Okinawan Longevity and Health

the Uchiha brothers have been fishing these waters for nearly half a century bacchanal was once called the land of the Immortals now it is known as the islands of the Aged the place where people live longer and healthier than anywhere else look at me where as long as humans have lived many appointed to live for longer the Okinawans can show the rest of us how it's done this 88 year old farmer still works in 11-hour day every day of the week you come on a production like a little a juicer in Europe one day yo cojiro to Montana Germany but the finest quality team must not be Korean again can exceed an a cannot on my mother the typical Okinawa moves for more than 80 years women 486 and that's just an average as a proportion of population there are four times as many people over 100 than anywhere on the planet I'm fighting Okinawan style it's similar to sumo urged on by their stable masters two heavyweights throw themselves at each other until one submits Oh the Okinawan elderly don't just live very long lives they live incredibly healthy and active ones whereas in Australia we tend to celebrate the exploits of the young particularly on the sporting field here it's the actions of the age that capture the imagination the 96 year old man who beat up a former boxing champ who was in his thirties for example everywhere you look you see people who are elderly but they're definitely not acting their age nor goosh again is 93 and a bullfighting fanatic more often is una oh oh you didn't do good on it yeah but why Simon dinner yeah buddy happy Saturday right with them it doesn't actually you know not gonna do nothing Tiger America you've heard of The Karate Kid Will Meet The Karate great-granddad Miyoko Tommy yo se is 75 years old is attained karate 'he's highest ranking which is hardly surprising given this he's been practicing for more than six decades his sparring partner is also in his mid-70s as a several other members of the class Okinawans invented karate and that's considered an important form of exercise a martial art that extends life rather than shortening it karate is not to kill but to keep your health no sleep all away home stress I have never in hospital in my life you've never been in hot retrieve never been you how spell that's incredible particularly to people from Australia what is the secret of your of your health in that case mum drank too much and always relaxed never husky never has just that Jack's only think well it will be about Saturday let's okay alright or can our is the healthiest place on the planet despite the number of all people to mnsure is rare the other ravages of aging virtually unheard of compared to other areas of the world we see about one-quarter the incidence of heart disease you know can have a very low rates of stroke compared to mainland Japan in particular low rates of particular kinds of cancers particularly hormone-dependent cancers such as breast cancer prostate cancer ovarian cancer wouldn't you I monthly per inch of that 42 islet but without my own Craig Wilcox is what's known as a medical anthropologist along with professor Makoto Suzuki is part of a team that spent the last quarter of a century researching okay now as health and habits trying to uncover its secrets today they're visiting one of the region's few nursing homes it's more like a country club in a place where people come to die and it's not just genetics studies have shown that when Okinawans migrate they become like the rest of us lifestyle is what's important so what is Okinawa's secret to find the answer i traveled north to a remarkable village full of remarkable people olga me is nestled between the mountains and the sea the village is one of Okinawa's poorest but it has the longest life expectancy twelve of the locals are centenarians on the outskirts of town stands a stone tablet at 80 you are still a child it breeds and if at ninety heaven calls say go away and come back when I am 100 nearby lives o kameez most famous resident I decided to pay a house call no yoga's a mouse or bar chart the team in my stay ohgenkee deskah mushi okishima is 103 when she was born the rice brothers had still not made their historic flight Ohana no cannot see toda iconic M como na da he ca na Bonin kata Missy Banco no yo Robonaut Ahana Sequoia Theresa coroebus Fontenot semi Decorah moto moto nada que no moto second nd Momo nada que si tiny 800 mater I wasn't the only visitor each morning some of the agony elders made to drink tea their ages had up to nearly 500 professors believe the strong sense of community ensures no one gets lonely or depressed and as a key contributor to long life Cavani give us a certain attitude Africa minute easily Chocolat alumina khana khane koyo sasa Metiria Turei even here women are the spiritual leaders revered and respected okishima son has 13 grandchildren 22 great-grandchildren and one great great grandchild she's lived in all gimme her entire life and says her most profound memory is losing her