Secrets of Long Life in Okinawa

Life is precious. A long life is what most people wish for. It may seem as
though long life is a matter of luck, but is it really? Is there something
special about certain people that allows them live to be 90 or 100 or even
older?

Around the world,
there are vast differences in life expectancy. The nation with the longest life
expectancy? Andorra, where men can expect to live to 80.62 years and women to
86.82 years (the Principality of Andorra is a small landlocked country in
western Europe, located in the eastern Pyrenees mountains and bordered by Spain
and France). The shortest? Swaziland, in southern Africa. Men live to be an
average of 39.8 years, women to 39.4 years. That’s less than half of the life
expectancy in Andorra.

How about the United
States? Surprisingly, the U.S. ranks number 39, with men at 75.6 and women at
80.8 years. We’re behind Cuba (ranked 38), Canada (11), and Israel (8).

Here and there around
the globe are pockets of extreme longevity. One of them is in the Japanese
prefecture of Okinawa. Here, people have among the lowest mortality rates in
the world, and enjoy not only what may be the world’s longest life expectancy
but the world’s longest health expectancy. In Okinawa, the average life
expectancy is 81.2 years, and the island boasts an extraordinary number of
centenarians.

Okinawa’s elders
(aged over 70 years) and centenarians seem to experience a slower age-related
decline, and either delay or avoid entirely the chronic diseases of aging such
as Alzheimer’s Disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.

Why? The Okinawa
Centenarian Study (OCS) wants to find out. The OCS was started in 1975 and is
an ongoing population-based study of centenarians in Okinawa. Ages of
participants are validated through the koseki, the Japanese family registration
system.

Research suggests
that there are two major factors for Okinawan longevity. One is genetics. This
discovery may not help you unless you’re Okinawan. The other major factor is
the traditional Okinawan way of life, including dietary habits, physical
activity, and psychological and social aspects. Some findings of the study
suggest these factors:

1. Caloric
Restriction. Evidence suggests that long-term caloric restriction contributes to
longer life. In other words, try to stay thin. But don’t be anorexicthat’s very
unhealthy.

2. Cardiovascular
Health. Elderly Okinawans are found to have remarkably young, clean arteries,
low cholesterol, and low homocysteine levels when compared to Westerners. Their
healthy arteries may be due to their lifestyle: regular exercise, diet,
avoidance of smoking, blood pressure control, moderate alcohol use, and a
psychospiritual outlook that minimizes stress.

3. Cancer. Okinawans
are at very low risk for hormone-dependent cancers including cancers of the
breast, ovaries, prostate, and colon. Some of the factors that may protect
against those cancers include low caloric intake, low body fat level, higher
intake of good fats (omega-3, mono-unsaturated fat), high flavonoid intake,
high consumption of fruits and vegetables, high fiber diet, and a high level of
physical activity.

4. Osteoporosis.
Okinawans seem to preserve their bone density at healthy levels for longer
periods of time than other Japanese. Lifestyle factors that may contribute
include high calcium intake in both their food and natural drinking water,
increased physical activity (especially at older ages), high vitamin D levels
from exposure to sunlight, and high intake of dietary flavonoids (estrogenic
compounds from plant foods).

5. Healthy Cognitive
Aging and Dementia. Surveys suggest that the dementia rate is fairly low among
the Okinawan elderly, compared to other elderly populations.

6. Women’s Health.
Women in Okinawa tend to experience menopause naturally and
nonpharmacologically with fewer complications such as hip fractures, hot
flashes, or coronary heart disease. Healthy lifestyle factors may include diet,
walking, exercise in the form of dance, avoidance of smoking, non-contact
martial arts, and gardening. Okinawan women also absorb natural estrogens
through the large quantities of soy they consume.

7. The Endocrine
System and Hormones. Okinawan elders may have higher levels of sex hormones,
including natural DHEA, estrogen, and testosterone than similarly aged
Americans.