Okinawa, a prefecture of Japan, was the only Japanese home territory on which the Second World War was fought. Although older Okinawans have experienced hardship in their lives, there are more centenarians there than anywhere else in the world. The Okinawa way includes principles such as getting regular physical activity, eating a diet that is mostly plant-based, and having a strong social support group in addition to having self-responsibility for health. As extraordinary as the citizens of Okinawa seem to be, their lifestyle and diet practices are simple enough for anyone to adopt.
The citizens of Okinawa live such a healthy lifestyle, that most of the diseases that attack the organs of Americans are minimal to them. Heart disease is at a minimum, breast cancer is so rare that screening mammography is not needed and most aging men have never heard of prostate cancer (Willcox). Studies show that younger Okinawans are eating more “American-like” and are beginning to experience the same health problems as Americans (Willcox). The authors of The Okinawa Program claim that if Americans lived more like Okinawans we would most likely have to close down eighty percent of the coronary case units and one-third of the cancer wards in the United States.
Bradley J. Willcox, M.D., M.S., is a Physician-Investigator in Geriatrics. His brother, Dr. Craig Willcox, Ph.D., M.H.Sc., is an internationally recognized expert in healthy aging and cross-cultural gerontology with training in medical anthropology, gerontology and public health sciences. Makoto Suzuki, M.D., Ph.D., is a cardiologist and a geriatrician and also the original discoverer of the Okinawa longevity phenomenon. All three of the authors of The Okinawa Program are doctors and have been to the island and studied the citizens by observing their lifestyle, diet and spiritual practices. The diet of the Okinawans, which is low-calorie and plant-based and is high in unrefined carbohydrates, not only meets the dietary...