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| Okinawa, Japan (Source) |
What are Blue Zones? These are "regions of the world where people people enjoy up to 3 times better chance of reaching 100 years old than we do" Buettner explains. Where are the Blue Zones in the world? Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia (Italy), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Icaria (Greece) and Loma Linda, California.
One of the centenarians whom Buettner interviewed was 102-year old Kamada. What is her story?
At age 18, Kamada entered into an arranged, political marriage with a man four years older than her. They had 3 sons and 3 daughters. Her husband died ten years ago, at age 96. When asked what his her secret to surviving 75 years of marriage, she simply replied “I learned to be patient.”
When asked to describe her daily routine, she said “I wake up at about 6 a.m. and make a pot of jasmine tea and eat my breakfast—usually miso soup with vegetables. Then,” she pointed toward her door, “I go to the sacred grove to pray for the health of the village and thank the gods for making it safe.”
Kamada is a noro, some kind of spiritual leader where the health of the village depends upon her paying attention to the stars and the moon and the spirits of her ancestors. Roles are very important in Okinawa. They call it ikigai—the reason for waking up in the morning. A sudden loss of a person’s traditional role can have a measurable effect on mortality. We see this especially among teachers and policemen who die very soon after they quit working. Police and teachers have very clear senses of purpose and relatively high status. Once they retire, they lose both of those qualities and they tend to decline rapidly.When asked to describe her daily routine, she said “I wake up at about 6 a.m. and make a pot of jasmine tea and eat my breakfast—usually miso soup with vegetables. Then,” she pointed toward her door, “I go to the sacred grove to pray for the health of the village and thank the gods for making it safe.”
At noon, Kamada said, she wanders into the kitchen garden behind her house to harvest some herbs and vegetables for her lunch. “I’ll use mugwort to give my rice flavor or turmeric to spice my soup,” she said. “I don’t eat very much any more. Usually just stir-fried vegetables and maybe some tofu.” “And meat?” I asked. “Oh yes, I like meat, but not always. When I was a girl, I ate it only during the New Year festivals. I’m not in the habit of eating it every day.”
All day long she nurses a pot of hot, green tea. Before each meal she takes a moment to say hara hachi bu, and that keeps her from eating too much.”
Hara hachi bu is a Confucian-inspired adage which Japanese old folks say before eating. Hara hachi bu means ‘Eat until you are 80% full.’ This means cutting your calories by 20% every time you eat. The mindset of Okinawans is to stop eating as soon as they no longer feel hungry while most of us eat until we feel full! 🙈 That difference between the 2 mindsets is about 500 calories a day if your daily calorie intake is at at least 2,400.
Most afternoons Kamada naps, does some light gardening, and then, at 4 p.m. or so, joins a group of lifelong friends—her moai—for sake and gossip. She eats a very light dinner before 6 p.m. that might include some fish soup, whatever vegetables are in season, some spring onions, salad, and rice. She’s usually in bed by 9 p.m.
What is moai? It means “meeting for a common purpose”—originated as a means of a village’s financial support system. If someone needed capital to buy a parcel of land or take care of an emergency, the only way was to pool money locally. Today the idea has expanded to become more of a social support network, a ritualized vehicle for companionship.
When asked what is Kamada's secret to living to age 102, Kamada replied:
“I used to be very beautiful,” Kamada replied. “I had hair that came down to my waist. It took me a long time to realize that beauty is within. It comes from not worrying so much about your own problems. Sometimes you can best take care of yourself by taking care of others.” “Anything else?” “Eat your vegetables, have a positive outlook, be kind to people, and smile.”
That's Kamada's secret! And there's nothing even scientific about it.
Another Okinawan centenarian whom Buettner met is 102-year old Gozei. For most of her life, Gozei had worked in the mountains barefoot, cutting firewood and carrying it back to the village to sell. When she was 18 her parents arranged a marriage to a local farmer. They had 4 children.
