50 SECRETS OF THE WORLD’S LONGEST LIVING PEOPLE

SALLY BEARE

MARLOWE & COMPANY            2006

Preface: Why I Wrote This Book

• The nutritionist told me that all of my symptoms were related to a malfunctioning digestive system, and said that I needed to radically overhaul my diet, which was based mainly on pasta, sandwiches, wine, and inadequately sized salads, giving me a list of what I could eat. Within a couple of months, I was bouncing out of bed in the mornings, the pains had gone, the sneezing had stopped, I hadn’t had a cold, my mood was better, and my tongue was steadily getting pinker.
• As I ate my salads of brown rice and lightly steamed sugar snap peas, seasoned with garlic and soy sauce, I read about the huge U.S. biotech companies eternally searching for expensive, complicated cures for aging and the diseases that accompany it. Meanwhile, it appeared, certain isolated pockets of people were already enjoying superb health and long life, in a way that the biotech companies can only dream of, simply through their dietary and lifestyle habits.
• Soon afterward I began training as a clinical nutritionist at the British College of Nutrition and Health. Inspired by my findings on aging, I wrote this book. I firmly believe that the secrets described here should be shared with everyone who cares about health and quality of life.

Introduction

• Scientists agree that we could be living to around 120 years if we achieved our maximum potential life spans, having more energy whatever age we are. It is never too late too start. Even those who are tired, ill, and getting on in years can become biologically younger, reverse the damage, keep disease away, and add years, if not decades, to their lives.
• Ancient wisdom, thousands of authoritative studies, and recent groundbreaking research all indicate that the answer lies, above all, in what we eat. The U.S. surgeon general recently said that of the 2.2 million deaths in America each year, 1.8 million are diet related.
• Gerontologists have discovered that we can actually slow down or even reverse the aging process, appear and feel younger, and prevent most age-related diseases with the right diet, together with certain other lifestyle habits such as regular exercise and avoiding stress.
• Living long does not have to mean existing in a world full of decrepit, senile people suffering from all sorts of age-related conditions. If we look after ourselves properly, we can enjoy not just an improved life span, but an improved health span.
• The value of knowing that we are born with a bank balance of 120 years is that if we use it up slowly, we can be more active, healthier, and happier, regardless of when we actually die.

The world’s longevity hot spots

• In certain parts of the world, there are areas where the exceptionally healthy local populations prove that most of us grow old and ill unnecessarily fast, due to our diet and lifestyle habits. In Okinawa, there are 34 centenarians per 100,000 people compared with 10 in the U.S.
• It is environmental factors rather than good genes because when they move to other countries and adopt local diets, they develop local diseases and other signs of aging.
• The five longevity hotspots discussed in this book are: Okinawa, Japan; Symi, Greece; Campodimele, Italy; Hunza, Pakistan; Bama, China.

The secrets of longevity

• This book reveals the secrets behind these populations’ exceptional good health and longevity. In fact, there are really no secrets at all – common sense and some diet and lifestyle habits are all there is to it.

Enjoy your food

• The rule is to obtain high-quality, fresh ingredients and then to interfere with them as little as possible, infused with the flavor of garlic and onions, ginger and soy sauce, a little red wine, or any other of the hundreds of ingredients involved in healthy cooking. The principles are simple: plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains rather than refined foods, the right kinds of oils, not too much meat, and short cooking times.

What this book can do for you

• To stave off degenerative diseases and enjoy optimum health, we have to get the full range of nutrients, including 17 to 20 minerals, 13 vitamins, 11 essential amino acids, and 2 essential fatty acids. At the absolute minimum we should eat 5 portions (preferably 10) of fresh fruit and vegetables each day.
• Many illnesses, and accelerated aging, are caused by a diet deficient in nutrients and excessive toxins. 2001 data show life expectancy in the U.S. to be a relatively low 77.2 years.

The top three killer illnesses are all preventable

• Heart disease is one of the most preventable and reversible diseases if you follow the right nutrition, with a little easy exercise, minimizing your risk of diabetes, which is closely related. Three of the most common cancers – breast, prostate, and bowel – are strongly linked to diet and lifestyle. 90% of the patients who die by doctoring – negative effects of prescribed drugs; unnecessary surgery; errors in drug administration; other errors; and infections caught in hospital – have conditions that will either improve on their own or are out of reach of modern medicine’s ability to solve.

Slow down aging

• The 50 trillion cells in the human body are only capable of dividing a certain number of times before they start to die out – about 120 years. Nearly all of us die while our cells are still dividing. Not only can we slow the aging process, but also undo the damage already done.

PART ONE: THE WORLD’S FIVE LONGEVITY HOT SPOTS

This section describes 5 remarkable pockets of populations, where the people are bursting with health, live for record-breaking numbers of years, and are active and vigorous even past 100 years of age. Each chapter provides a brief description of the population’s lifestyle and habits that promote good health and long life. Nutrition and lifestyle are factors common to all 5, but there are habits unique to each population that you will be able to incorporate into your own life with ease and pleasure. The chapters in Part Two describe the 50 secrets of longevity in more detail.

