A long life in good health is a dream that many people strive to achieve (I am one of those people). And although life expectancy is slowly increasing in developed countries, the spread of all sorts of diseases and ailments unfortunately follows the same trend.
The secret to longevity is not medications or expensive and sometimes dangerous anti-aging pills and injections. It is worth learning how to live a long and healthy life from people who can boast of excellent health even in old age.
Scientists who study longevity pay a lot of attention to long-livers - people who are 100 years old or older. I have already written about the book "Longevity Rules", in which the author studied the inhabitants of five "blue zones" of the planet, among whose population there is an unusually high concentration of healthy longevity.
The study of "blue zones" is a useful, but challenging task. Researchers must verify the truth of the age information they receive from people, and reliable sources are not always available. In addition, while it is possible to reliably establish what long-livers are eating today, how do we know what they ate in previous decades?
The island of Okinawa in Japan is one of the "blue zones." Thorough research has confirmed the birth dates of the island's centenarians. And detailed information about their diets since 1949 is available thanks to population surveys conducted by local governments.
The older group of Okinawans (generally those born before 1942) has the highest functional capacity and life expectancy in Japan, a country traditionally known for its long-livers. Rates of heart disease and many forms of cancer are significantly lower among older Okinawans than among Americans and other Japanese of the same age. At age 97, nearly two-thirds of Okinawans can still care for themselves.
What do long-livers eat?
What is the traditional diet of this longevity and disease-free group, even in advanced old age? Below are the main sources of their calorie intake in 1949:
Product Total percentage of calories
Sweet potatoes 69%
Other vegetables 3%
Rice 12%
Other grains 7%
Beans 6%
Oils 2%
Fish 1%
And the following foods individually accounted for less than 1% of total calories: nuts and seeds, sugar, meat, eggs, dairy products, fruit, seaweed, and alcohol.
Adherents of this diet got 85% of their calories from carbohydrates, 9% from protein and 6% from fat.
Can a diet slow down the aging process?
Why does a plant-based diet based on whole foods, traditionally followed in Okinawa and other "blue zones" around the world, have such a dramatic effect on the aging process? Does it just mean that this way of eating helps prevent deadly ailments such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes? Or does nutrition affect the aging process itself?
A recent study shows that the latter assumption is valid: Good nutrition helps to significantly lengthen life expectancy, not just cure specific diseases. Many interrelated factors contribute to the aging process. One such factor is telomere length, the protective structures located at both ends of our chromosomes. Reduced telomere length is associated with shorter lifespans and essentially a higher risk of chronic disease. Recent studies show that people with longer telomeres age slower.
There is growing evidence that lifestyle and diet have a powerful effect on telomere length. Scientists believe that a diet high in antioxidants (i.e., based on whole plant foods) protects telomeres from damaging oxidative stress. A study involving men at low risk for prostate cancer found that a comprehensive lifestyle program that included a whole-foods-based diet was significantly associated with increased telomere length. The more strictly the men followed a given program, the more their telomeres lengthened over the five-year follow-up period.
Bottom line: If you want to follow the example of the world's long-livers, emphasize whole plant foods in your diet. And even better if you pay attention to other components of your lifestyle - healthy sleep, stress management, physical activity, and regular check-ups. It's never too late to start!
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