husband in the war Dasha Turkish air contact oh so no Kodomo so ready take ok Miata Issei vancour que siempre hay que nada como de carro kanita matera courtesy hua ji will Nikodim ananka Surat Iran take a night in a tomato so why has he met any misfortune me okishima son doesn't use glasses or a hearing aid and doesn't need a cane most days one hundred and three year old works in the field or works out at home hey say and the door kawaii yeah you okay Colleen ah their armor Center and that's another reason why Okinawans live so long they keep incredibly active the fields around yogini are full of 90 year olds harvesting their dinners there's no word for retirement in the local dialect most of these centenarians about these people that have lived these very long lives have not led stress-free lives they've experienced the horrors of war most of all of them were and had to work very hard throughout their lives but they've developed this kind of psychological resilience so we think that this is one factor that has helped them throughout their lives the other key ingredient is a traditional diet the doctors took me to a local restaurant where they served up a recipe for long life mark why don't you try some of this this is called Mimi got Mimi got right a bit suspicious to this because I do know what the Japanese word Mimi means right Mimi means ear and my suspicions were quickly confirmed very low in fast but high in calcium it apparently helps heal wounds it's very nice actually all chewy well actually they say an O God the pig can be eaten from head to tail and everything but the Russ does this apply to all ears then or just pig ears see key courses okay now ins tinge wheat lean meat fish tofu and vegetables low in calories high in carbohydrates their intake is the officers of the low carb high fat Atkins diet proving so popular in the West well what we think of as a pathway towards a heart attack in the kitchen the chef is preparing Khoya a bitter knobbly melon that something is the reason people live so long the doctors believe dark colored vegetables are much better for you than light ones sweet potato and Okinawan staple is far more nutritious than a garden-variety potato one sweet potato one medium sized big sweet potato contains over 20 thousand international units of beta-carotene vitamin A that's four times your daily minimum requirements also half your daily needs of vibrancy loaded with fiber what one sweep it's one sweet potato they imagine can imagine that people are eating this as their staple in many ways Okinawa is a paradise but it's also a paradise that's being lost the islands have been transformed stress levels are rising lifestyles are changing and the secrets that have sustained the remarkable longevity are being forgotten online Epoque now is massive American bases a fighter pilot is preparing to patrol the skies one quarter of the local population was killed during World War two when the United States invaded today the occupation continues US bases cover 20% of the islands land and cast a long shadow over the rest many old rocking Islands are appalled at many at beyond are enthralled by the foreign culture young people are flocking from the countryside's to the cities where they're seduced by the American influence the streets of the capital baseball caps and US military dog tags of the unofficial uniform chops to a roaring trade dishing out American culture and cuisine hotdogs hamburgers and fries are cool go urine PC is boring leftovers from another time those days got take a committee so honest Booya life when guiding me and Marie I'm Bo of life with its medical advances and miracle cures is meant to extend life but in aachen hour its shortening as the development with implications for people everywhere obesity rates are booming and lung cancer is growing faster here than anywhere else in Japan these young people will not move nearly as long as their grandparents average life expectancy is already starting to slide what we've seen in okay now over the past thirty years or so is a population that's gone from having some of the leanest people in Japan to having the highest body mass index among among the Japanese yokai now elders have changed little but the world around them has been transformed every country has a generation gap but here it is becoming a yawning chasm okay Luger Antonio koko you can watch again a cappella I so they are may not oppositional Palmateer muscle the land of the immortals is losing its identity caught between cultures for these men and women the irony is as bitter as Goya just as some in Western countries are seeking to follow the Okinawan path the islands young and leaving it Oh

Channel: TheWayPlace

Views: 321,133

Keywords: Secret of longevity, okinawan long life, centenarians in okinawa, long-life, land of the immortals, okinawan longevity, seido, Joel Reeves, exercises for long-life, health, japan, documentary

Id: to9rhIwWJg0

Length: 16min 54sec (1014 seconds)

Published: Mon Apr 11 2011