The Okinawa Program: How the World's Longest-Lived People Achieve Everlasting Health--And How You Cantoo

by D. Craig Willcox, Bradley J. Willcox, Makoto Suzuki

Book Overview

"If Americans lived more like the Okinawans, 80 percent of the nation's coronary care units, one-third of the cancer wards, and a lot of the nursing homes would be shut down." --From The Okinawa... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609607472
• ISBN13: 9780609607473
• Release Date: May 2001
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter Publishers
• Length: 496 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

I lost 31 pounds !!!

After yo yo dieting for most of my life with no lasting success and trying Atkins', the Zone, South Beach and several other diets I finally found a diet plan that teaches me healthy weight loss (31 pounds!!!) AND how to keep it off eating healthy and delicious food. Like the authors said--on the 8 week plan I learned how to get the fat off and keep it off WITHOUT hunger. I just wore my high school graduation dress (size 6) for the first time in 20 years last week !!! I can't believe how energetic I feel and how the Okinawa Diet Plan has changed my life for the better. I think my husband is even more impressed than me since we just left for a second honeymoon!!Thank you Drs Willcox and Suzuki !! You changed my life !!

Five pounds down...

A wonderful book!!!I have been following the basic ideas in this book regarding diet, exercise, focusing on vegetables, fiber, and ways to classify foods (I admit I haven't had a chance to try the actual recipes, not being much of a cook, but when I read them they seem manageable, and I intend to try some soon.) I have already lost five pounds in half of a month - without feeling hungry or cranky. Even if you're a microwave meals in minutes type, the basic ideas in this book can work. In accord with the author's suggestions, I just substitute soy burgers for hamburgers, nonfat or soy cheese for regular cheese, bean burritos for regular, up the veggies and fruits and cut down on the desserts - and it is pretty much painless.I strongly recommend this book, and it seems much better than the wacko diet of the week books that seem to be dominating the market. And you can't argue with results - the examples of the Okinawan centurians are inspirational, and show that with proper diet, exercise and attitude, old age can be an enjoyable and healthy part of life - disability and sickness are not inevitable.I would also recommend the companion book, The Okinawa Program. From my experience so far, I believe these two books together can change your life.

The Fat Facts on the Okinawa Diet:Healthy levels/good fats

This letter is in response to some misunderstandings from a couple of previous reviewers about levels and types of fat in the Okinawa diet. Before I get into my comments on the Okinawa diet I would like to say that I am a professional nurse/educator/nutrition researcher from Okinawa (born and raised) who also spent some time in the United States (California). My comments regarding the Okinawa diet are based on my professional experience involved in nutrition and other health education/research.I have worked with (or know) many nutritional researchers in Okinawa and am familiar with the nutritional research literature on diet and longevity as well. I think I can understand why some American reviewers have mistaken the Okinawa diet as ghigh fath, as we like to use vegetable oil in most of our stir-fry cooking (called champuru) and there has been increasing fat intake in Okinawa and the rest of post-war Japan which has resulted in large generational differences. Here are the facts according to nutritional authorities in Okinawa and Japan: 1)The Okinawa diet itself (1998) contained 31% total energy from fat, 52.9% carbohydrate and 16% protein (Japan National Nutrition Survey 1998). Compared to mainland Japan this is higher in fat (26.3% vs 31%) but compared to America it is still lower. (According to USDA Food Consumption Surveys total fat intake has fallen from 40% to 33% between 1977 and 1994). 2)Total Fat is NOT really that much of an issue as there are ggood fatsh and gbad fatsh . As Dr. Walter Willetfs (Harvard University) 1994 article in Science titled:hWhat Should We Eat?h shows, the 1960fs Greeks consumed even more fat (40% total) than we do now in Okinawa, but still had low cardiovascular mortality because they were consuming the ggood fatsh (ie. olive oil and other mono and poly-unsaturated fats) and not the gbad fatsh(trans and saturated fats).The Okinawa diet also contains much more good fat than bad fat. This is especially true compared to the American diet which, despite falling levels of fat in the diet, is still too high in the bad fats (trans and saturated) mostly due to high consumption of meat, dairy products, fried fast foods and snack foods.3)Vegetable oil accounts for the majority of fat intake in the Okinawan diet (over 50%) with other major healthy sources coming from fish and soy. Vegetable oils are also the major cooking oils in Okinawa, NOT glardh as some reviewers have mistakenly suggested. Most cooking oil now comes from gsalada yuuh which is a combination of natane yuu (low erucic acid rapeseed oil) and daizu yuu(soy oil) and is a healthy oil (recommended by nutritional authorities such as the American College of Nutrition)because it is low in saturated fat and high in omega-3 fatty acids. Pork fat (lard) usage declined drastically after vegetable oils became widely available in the 1950fs .4)Fish is consumed often in Okinawa and supplies almost 10% of daily fat and over 20% of daily protein intakes (1

