The traditional diet of Okinawa consists
of white rice, sweet potatoes, fish, pork,
eggs, and vegetables, including
seaweed. All parts of pigs were eaten
(“tails to nails”), and lard was used for
cooking. The gerontologist Kazuhiko
Taira described traditional Okinawan
food as “very, very greasy.”
On these foods Okinawans had the
longest life expectancy in the world,
with numerous centenarians. The ageadjusted
death rate from heart disease
was 82 percent lower than in the United
States, from cancer 27 percent lower,
and from all causes 36 percent lower.
Hormone-dependent cancers, such as
breast, ovarian, and colon cancer, were
50 to 80 percent less frequent in
Okinawa than in the United States.
Centenarians had the highest intake of
milk, meat, fish, eggs, fat, and oils.
Unfortunately, Okinawans recently
began to eat vegetable oils, grains, and
industrially prepared foods. Okinawans
now have widespread obesity, rising
rates of heart disease, cancer, and
diabetes, and shortening life span.
