For current-day alternatives to Methuselah (“Chasing Methuselah,” Editorial, Jan. 4) as role models, may I nominate the peoples of Okinawa, France, Italy, Hawaii and New England?
Okinawans, with the longest life expectancy in the world, have especially healthy arteries and 82 percent fewer deaths from heart disease than Americans.
There is quite a contrast between our diets and theirs. Okinawans consume:
– Eight times as much in flavonoids (soy, flax, fish)
– Two to three times as much in fruits and vegetables
– One-tenth as much in meat, poultry, eggs and calcium
The diets of the people of Okinawa and Japan meet nearly all of the U.S. Unified Dietary Guidelines.
Okinawan women do not partake in hormone-replacement therapy. They experience menopause naturally and pharmacologically, with fewer complications.
The body-mass index of Okinawan centenarians is in the 18-22 range, which is around one-fifth less than the threshold for the overweight condition.
On our mainland, the New England centenarian study had two remarkable findings:
– There are no obese centenarians.
– People live longer because they are healthy.
It is never too late for any individual to slow his or her aging process. Fewer than 30 percent of the factors affecting health and longevity are hereditary.
We Americans can collectively improve on our dubious distinction of being dead last in the measure of disability-free life expectancy (70 years) among industrialized countries and having the costliest health-care system in the world.
Americans seem to be self-absorbed to the extent that the practices of healthier people elsewhere escape notice.
There is no pill that can take the places of cardiovascular exercise and weight training five times a week and calorie restriction at least every other day.
