Yes, you can live to be a hundred like an Okinawan

Or so Dr. Bradley Willcox, a geriatrics fellow at Harvard; D. Craig Willcox, a medical anthropologist and gerontologist; and Dr. Makoto Suzuki, a cardiologist and geriatrician, tell us in their book The Okinawa Program (available at National Book Store), that’s the result of long years of research on probably the longest-lived people on earth.

Take Nakajima, whom the researchers met on Ogimi, a slice of paradise (it’s said to be the real Shangri-La) in northern Okinawa. Nimble of body and mind, he was sorting out his garden tools when the researchers caught up with him in his wooden cottage one scorching day. Approaching the sprightly man, whom they figured was in his 70s, they asked him where his old man was. The researchers could have dropped dead when they found out the truth (that the man was Nakajima himself, the first centenarian included in the study). This man, whom they thought they’d find in a rocking chair, is hale and hearty enough to be rock ’n’ rollin’ on the dancefloor.

The truth is, you can live long – and well – like an Okinawan if you follow what’s supposedly the healthiest diet in the world. This Okinawan proverb says quite a mouthful: "Food should nourish life. This is the best medicine."

Picking up where Dr. Tyrone Reyes left off last week, here are the guidelines comparing the Okinawan diet to the American diet, as can be gleaned from the lengthy book (complete with nourishing recipes, too):

Guideline 1: Eat a variety of foods, mainly from plant sources. In the diet surveys, 78 percent of the foods in the Okinawan elders’ diets were a variety plant foods (including herbs).

Guideline 2: Eat at least five or more servings of vegetables and fruits daily. Okinawan elders eat at least seven different vegetables and fruits daily and at least two legumes (soy foods). Vegetables, potatoes, and legumes are among the staples in their diet.

Guideline 3: Eat six or more servings of grain-based foods daily. The elders eat three servings of Japanese white (sticky) rice, supplemented by whole grains like buckwheat noodles (soba) and wheat noodles (udon). Of course, they’d be better off eating more brown rice rather than white because the former contains more nutrients and more fiber.

Guideline 4: Make complex carbohydrates the basis of the diet (more than 55 percent of total calories) and limit simple sugars (table sugars). The elders get a near perfect score on this – carbohydrates form 54 percent of the total calories in their current East-West blend of cooking. They eat very little simple sugars. When table sugar is used, it is usually raw cane sugar.

Guideline 5: Limit fat intake to 30 percent or less of total calories. The elders do well here, too, since only about 24 percent of their total calories are from fat.

Guideline 6: Limit total salt intake to less than 6 grams per day (3 teaspoons). The elders fail here – they eat a little too much salt (7 grams per day), but still, much less than mainland Japanese who eat more than 12 grams (6 teaspoons) per day.

Here are more longevity secrets you can sink your teeth into:

Secrets To Getting Rid Of Excess Calories

• Spice up your meals. Hot chili peppers and other hot spices add flavor and zest to your meal. What’s more, when the food is a bit hot, we tend to eat less.

• Bulk up your salads. Chop up your veggies instead of shredding them. Chewing bigger pieces takes more time and effort, you end up chewing more and eating less.

• Drink water before your meal. This decreases your appetite and helps mix up the digestive juices.

• Try a juice spritzer, instead of juice. Mix half of your favorite juice with water or sparkling water. You can cut up to 100 calories per glass – that means dropping 7 pounds over a year.

• Have a cup of green or jasmine tea before you walk. Caffeine liberates fatty acids from muscles so you burn fat faster. The flavonoids in tea are good for the health, too. But if you have high blood pressure, go easy on the caffeine.

• Spray, don’t pour the oil. When cooking with oils (canola or olive oil is recommended), use a sprayer for grilling, baking or cutting calories at the same time. Two seconds of spraying gives about 1/2 teaspoon of oil, compared with four to six times that amount you’d get if you poured.

• Have chunky soup. According to a study, people who ate soup full of large vegetable pieces felt fuller and ate one-fifth less than those who ate pureed soup made of the same ingredients.

• Get a lunchbox. Studies suggest that eating out can make you fat – you get as many as 300 extra calories in a day if you eat lunch out. So once or twice a week, pack yourself a good lunch and take it to work with a bottle of water. It’ll save you not only calories but money, too.

• Savor your snack. Ready to gobble down half a dozen of your favorite cookies? Hold off for 10 seconds. Take in the aroma for another 10 seconds, take a little bite, then hold for another 10 seconds. Eat slowly and enjoy every bite.

• Earn your calories. Before you open the fridge and reach out for an ice cream or cake, do 10 sit-ups or push-ups. This way, you earn your indulgences and will feel less guilty.

• Satisfy your cravings in other ways. Try chewing sugarless gum or popping a menthol mint – it’ll cut your cravings in an instant.

• Listen to some friendly reminders. Be inspired by messages/quotations placed in strategic spots like the fridge. Messages like, "Will I fit into my skimpy swimsuit if I eat this ice cream?"

• Think small. Always remember that the smaller the package of food, the less there is for you to eat.

How To Add Healthy Carbohydrates Breakfast

• Eat high-fiber whole grains for your cereals, breads, pancakes or waffles.

• Top cereal with sliced bananas instead of sugar.

• Drink 100 percent fruit juice, not juice-sugar combos.

• Eat miso soup with vegetables and steamed rice at least once a week.

• Top pancakes with strawberries instead of syrup.

• Make fruit salad with cantaloupe, strawberies, bananas. Sprinkle on lemon juice.

• Have crepes with fruit. Add low-fat sour cream or low-fat yogurt.

Lunch

• Add some vegetables to your Caesar salad (like tomato, onion, broccoli, celery).

• Steam or boil several kinds of vegetables (in addition to your salad).

• Top pizza with tomato sauce, tomato, mushroom, fat-free cheese, and tofu.

• Choose a tuna and veggie sandwich instead of a burger or beef sandwich.

Dinner

• Make vegetable soup with various kinds of vegetables. Make enough for the whole week and stock in the fridge.

• Garnish your main dish with something green (veggies or herbs).

• Add herbs to your fish. Sprinkle on lemon juice before serving.

• Add veggies to instant or canned dishes when you’re in hurry.

• Select tomato sauce with celery, mushrooms or green peppers for your pasta instead of meat sauce or plain tomato sauce.

• Have vegetable stir-fry once or twice a week, with at least three kinds of veggies. When you need meat flavor, add one small can of water-packed tuna.

• Have stir-fried rice with a variety of greens and vegetables. Cook with olive oil.

• Eat tofu and vegetables three times or more in a week.

Others

• Stock your ref with at least two kinds of fruits.

• Add spinach to miso soup or noodles.

• Choose fat-free microwave-popped and low-sodium popcorn instead of oil-popped. Spray on some olive oil for taste.

(More on eating the Okinawa way next week.)