New Study on Longevity and Good Health
The September 2001 issue of Wellness from the University
of California features a new study on longevity. This one
studies the Okinawans who are believed to have the longest
disability-free life expectancy in the world. Both cancer
and heart attack rates are low when compared to someone
living in America. The American rate is about 5 times greater.
The differences are large enough to suggest something is
wrong in much of the world or something on Okinawa is
ideal. The puzzle this presents isn't easy to answer
and the Okinawa study only came up with some possible
conclusions. It did provide a profile of how Okinawans
live and that is interesting.
The general profile goes like this:
.obesity is rare
.few smoke
.diet mostly vegetarian, about 70+ percent
.meat, fish, and eggs are about 14 percent of diet
.soy and seaweed provide another 14 percent
.diary products are seldom eaten
.alcohol consumption seldom exceeds one drink/day
.exercise, walking, gardening, are common
.cultural values and status for women are shared by all
pictures of this are at: www.okinawaprogram.com
The Wellness letter concludes the following from this
study:
1. Atkins and zone diets would disagree with this study
2. The standard advice of natural eating and exercise
has been right all along.
3. Alcohol, smoking, fatty foods, are problems.
My conclusions are about the same except for one thing.
This study does not identify the exact cause of poor
health or why Okinawans are so healthy. It only makes
a strong suggestion. Other studies will have different
conclusions and possibly use some of the same data.
Also, there may be other factors that were not identified
in the study. I felt the cultural and spiritual beliefs
needed more discussion and would like to know about
the role of children, education, older adults. In any
case this was a very interesting study and worth some
thought.
jeff
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