughout Japan in the 1870's. The koseki is supplemented by a regular census undertaken every five years. Life tables calculated from this database show one of the world's longest life expectancies and prevalence data show the world's highest known concentration of centenarians for any country or state.

After examining over 900 Okinawan centenarians and numerous other elderly in their seventies, eighties, and nineties, some fascinating findings have emerged. One, genetic factors appear important to human longevity, including Okinawan longevity. Two, it has also become clear that the Okinawan lifestyle provides many reasons why older Okinawans are so remarkably healthy so far into their senior years.

A 96-year-old martial artist, Seikichi Uehara, defeated a 30-year old ex-boxing champion in 2000, while Nabi Kinjo, was the 105-year-old woman who hunted down a poisonous snake and killed it with a fly swatter.

An 88-year-old farmer who still works 11-hour days at the field, says, “I hardly ever get angry. I enjoy life because I’m happy at work and I think that’s the medicine for a long life.”

As the old Okinawan saying goes, “At 70 you are still a child, at 80 a young man or woman. And if at 90 someone from Heaven invites you over, tell him: ‘Just go away, and come back when I am 100.’”

Elderly Okinawans were found to have impressively young, clean arteries, low cholesterol, and low homocysteine levels when compared to Westerners. These factors help reduce their risk for coronary heart disease by up to 80% and keep stroke levels low. Okinawans are at extremely low risk for hormone-dependent cancers including cancers of the breast, prostate, ovaries, and colon. Compared to North Americans, they have 80% less breast cancer and prostate cancer, and less than half the ovarian and colon cancers. Some of the most important factors that may protect against those cancers include low caloric intake, high vegetables/fruits consumption, higher intake of good fats (omega-3, mono-unsaturated fat), high fiber diet, high flavonoid intake, low body fat level, and high level of physical activity.

Unfortunately, the younger generation of Okinawans is not enthusiastic about the healthy habits and secrets accumulated by the elderly. With western fast food joints invading the island, the youth often prefer them over traditional foods.