Here's an amazing anecdote in Gozei's life:
Once when Gozei was working in the mountains, she came upon a much bigger woman who had been bitten by a habu—a potentially deadly poisonous viper indigenous to the island. Gozei, who weighs about 85 pounds, cut off a strip of her dress to apply a tourniquet to the bite, then hoisted the woman onto her back. She carried the woman four-and-a-half miles back to sea and into a boat that she rowed to a neighboring village for help. The woman survived. Gozei was 62 then.
Once when Gozei was working in the mountains, she came upon a much bigger woman who had been bitten by a habu—a potentially deadly poisonous viper indigenous to the island. Gozei, who weighs about 85 pounds, cut off a strip of her dress to apply a tourniquet to the bite, then hoisted the woman onto her back. She carried the woman four-and-a-half miles back to sea and into a boat that she rowed to a neighboring village for help. The woman survived. Gozei was 62 then.
At 102, Gozei lived independently in a tiny wood-and-rice-paper house. She tends a vegetable garden daily and harvests three times annually—mostly garlic, bitter melon (goya), scallions, and turmeric. She reads the comics her grandchildren give her and loves watching baseball games on television. She cooks for herself, washes the dishes and cleans her home.S Late afternoon is her favorite time of the day, when neighbors stop by for a visit.
She makes daily offering to her ancestors, a ritual that is a cornerstone of Okinawa spiritual life. She stands in front of a wall which held a collection of vases with flowers, urns, and old photographs. Gozei lit a few sticks of incense and recited a series of prayers bowing toward the altar.
“This is what we call ancestor veneration. Older Okinawan women have great respect for their deceased ancestors. They believe that if they make the proper offerings in the morning, the ancestors will watch over them for the rest of the day. It’s like if something bad happens, it was meant to happen; if something good happens, it’s because the ancestors were looking out for them. It’s a great stress reducer for these people. They relinquish worries to a higher power.”
What else is amazing about Gozei? At age 102, she could spring up and down from a tatami mat on the floor!💪💪💪 (I'm not even half Gozei's age but I can't spring up from a squatting position!🙈😂)
Another centenarian whom Buettner met is 104-year old Kamata Arashino. What's her life story? In 1945, when she was 43 years old during WW2, she, her children and other villagers were hiding in a cave coz they were told that if American soldiers captured them, they’d be tortured to death. So in the event of capture, villagers were given suicide bombs they could detonate for a painless ending.
US Troops advanced from the beach toward the cave. The villagers made a hasty decision to detonate the bomb. But a split second before the bomb went off, Kamata decided that she wanted to live. She rushed her children to the back of the cave.
Over half of the people on the island died. Kamata and family were captured by the Americans but the Americans didn't hurt them. Eventually, the war ended and prosperity came in Okinawa.
When Buettner asked Kamata about her experience in the cave, she just simply replied:
“Yes, I was there. There was a great explosion and I lived, my children and I. This is enough!” she said, chopping the air with her hand. “I’m tired of the past. I don’t want to talk about it. I’m happy now. I have enough to eat. I’m surrounded by my friends. Why relive misery when better times have arrived? I’ve lived those hardships, and now they serve me well because they allow me to enjoy today.”
So nice to hear such beautiful words of wisdom from these Okinawan centanarians! I love to read real stories and listen to life lessons like these, not because I want to live a long life (😬), but to learn from those who have been there. It's also to minimize the stupid things I might do in life coz if you think about it, some of the mistakes we commit are obvious mistakes yet we still do them anyway. 🙈🙊😂
In summary, the book lists down the following secrets to a long life of Okinawa's centenarians:
So nice to hear such beautiful words of wisdom from these Okinawan centanarians! I love to read real stories and listen to life lessons like these, not because I want to live a long life (😬), but to learn from those who have been there. It's also to minimize the stupid things I might do in life coz if you think about it, some of the mistakes we commit are obvious mistakes yet we still do them anyway. 🙈🙊😂
In summary, the book lists down the following secrets to a long life of Okinawa's centenarians:
- Embrace an ikigai. Older Okinawans can readily articulate the reason they get up in the morning. Their purpose-imbued lives gives them clear roles of responsibility and feelings of being needed well into their 100s. A sense of purpose may come from something as simple as seeing that children or grandchildren grow up well. It can also come from a job or a hobby, something that gives you sense of freedom, enjoyment, fulfillment, and skill.