Chapter 1: Okinawa – Island of World-Record Longevity

• The Okinawan archipelago, a group of 161 coral islands in the East China Sea, is home to the people who, out of everyone in the world, can truly claim to possess the elixir of lasting youth.
• The people have beautiful skin, lustrous dark hair, and slim, agile bodies long past middle age. The main diseases of the West are at the lowest levels in the world, suicide is almost unheard of, and the word retirement does not exist.
• With 34 centenarians per 100,000 people (compared with 10 per 100,000 in the U.S.), and an usually high number of people aged over 105, Okinawans are officially the longest-lived people on the planet.
• Levels of heart disease, stroke, and cancer, so common in the West, are at their lowest in the world in Okinawa, and are only 60% of those of the rest of Japan, which itself has unusually low levels.
• Okinawans have 80% fewer heart attacks than Americans, and examinations by doctors have revealed unusually young arteries and low cholesterol levels. Older men have not even heard of prostate cancer. Overall, there is 40% less cancer in Okinawa than in the West; when Okinawans do get cancer, they are over twice as likely to survive it.
• Since 1975, a group of distinguished doctors have been studying the extraordinary health and longevity of the Okinawans, including 400 centenarians and supercentenarians; their results have been published in their recent book, The Okinawa Way. The study researchers found that the Okinawans are generally in ‘outstanding health.’
• Okinawans have youthful immune systems, very low rates of osteoporosis, fit, attractive bodies, high levels of sex hormones, and excellent mental health. The study authors conclude that the secrets of these people are almost all replicable in the West, and primarily have to do with diet, as well as some lifestyle factors such as regular exercise and a positive mental outlook.
• The younger generation are abandoning the traditional diet and turning to the fast-food joints and their rates of ‘Western’ diseases such as heart attack and cancer are going up accordingly, illustrating that genes only have a minor role to play in Okinawan longevity.
• The main factors influencing the good health and longevity of the Okinawans, covered in more detail in Part Two, are: a healthy diet; a low-calorie diet; plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables; fish; soy; whole grains; lean meat used sparingly; low salt consumption; and longevity drinks.

Regular physical exercise

• Like all of the five long-lived populations in this book, traditional Okinawans get plenty of exercise every day, since most of them are fishermen and farmers, and they continue to work hard outdoors even in their 80s. They make a point of taking regular aerobic exercise, including martial arts and traditional dance, as well as gardening and walking.
• They also enjoy weekly matches of gateball, a game similar to bowling, which local doctors say keeps them out in the sunshine and allows them to vent stress. Okinawans are exceptionally fit and subtle; even hundred year-olds will sit cross-legged on the floor for long periods of time. See Secret 38 (page 192) on why exercise is as crucial a factor as diet in determining your health.

Busy lives

• The old and super-old Okinawans do not retire but keep busy, even in their 90s or 100s, gardening, socializing, working in the fields, or maintaining cottage industries making handicrafts. This sense of purpose in later life is thought by gerontologists to maintain vigor and promote longevity. Staying active after retirement has been found to have a major impact on the rate of aging, and intricate work with the hands, such as weaving, may stimulate the brain to keep it fresh.

Low stress

• High stress levels are thought to speed up the aging process and cause disease, so it is not surprising that the Okinawans have exceptionally low stress levels. People live at a relaxed pace, known locally as ‘Okinawa Time,’ and generally turn up late for everything. People sing as they walk through the streets or when they work in the fields.
• They have a great deal of self-confidence and ‘unyieldingness,’ which helps them to cope with life’s crises well. They live in close-knit communities, have plenty of mutual support, practice meditation, and have strong spiritual beliefs. See Secrets 42 (page 205) and 43 (208) on how you can use these to slow your rate of aging.

Okinawan Dos and Don’ts

• Do: eat a high-nutrient, low calorie diet; plan a well-balanced, varied diet; consume plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit, grown organically and locally; ingest plenty of essential fatty acids, mainly from fish; eat soy regularly to balance hormones and provide vegetable protein; choose whole grains rather than refined carbohydrates; moderate alcohol intake; drink green tea and calcium-rich water; exercise regularly; encourage mental activity throughout  life; maintain a healthy psycho-spiritual outlook and low stress, live in happy, close-knit communities.
• Don’t: overeat; overcook food; eat refined sugar; consume much salt; eat refined or processed foods; eat much meat or dairy; smoke; drink black tea or coffee; drink alcohol in excess.

Chapter 2: Symi – Home of Truly Ancient Greeks

Chapter 3: Campodimele – Village of Eternal Youth

Chapter 4: Hunza – Happy Land of Just Enough

Chapter 5:  Bama – Where Longevity Medicine Grows

PART TWO: THE FIFTY SECRETS

PART THREE: PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

The Secrets of Living Long in Summary

• What are the secrets of living long and staying young, in a nut shell? The secrets of long-lived populations described in this book are encapsulated below, along with a suggestion for an ideal daily intake of different types of food that will help you to stay young.
• If you follow the outlined suggestions, the likely benefits to you should include: prolonged youth; long life; plenty of energy, youthful looks; slender figure; positive outlook; higher IQ; happy bowels; trouble-free menstruation; clear skin; shiny hair; robust immune system; healthy offspring; less likelihood of serious chronic disease such as cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease.