Japanese don't like sports, why are they the healthiest and live longer? 4 Eating Habits Most People Can Do
"Get up quickly and go out to exercise."
Early in the morning, Uncle Wang had a conflict with his son.
"Dad, let me tell you, you see, this Japanese person doesn't like sports the most, but he is the world's longest-lived person. So don't take me out for a run."
"You're just talking nonsense. One hour of exercise will give you a lifetime of health. Not long ago, I saw an article saying "exercise fights cancer"! Don't stay in your room every day, I'll see you in 30 minutes."
In fact, what Uncle Wang's son said really made sense.
A study published in the "European Journal of Clinical Nutrition" in 21 years showed that after comparing the average life expectancy trends of residents in 7 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, and Italy, it was found that since the late 1960s, Japan has The average life expectancy has been ranked first . In addition, according to data released by the World Health Organization, the average life expectancy in Japan in 2019 reached 84.3 years.
How is the situation in China? According to the "2021 Statistical Bulletin of China's Health and Wellness Development" released by the National Health Commission in July this year, the average life expectancy of Chinese residents will increase from 77.93 years in 2020 to 78.2 years in 2021. As of October 19, a total of 14 provinces in China exceeded the average life expectancy value of 78.2 years, of which Shanghai topped the list with 84.11 years.
In addition to having the largest number of long-lived elderly people in the world, Japan is also the country with the lowest obesity rate in the world, but the Japanese are not considered to be sports-loving.
So how does Japan manage to stay slim and live longer without exercising?
1. Japanese who do not like sports, the secret of longevity: eat
Nagano and Shiga prefectures are longevity prefectures in Japan. The common feature of these two prefectures is that they have a strong gut diet. Both prefectures have dietary habits of consuming vegetables, fruits, fermented foods and other dietary fibers.
A research paper on centenarians published in the journal "Nature" shows that Japanese scientists studied 160 long-lived centenarians and found that long-lived old people have special intestinal flora, and these special metabolites can inhibit Growth of intestinal pathogens, which act to reduce inflammation and promote health.
Therefore, the secret of Japanese longevity is inseparable from eating.
In the matter of eating, first, the Japanese eat less and eat slowly ;
Second, they eat a lot . Japanese people usually eat rice as the main food, with fish, eggs, tofu, seaweed and other side dishes, plus a bowl of miso soup;
Third, eat less oil and less salt . The main cooking method of Japanese is raw food or steaming, and try to keep the original flavor of each ingredient;
Fourth, eat less red meat and more fish . Salmon, tuna, eel, salmon, saury and other fish are indispensable dishes on the Japanese table, but the love for meat is not so high.
2. But the benefits of exercise are more than you think
Although the Japanese do not like sports and live longer, this does not mean that we should give up sports, especially nowadays, there are many workers who need to sit for a long time.
The benefits of exercise are many, even if it's just getting up and walking.
A study published in Nature's sub-journal "Communications Biology" shows that there is a causal relationship between walking speed and telomere length. People who walk faster have longer telomeres, and people who walk faster reach middle age. , the biological age can be 16 years younger, that is, people who walk fast are younger.
Previous studies have found that long-term exercise can create a tumor-suppressing environment in the body. In addition, a study by the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom found for the first time the relationship between exercise and depression, and exercise can reduce the risk of depression.
If you don't have enough time to exercise, increasing the intensity of the exercise can also benefit from accumulation.
A study published in the European Heart Journal by researchers at the University of Sydney, Australia , showed that 2 minutes of vigorous exercise every week for 15 minutes a week can reduce the risk of death and cardiovascular disease.
What is the best sport to choose?
According to a study on JAMA Network Open, after comparing seven common different types of exercise, it was found that compared with people who did not exercise, maintaining 7.5-15MET hours of racket sports per week was associated with a reduced risk of all-cause mortality. Best of all, both men and women benefit.
3. In order to prolong life, let's see how Japan does it?
According to statistics from the World Health Organization, the time Japanese people live with the disease is also increasing.
In order to extend healthy life expectancy, Japan has joined 6 national advanced medical research centers to start a project to extend healthy life expectancy since 2017, and in 2021 issued the "Recommendations for Extending Healthy Life Expectancy Based on Cross-disease Evidence (1st Edition)", The "Recommendation" recommends that the public should do these ten points:
Tobacco: If you smoke, please quit smoking. If you don’t smoke, avoid second-hand smoke.
Alcohol: Alcohol should be limited. Men should not exceed 23 grams of alcohol a day, and women should not exceed 11.5 grams of alcohol.
Diet: Eat a balanced diet, eat a variety of foods, avoid a large amount of processed meat and red meat, limit salt, control sugar, eat vegetables and fruits appropriately, and eat more fish and soy products.
Weight: Maintain a healthy weight. It is recommended that the BMI of adults aged 18-64 should be kept at 18.5 kg/m2-24 kg/m2, and those over 64 should be kept at 20 kg/m2-26.9 kg/m2.
Exercise: It is recommended that the elderly should exercise at least 40 minutes a day.
Psychological: decompress yourself and maintain good interpersonal relationships.
Sleep: Improve sleep quality and ensure sleep time.
Testing and vaccines: Accept Helicobacter pylori and hepatitis virus testing. It is recommended that the elderly be vaccinated against influenza, shingles and other vaccines, and women are vaccinated against HPV.
Regular physical examination: including oral examination and cancer screening.
Pay attention to health during pregnancy and postpartum: it is best to breastfeed in the early postpartum period, and pay attention to the health of premature infants, macrosomia, and low birth weight infants.
Longevity is related to many factors. The longevity habits of the Japanese are worth learning. We can try to prolong our lifespan in many ways, such as diet and exercise.
References:
[1] "China's average life expectancy is 78.2 years old, Shanghai ranks first". China Medical Network. 2022-10-25
[2] "[Popular Science Nutrition] The most "life-sustaining" exercise is it! Reduce the risk of death by 16%, better than running and swimming". Clinical Nutrition Network. 2022-09-28
[3] "There are 5 major benefits of walking, the last one everyone wants to have! ". China Medical Tribune. 2022-09-19
[4] "The secret of Japanese longevity is only one word". Medical Psychiatry Channel. 2020-01-06
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