Vincent Bronson

Guide to Okinawa Diet Vincent Bronson

The Okinawa diet is named after the largest island in the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. History buffs might recognize the name from the Battle of Okinawa, fought during World War II. But these days, there's another reason it's in history books: Okinawa's people live a really, really long time. While the average life expectancy in the United States is 78.8 years, it's 84 years old in Japan - and five times as many people from Okinawa live to be 100 years as their peers in the rest of the country. Researchers have studied the Okinawa's residents for years, and the answer lies both in the typical Okinawan diet and the islands' attitude toward eating. The Okinawa diet gets back to basics. It emphasizes a diet rich in yellow, orange and green vegetables. While rice is ubiquitous with mealtime in Japan, they skimp on the grains and focus instead on the purple potato. Meat (including pork), dairy and seafood are eaten in small amounts, and there's an emphasis on soy and legumes. The entire diet is quite low in sugar and grains - Okinawans consume about 30 percent less sugar and 15 percent fewer grains than folks in the rest of Japan.