Response to Owl

This is a response to Owl's review of Sept 9, 2001. First let me say that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Second, I am a Japanese woman from Tokyo who also lived in Okinawa for several years but I have a very different opinion from Owl. I studied anthropology and wrote my thesis on Okinawan culture so I feel that I have some qualification to comment on The Okinawa Program both as a general prescriptive, self-help book and a scientific work. I can also offer you my interpretation of Okinawa and its culture. Owl (the Sept 9, 2001 reviewer) sounds like so many other self-proclaimed "experts" on Okinawan culture from abroad. Typically they live in Okinawa 1-3 years (as did Owl), learn very little of the culture (including the language, customs, history), interact on only a superficial basis with the locals, and sometimes learn a little karate. When they leave they consider themselves cultural experts and gurus (his correspondence from a "remote mountain village" in Japan suggests that this applies in his case). I believe that the Okinawa Program gives a realistic, intriguing account of Okinawan life and culture and valuable "hands-on" health advice. It has hundreds of scientific references so is hardly what I would call "superficial". In fact, the text itself is referenced, so that one can verify all the statements the authors make. This is rare for books written by scientists for a lay audience and I think that helps to explain its appeal to both the lay audience and the scientist. ... . In one sense, Owl's review is very illuminating because it illustrates the problems of modern day Okinawa, where the youth no longer value as much the old ways and don't eat the traditional diet or practice the traditional martial arts or believe in the native spiritual traditions. In fact, very few Okinawans under the age of fifty even speak the Okinawan language, which is quite distinct from Japanese. Sadly sometimes they cannot speak fluently with their great-grandparents, who may speak only the Okinawan language. Owl reveals his superficial experience with Okinawan culture when he states "did I ever see older Okinawans out practicing Tai Chi or karate or any other martial art for exercise or anything else? No! " Shoshin Nagamine, one of the giants of Okinawan karate, would turn over in his grave if he read that comment!! I suspect that Owl never bothered to seek out the multitude of martial arts dojos around Okinawa where karate has been nurtured, practiced and spread to every corner of the globe over the past few centuries. So for him they don't exist. Yet, thousands of Okinawan karate dojos exist around the world. The hundreds of thousands of devotees may be surprised to hear that older Okinawans "don't practice the martial arts", especially since their "masters" are usually older Okinawans. I also suspect that Owl never made it to the traditional villages of rural Okinawa, especially in the Northern half of the main island so he never

Do the Okinawans have the secret of long healthy life?

I couldn't wait to see this book. I spent a month in Japan a few years ago (though not on Okinawa. ) I came back 10 kilos lighter, full of energy, and with a chronic foot inflammation completely cured. I felt great. I'd lived exclusively on typical Japanese food for the entire month; lots of raw seafood, seaweed, rice. No sugar and hardly even any fruit. Nothing Western at all. I wasn't hungry, didn't crave anything and had lots of energy and stamina. I could live on this diet happily the rest of my life.But, do the Japanese, especially Okinawans, have the secret of long, healthy life for EVERYONE? Well, the Okinawans have often had a TOUGH life. The Okinawans are responsible for developing some of the most famous martial arts weapons from their hand farm implements. (For example, the famous Nunchucku are rice flails, for removing the husks from rice.) Okinawa has had a long, hard history, and people who survived there were no weaklings. They must have been selected for sturdiness, and no one can know for sure how much the environmental factors and the history of Okinawa contributed to the robustness of the residents there. Also, the genetic make-up of Okinawans is of course different than Westerners. They may thrive on their diet; it may be wrong for others. Not everyone is alike. For example, I already know I do well on fish and vegetables, and not well on wheat and meat and milk. So I would and did do well on this type of diet. Maybe it's best if you read the book and try some of the diet ideas as an experiment. Or read some other books on diet and body type (Ayurvedic or Eat Right 4 Your Type, for example) Find out if the Okinawan Diet matches with your body type or if your doctor recommends such a diet for you.What's REALLY more important is the information about the value of stable, close family ties, daily exercise and a good attitude spiritually. The traditional life of the Okinawans is a far cry from Western life, but it has a lot to offer us. Maybe having dinner together with the entire family as a daily ritual of family closeness is more important than what's on the plate.