The staple foods in a traditional Okinawan diet are ( 2 ): Vegetables (58–60%): sweet potato (orange and purple), seaweed, kelp, bamboo shoots, daikon radish, bitter melon, cabbage, carrots, Chinese okra, pumpkin, and green papaya. Grains (33%): millet, wheat, rice, and noodles.
What is the Okinawa Diet Plan?
“The Okinawan diet limits meat, refined grains, saturated fat, sugar, salt and full-fat dairy products, which tend to have more inflammatory properties.” The National Institute of Aging and National Geographic have identified the Okinawa diet as a Blue Zone diet, meaning it’s specifically associated with longevity.
Does the Okinawa diet include eggs?
It turns out that it’s whole plant foods, not fish, that make up 90 percent of the traditional Okinawan diet: Less than 1 percent of the diet was fish; less than 1 percent was meat; and less than 1 percent was dairy and eggs.
How many calories are in the daily Okinawan diet?
1,200 calories
Okinawans generally eat around 1,200 calories per day while Americans consume closer to 2,000 calories.
How do Okinawans eat sweet potato?
SWEET POTATOES: Okinawan imo is a supercharged purple sweet potato, a cousin of the yellow-orange sweet varieties. Despite its sweet, satisfying taste, the imo does not spike blood sugar as much as a regular white potato. The leaves are eaten as greens in miso soup.
Do Okinawans eat white or brown rice?
It is the longevity capital of the world. Thirty-four people out of every 100,000 live to be 100 years of age or older. Okinawans have a diet that is very high in carbs, soy and white rice, and low in protein and fat.
Which protein do the Okinawans eat daily?
Soy foods (5%): tofu, miso, natto, and edamame. Meat and seafood (1–2%): mostly white fish, seafood, and occasional pork — all cuts, including organs.
What alcohol do Okinawans drink?
awamori
Okinawa has a thriving alcoholic beverage industry and produces not only awamori, the traditional drink of the Ryukyu Kingdom, but also more contemporary forms of alcohol such as microbrewery beers and fruit-flavored wines.
What do Japanese eat for long life?
Older Okinawans adopt a plant-based diet, with their meals mostly consisting of stir-fried beans, spinach, mustard greens, sweet potatoes and tofu — all of which are high in nutrients. Goya is another popular staple.
Which diet makes you live the longest?
The best of the best longevity foods in the Blue Zones diet are leafy greens such as spinach, kale, beet and turnip tops, chard, and collards. In Ikaria more than 75 varieties of edible greens grow like weeds; many contain ten times the polyphenols found in red wine.
How do Okinawans live so long?
Not only do Okinawans live longer, but they age incredibly well. Many of the centenarians studied were lean, energetic and had low rates of chronic illnesses like heart disease and cancer. It’s genetic. Studies show that the genetic makeup of Okinawans helps in preventing inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Why is Okinawa the healthiest place on earth?
Okinawans are at extremely low risk for hormone-dependent cancers including cancers of the breast, prostate, ovaries, and colon. Compared to North Americans, they have 80% less breast cancer and prostate cancer, and less than half the ovarian and colon cancers.
Is Japanese food anti inflammatory?
The traditional Okinawa diet is comprised primarily of plant-based foods that offer potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacities, which possibly promote a longer lifespan. The diet’s low-calorie, low-protein, and high-carb foods may also promote longevity.
Do Okinawans eat potatoes?
Sweet potatoes are a staple of the Okinawan diet along with a range of deep green and other brightly coloured vegetables typically high in vitamins C, E and A.
How much pork do Okinawans eat?
The small quantity of pork consumption per person (only 3g per day) in Okinawa is still larger than that of the Japanese national average.
Do Okinawans eat lots of sweet potatoes?
Reading about the Okinawan diet online gives the impression that Okinawans don’t really eat rice. It is true that they eat a lot of sweet potatoes (& there are many varieties here) & squash (like kobacha & other varieties that we don’t have names for in English), but don’t be decieved–they eat A LOT OF RICE.
What do the Okinawans eat for breakfast?
Traditional Okinawan meals are served in an array of very small bowls and plates. One example of a traditional breakfast includes nato (sticky beans) served with white rice, miso soup, seaweed and fish.
What kind of tea do Okinawans drink?
Okinawans drink copious amounts of turmeric tea daily. In addition, Okinawan elders also favor sanpin tea, an antioxidant-rich form of jasmine green tea, over other green teas popular throughout Japan and China.
What is the Loma Linda diet?
What ‘Blue Zone’ city Loma Linda, California can teach us about living longer. What’s the secret behind Lomo Linda’s healthy population? A “Garden of Eden” diet, no drinking, no caffeine — and no outside pressure to ‘cheat’.
How do Okinawans get calcium?
Okinawan people have long been famous for their longevity. A certain Robert Barefoot, who has made a fortune promoting the benefits of calcium for human health believes it is because Okinawans ingest calcium from their surrounding coral reefs in their drinking water.
Who is the longest living vegan?
When a vegetarian, Marie-Louise Meilleur, was named as the world’s oldest person at 122, the usual hunt for the secret of her longevity ensued. Was it hard work, religion, having a lot of friends, a good man, a life of abstinence, being a non-smoker?
