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| Science |
| People In Okinawa Live Longer Than Almost Anyone On Earth. Here's What They Eat. |
| 2019-02-22 |
| [Huffpoo] South of mainland Japan lies Okinawa, a group of islands known as the "land of the immortals." Residents here have among the longest life spans and the islands have the highest rates of centenarians in the world. Two-thirds of those who reached 100 were still living independently at the age of 97, according to one study. Okinawans have also been found to have low rates of heart disease, stroke, cancer and diabetes. As researchers try to understand the reasons for the unusually long and healthy lives of these island residents, they have become convinced that their diet is a key component. The traditional local diet ― rich in vegetables, soy products and seafood ― was highlighted by scientists from the Eat-Lancet Commission in January as one that closely resembled their "planetary health diet": guidelines for a diet that works well for human health and for reducing the environmental impact of our food choices. Widely used foods in Okinawa include sweet potatoes, green leafy or yellow root vegetables, tofu, bitter melon and modest amounts of seafood, lean meat, fruit and tea. A typical meal might be miso soup, vegetable stir-fry with a side dish of seaweed and an accompaniment of freshly brewed jasmine tea. Overall, it is a low-calorie, high-carbohydrate ― mainly due to the sweet potatoes ― moderate-protein and nutrient-rich diet, with sparse amounts of meat, refined grains, sugar and dairy. And one that has made Okinawans typically shorter and leaner, with one study finding that the ratio of protein to carbohydrates in the Okinawan diet (1:10) is nearly identical to the ratios in diets found to optimize life span. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #12 Definitely diet and genes. Not to mention physical work, farmers, fishermen. Side note. I know a hay wagon load of Norwegian farmers in Wisconsin that live well into their 90's |
| Posted by: Woodrow 2019-02-22 18:01 |
| #11 How many smoke everyday? That might kill the message a bit. |
| Posted by: Airandee 2019-02-22 12:49 |
| #10 Oh and lots of salt. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2019-02-22 11:37 |
| #9 The traditional local diet ― rich in vegetables, soy products and seafood The secret to long life is roughage, estrogen and mercury? |
| Posted by: Whavitle Omaling6026 2019-02-22 11:23 |
| #8 "Overall, it is a low-calorie, high-carbohydrate ― mainly due to the sweet potatoes ― moderate-protein and nutrient-rich diet, with sparse amounts of meat, refined grains, sugar and dairy." Utter crap. This is based on an old study performed right after WWII. Prior to the war Okinawa ate more pork per capita than anywhere else in the world, but the war killed off the pig population. Just a few years after the war the pig population had been restored and Okinawan were eating pork again. This data is from the very brief post war period when there simply wasn't any pork to be had. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2019-02-22 11:07 |
| #7 How many old folks go to hospitals on the main land, and end up dying there, thus altering the numbers? |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2019-02-22 10:13 |
| #6 How much of lifespan is due to genetics? How much to exercise? Please madam, let us not ask pertinent but embarrassing questions that make our research look like New York tabloid click-bait. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2019-02-22 09:52 |
| #5 You'll live longer eating that rabbit food instead of delicious steaks and burgers - question is: Why would you want to? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2019-02-22 09:40 |
| #4 Word of the day is now holobiont. Holobionts are assemblages of different species that form ecological units. Lynn Margulis proposed that any physical association between individuals of different species for significant portions of their life history is a symbiosis. All participants in the symbiosis are bionts, and therefore the resulting assemblage was first coined a holobiont by Lynn Margulis in 1991 in the book Symbiosis as a Source of Evolutionary Innovation. Holo is derived from the Ancient Greek word ὅλος (hólos) for “whole”. The entire assemblage of genomes in the holobiont is termed a hologenome. |
| Posted by: jpal 2019-02-22 09:01 |
| #3 And how much to holobiont? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2019-02-22 08:45 |
| #2 How much of lifespan is due to genetics? How much to exercise? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2019-02-22 08:35 |
| #1 Wait. I thought all the stresses of the big military base there was killing them. Or so the media has been saying... |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2019-02-22 08:24 |