- Older Okinawans have eaten a plant-based diet most of their lives. Their meals of stir-fried vegetables, sweet potatoes, and tofu are high in nutrients and low in calories. Goya, with its antioxidants and compounds that lower blood sugar, is of particular interest. While centenarian Okinawans do eat some pork, it is traditionally reserved only for infrequent ceremonial occasions and taken only in small amounts.
- Do gardening. Older Okinawans grow or once grew a garden. Its also a physical activity that exercises the body with a wide range of motion and helps reduce stress. It’s also a good source of fresh vegetables.
- Do gardening. Older Okinawans grow or once grew a garden. Its also a physical activity that exercises the body with a wide range of motion and helps reduce stress. It’s also a good source of fresh vegetables.
- Eat more soy. The Okinawan diet is rich foods made with soy, like tofu and miso soup. Flavonoids in tofu may help protect the hearts and guard against breast cancer.
- Maintain a moai. The Okinawan tradition of forming a moai provides secure social networks. It's their stress-shedding security of knowing that there is always someone there for them.
- Enjoy the sunshine. Vitamin D, produced by the body when it’s exposed on a regular basis to sunlight, promotes stronger bones and healthier bodies.
- Exercise. They are active walkers and gardeners. And having very little furniture, residents take meals and relax sitting on tatami mats on the floor. The fact that old people get up and down off the floor several dozen times daily builds lower body strength and balance,
- Mugwort, ginger, and turmeric are all staples of an Okinawan garden, and all have proven medicinal qualities. By consuming these every day, Okinawans may be protecting themselves against illness.
- They have affable smugness. They’re able to let their difficult early years remain in the past while they enjoy today’s simple pleasures. They’ve learned to be likable and to keep younger people in their company well into their old age.
BTW, I like a quote in the book given by one of those whom Buettner collaborated with. He pointed out that Okinawans throughout their life, eat a lot of vegetables which are powerful anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anticancer drugs like garlic, mugwort, turmeric. He said, “You know, you don’t just wake up one day and have cancer. It’s a process, not an event. And prevention is the same way; it has to be a daily activity." This is a good insight coz I think most of us have this misconception that one day, you could just catch cancer and we forget that if we do get sick, it's not just because of genes but also due to a lot of other little things we've probably done over our lifetime.
P.S. This second edition of the book was published in 2012 which means the interviews of some centenarians were conducted years before that. Some of them may have passed away already, but some could still alive and are now supercentenarians (a term which refers to people who surpass 110 years old). 💪💪💪 I quickly googled one of them - Kamada - and guess what? According to Fandom, Kamada passed away only last year in Sept 2017. 😢 You know at what age? 113 years and 134 days old. Wow. 😱
*Italicized text are excerpts from the book.
BTW, I like a quote in the book given by one of those whom Buettner collaborated with. He pointed out that Okinawans throughout their life, eat a lot of vegetables which are powerful anti-inflammatory, antiviral, anticancer drugs like garlic, mugwort, turmeric. He said, “You know, you don’t just wake up one day and have cancer. It’s a process, not an event. And prevention is the same way; it has to be a daily activity." This is a good insight coz I think most of us have this misconception that one day, you could just catch cancer and we forget that if we do get sick, it's not just because of genes but also due to a lot of other little things we've probably done over our lifetime.
P.S. This second edition of the book was published in 2012 which means the interviews of some centenarians were conducted years before that. Some of them may have passed away already, but some could still alive and are now supercentenarians (a term which refers to people who surpass 110 years old). 💪💪💪 I quickly googled one of them - Kamada - and guess what? According to Fandom, Kamada passed away only last year in Sept 2017. 😢 You know at what age? 113 years and 134 days old. Wow. 😱
*Italicized text are excerpts from the book.
