In this chapter, author pointed out the Japanese are not just living longest, they are living healthiest.
According to a recent article in the Washington Post, "Japanese are nor only the longest-lived but statistically the healthiest seniors in the world. The typical Japanese senior now enjoys at least seventy-five years of relative good health. "
I didn't know that, so I was very surprised at that.
And author said Japanese spend their money less on health care. Japan is the living longest country in the world, but health care spending per person per year is the lowest in the industrialized world!! The reason is DIET!!!
I think many elderly people go to hospital, so i thought that health care spending in Japan is very expensive. But is was wrong. I am very happy to know the fact.
This book made me new knowledge about Japan and Japanese diet so I really enjoy reading this book.
Unfortunately, the aspect of Japanese diet that usually gets exported to foreign countries is sushi, which is often high in fat and cholesterol. The everyday parts of the Japanese diet that are important to maintaining good health--eating miso soup, natto with rice, a wide variety of high protein soy products, fresh vegetables and fruits in abundance are less likely to be adopted in foreign countries. That's a shame.
返信削除The pre-war Japan diet of genmai, miso soup, pickles, some soy products, vegetables and fruits, and fish only for those who happened to live not so far from the sea, was pretty close to an ideal diet. There's a doctor named John McDougall who studied the health of first, second, and third generation Japanese Americans in Hawaii. He found that the immigrants (first generation) were the healthiest as they ate an entirely Japanese diet, the second generation was a bit fatter and had some health problems, and the third generation had all the same health problems as other Americans and were just as fat. This led him to change his own diet and promote a plant-based diet.