RESIDENTS of Okinawa, the group of islands between Japan and Taiwan, are the longest- living people in the world, surviving an average of six more years than the typical American. What’s more, they stay healthy longer, rarely getting heart disease, strokes or even prostate cancer. How do they do it?
According to the new book “The Okinawa Program: How the World’s Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health,” Okinawans eat an average of seven servings of veggies and fruits; seven servings of rice, buckwheat and wheat noodles; and two servings of soy products every day, in addition to having fish several times a week. Arid they get regular exercise from walking, gardening, martial arts, even from traditional dances that accompany their religious practices.
The book’s authors point out that Okinawans’ hardiness seems more related to their lifestyles than to their genes which means that adding mare vegetables, soy, fish and exercise to your own life might make it last significantly longer. Just as we’ve been telling you.