What Are The Benefits Of The Okinawa Diet?

The Okinawa diet is the traditional way of eating of the native people of Okinawa, Japan. The Okinawa people have been extensively studied, according to a 2007 Annuals of the New York Academy of Sciences article, because of their long life expectancy. The Okinawa diet combines a number of healthy features including reduced calorie intake, seaweed and the consumption of phytoestrogens in root vegetables like sweet potato and soya derivatives, like tofu. The Okinawa diet is also mostly vegetarian, but they do include small portions of seafood and pork in their diet.

Longer Life Expectancy

The Okinawa people are very unique because this small island produces many of the world's centenarians. Centenarians are people who live to be older than 100 years old. Their long life expectancy gives insight into the anti-aging and health preserving qualities in their diet. These benefits may translate to lifestyle changes that may prevent chronic and age-related diseases and death in the U.S. Their longer life expectancy is believed to be related to their reduced calorie intake. Calorie restriction, according to the book, "The Secret Life of Mitochondria" by Joseph L. Evans, Ph.D., may slow the division of cells and reduces blood glucose, or sugar. Less sugar in the blood would slow the formation and accumulation of free radicals in the blood that could cause damage to the cell powerhouses, also known as mitochondria.

Reduced Risks

The Okinawa diet is proposed to reduce the risks for many chronic diseases. The diet can help you reduce the risk of many weight-related chronic diseases, according to comments by Dr. Andrew Weil, the prominent integrative medicine physician and author, on the Okinawa Centenarian Study website. Many chronic diseases are related to obesity, abnormal lipids like high cholesterol, excessive free radical production from diseases like diabetes, and chronic malnutrition from eating nutrient-depleted foods. The Okinawa Centenarian Study website notes that the Okinawans suffer fewer lifestyle-related diseases like heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity than people in western countries.

Weight Loss

The Okinawa Centenarian Study notes that the Okinawa elders are among the most lean people on earth. The older generation of Okinawans are described as being slim and agile. Their diets are lighter in calories and their lifestyles more active. There are less calories going in and more calories being burned. This makes their bodies more lean and "metabolically efficient," according to the Okinawa Centenarian Study. An increased metabolic rate allows your body to burn calories, even while resting.