Record 86,510 centenarians in Japan in 2021. Japan has the world’s highest longevity rate. My granny turned 100 last month. She finally joined in centenarians club❗😄
Hello, it’s getting hotter and hotter every day🥵. Without air conditioners or electric fans, we may die. Keep hydrate yourself 💦💦
Today, I am writing about longevity. Now, my granny is 100 year-old, has light dementia, is handicapped and uses a wheelchair. But, she does not have serious diseases such as cancers, stroke, and diabetes. My female relative lived by herself to age 102 without any diseases.
This year, Japanese government announced that there are record 85,000 centenarians in Japan. So before telling you the secrets, let us check the data which are related to longevity one by one.
1. Life Expectancy and Healthy Life Expectancy
According to the data of WHO, Japanese have the highest life expectancy at birth and also healthy life expectancy.
🟡Life expectancy at birth : 84.3 years old
🟡Healthy expectancy : 74.1 years old
2. Total numbers of Centenarians
According to United Nations Population Division, there are 573.423 centenarians in the world. USA have 97,104 centenarians. It’s the highest number. Japan is next to USA.
There are 86,510 centenarians in Japan in 2021. 80% of them are female! It’s interesting.
Japanese centenarians rate (=total number of Centenarians / population ) is by far the highest.
Why do elders in Japan have the highest longevity?
There is an important fact is that centenarians were born before World War II(WWII).
There are lots of elders born before WWII around my house. I asked my granny and relatives, and other elders questions about their lifestyle.
- They could not get enough food before WWII and for a while after WWII because they were poor and could not buy enough food. My granny and relatives had anything they could eat.
- They mainly have traditional Japanese food: rice, vegetables, miso soup, and fishes.
- They had to do lots of things before WWII and for a while after WWII. For instance, my granny cooked rice on a traditional Japanese oven with firewood. She often went to far places by bicycle to get rice.
- They cooked meals by themselves. My granny made meals until her daughter quit her company. My female relative did it until the age of 102.
- There were not lots of entertainments long time ago: live concerts, cinema etc. So my granny went to bed early and slept well.
In short, these elders
do not to eat too much
are being active
cook by themselves
go to bed early and sleep well
Japanese elders who were born before WWII grew up in a different environment. In addition, the lifestyle in Japan had been changed especially diet and the amount of exercise after WWII.
Let us compare the lifestyle of the current Japanese with the lifestyle of above elders. We can know the interesting things from the comparisons
1. Diet
Japanese who were born before WWII eat rice, tsukemono(Japanese pickled vegetables), fish, miso soup
Japanese who were born After WWII eat rice, tsukemono(Japanese pickled vegetables), fish, miso soup, bread, meat, dairy products, sweets, and snacks
Japanese who were born before WWII had rice as a staple food , tsukemono, fish, and miso soup. On the other hand, Japanese who were born after WWII, have rice or bread as a staple food, tsukemono, fish or meat, and dairy products such as milk, cheese, and yogurt. After WWII, American diet flowed into Japan. According to Tokyo University professor, American military ordered Japanese government to make a school lunch law to provide breads and milk to young kids. It was a American occupation policy to expand export business of wheat and dairy products to Japan in the future.
Those Japanese who were born before WWII did not have American food when they were young. So they do not prefer to eat breads, and dairy products so much. In contrast, those Japanese who were born after WWII used to have breads and milk at lunch, they can eat them.
Please be advised that I do not want to say that American food is bad. After WWII, Japanese could receive enough nutrients from the food. It boosted immune strength and prevents malnutrition. The food is also one of the secrets of longevity.
In 1950s, as the westernization of dietary habits, the consumption of meats was more than the consumption of fishes.
2. Amount of exercise
Current Japanese are using useful products. They cook rice using a rice steamer. Now, they do not need cut trees and cook rice on the wood-burning stove. Now, they drive a car so they do not need to ride a bicycle for a long time. The current Japanese have been exercising less. The amount of exercise has been decreasing. The elders who were born before WWII burned much calories compared to the current Japanese
From above comparisons, current Japanese eat more and exercise less. If CALORIES INTAKE is larger than CALORIES CONSUMED, usually, body weight will gain. So the current Japanese is thought to be fatter than the elders.
After WWII, the cause of death in Japan changed from infections to lifestyle diseases such as cancers, heart diseases, diabetes and etc. Nowadays, there are few malnourished people in Japan but the total number of diabetes patients increased 50-fold. The number of pre-diabetes is thought to be 10 million.
My Granny’s Secret of Longevity
Let us summarize my granny’s secrets of longevity. It’s simple.
Eat less, exercise more, cook meals, go to bed early, and sleep well
When she was a child, she did not eat too much. Especially sweets were too expensive because sugar was really expensive. So she cooked something good with leftovers. Her mother and relatives sold marine products to make a living so she prefer to eat Sashimi(raw fish). After retirement, she often sang folk songs and play Gateball. She was very active so she went to bed around 9:00 p.m.
In addition, my granny has a strong mind. Maybe she overcame difficulties: world depression, WWII, and pandemic…she received mRNA vaccines three times….and finally became a strong woman😁
Currently, there are lots of entertainments. We watch Youtube video until late in the evening. We are surrounded by yummy foods. There are abundant temptations. So I think it is good for us to keep the secrets in our mind and try to do it unless you suffer severe stress. We need to enjoy eating yummy foods for our mental health.
This is an additional info but it is very important for elders. To walk is very important. I saw lots of elders who had bad legs getting weaker and weaker every year. My granny had a high fever 5 years ago and was hospitalized. A hospital did make a big mistake. My granny was too active and walked at night in the hospital. So the hospital tried to make her stay on her bed for a few weeks. As a result, the muscle in her legs became very weak. She undertook rehab with us but she could not walk alone for a long time. She finally started using a wheelchair. Elders’ muscle weakens very fast. But it takes long time to recover. To walk is good for blood circulation. If people do not walk, all of muscle will weak. Muscle in the throat becomes weak so they are vulnerable to have aspiration pneumonitis. Don’t reply on hospitals. Try to undertake rehab with family members.
I am referring to the Japanese elder. The diet and lifestyle are different from country to country so there are different ways to promote body and mental health. But, the secrets are … come to think of it, they are obvious things.
As human life becomes longer, we need to consider Quality of Life as well.
Thank you for reading a long blog. I hope it is useful for your life.
See you next blog.