[.ca] The Okinawa Program: How the World's Longest-Lived ... (ISBN 0609807501)

From Amazon.com:
If ever there were a prescription for longevity, the folks of Okinawa, a collection of islands strung between Japan and Taiwan, have found it. Considered the world's healthiest people, residents of this tropical archipelago routinely live active, independent lives well into their 90s and 100s. Their rates of obesity, heart disease, osteoporosis, memory loss, menopause, and breast, colon and prostate cancer rank far below the rates for these illnesses in America and other industrialized countries. In fact, researchers believe many Okinawans are physically younger than their chronological ages. In essence, the Okinawans have found a way to beat the clock. How do they do it? In The Okinawa Program, Bradley J. Willcox, M.D., D. Craig Willcox, Ph.D., and Makoto Suzuki, M.D. reveal the islanders' age-defying secrets. Of course, there are really no surprises here: a low-fat diet, exercise, stress management, strong social and family ties, and spiritual connectedness--the same things experts have been recommending for years--all play key roles in keeping the Okinawans youthful. But in this fascinating read, which is peppered with inspiring anecdotes about these remarkable people, the authors provide concrete evidence that adopting these healthy habits pays off significantly in terms of tacking more productive years onto our lives. Based on the authors' 25-year Okinawa Centenarian Study, this extraordinarily well-written book demonstrates that genetics provide only so much protection against disease. Indeed, the authors often remind us that when younger Okinawans pick up Western habits, their rates of obesity, illness, and life expectancy start to match ours as well. Clearly, when it comes to longevity, healthy lifestyle habits will out. That said, the major message of The Okinawa Program is that we can easily adopt the life-lengthening strategies that have served the Okinawans so well for generations. To that end, the authors pack chapters with suggestions for following "The Way," from eating a low-fat, low-calorie diet packed with fiber and complex carbohydrates (cooking up the book's more than 80 recipes is a start) and learning tai chi to finding time to meditate and relax, developing one's spirituality, doing volunteer work, and building a solid network of friends and family. Rounding out the book, the authors pull their key recommendations into a comprehensive yet doable four-week plan that's meant to get you started. Following "The Way" isn't a free shot at immortality, but it certainly helps stack the deck in your favor. --Norine Dworkin

The Best Overall Book on Diet and Health:
I read the review by John Granger on August 19, 2003 called "Good Program but Not Okinawan". It was hard to believe that he and I are talking about the same book or that he actually lived in Okinawa since his review seemed so ill informed. I have studied nutrition and met many of the healthy elders in Okinawa and indeed still live there. My guess is that he never got off the US Army base and met any of the healthy elders or travelled to the northern villages to see the natural beauty of Okinawa and share meals and stories with the elders. If he had he would have noticed that the lifestyle described in the Okinawa Program still exists but mostly in those healthy elders. It is based in the philosphy of "nuchi gusui" which can be loosely translated as "food is medicine." I can't tell you how often I have heard that phrase since coming to this beautiful place. The point the Drs. Willcox and Suzuki were making was to emulate the lifestyle of the elders- not that of the youth in Okinawa. Regarding longevity, it is well known among the Japanese that the Okinawans not only have more healthy centenarians but a longer life expectancy in general--that's precisely why there are so many centenarians. The oldsters just keep on going. It is also well known in Japan that Okinawa has what is called a U-turn migration pattern. People leave but they come back so lack of younger age groups in the population doesn't explain the high percentage of centenarians either. Also there is no longer a mass migration outward as in the old days (which would actualy have lowered the numbers of people who might have lived to one hundred) so that doesn't explain it either. Okinawans also have the highest birth rate in Japan so have HIGH numbers of very young people so that actually lowers the relative centenarian prevalence versus other Japanese. Nor did the war cull all the weak from the population. Bullets and bombs killed most people, and these do not differentiate between weak and strong but are equally deadly to both. However, Granger does make one good point. That the deprivation before and after the war may have helped people live longer. Of course, he could have just looked up that point in the Okinawa Program, since the authors clearly state that a simple, low-calorie traditional diet helped with their longevity. The elders eat mainly plant foods, like sweet potatoes, other vegetables, tofu and very small amounts of lean meat and fish, which is a quite delicious way to eat and very likely contributes to their famed longevity through "caloric restriction" mechanisms. A recent scientific report in the journal "Science" by David Sinclair's research group at Harvard showed that flavonoids, which appear in the Okinawan diet in higher quantitites than perhaps anywhere else, extended lifespan in their experiment by 70%! Perhaps Mr. Granger can chew on that for awhile. The Okinawan elders have been doing so and look what it did for them!

Good Book, but You Need Something Else:
Good book. I recommend it. But you need something more for it to work. Something else to get you on and stay on such a diet. The Okinawans are able to live well on a diet of up to 40% less calories than the average Japanese. And get all the health benefits and great longevity. But they have the support of their culture and community and lifestyle. There's none of this for most Americans and people in Europe. That's why in addition to this book, I recommend The ImmorTalist Manifesto (available on Amazon). It is a perfect companion to this book. And will give you the powerful philosophy needed to get on and stay on a diet like The Okinawan Diet. The ImmorTalist Manifesto is by Elixxir, described by Marilyn Much of Investor's Business Daily as "the only anti-aging guru who has actually stayed young." Visit Elixxir's website and see his pic. Seeing is believing!

Medical Magic:
This book is incredible. It always amazed me that so many people in a country like ours, with the latest medical technology, are so sickly and have so many ongoing, chronic health problems. Well, this book gives the answers. In an easy to understand style, it emphasizes the importance of healthy eating (less meat, avoiding fad diets), exercise, and inner peace. I especially liked the part about the strong yet easygoing personalities of the centurians, and how their spirituality contributed to their long lives. It made me realize how totally screwed up our lives are, despite the latest technological advances, and how much we need to slow things down, learn to relax, and rely on discipline and our own power rather than neglecting our health and then relying on advanced medicine to fix it. It was refreshing to learn that the health problems of old age are not inevitable - we can combat them, and live long and happy lives. I would recommend this book to everyone.

Okinawa secret:
The secret of Okinawan longevity, of course, is that they practice caloric restriction. There is nothing mystical about their diet other than it being many fewer calories. For 70 years, CR has been shown to significantly extend lifespan in all animals tested. Recently, a scientist at Harvard Medical School found a way to tweak the same gene/enzyme into overload that CR does (it activates the same longevity gene/enzyme) using a plant polyphenol called "Resveratrol". The research on Resveratrol's anti-cancer, anti-stroke, pro-lung-function and now longevity effects are voluminous. You don't need to starve yourself on *any* diet in order to live longer and better. Just get the right Resveratrol supplement (in pill form) into your diet. I won't advocate any particular supplement but suffice it to say that there is only one that is bio-available and will tweak the same gene/enzyme that Okinawans tweak through their near-starvation diet. I'm on it. So's my wife. So's my best friend. That is all I can say.

Okinawa food come from China:
Okinawa was a part of China, before Japan occupied. So, their food basically Chinese food. Therefore, they live longer than Japanese.