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Throughout the world, there are communities where an impressive percentage of its robust inhabitants live to be a 100 years and beyond. Five longevity “hot spots” include:
- Okinawa, Japan. On this island south of Japan, people have the longest disability-free life expectancy in the world and the highest percentage of centenarians (people who live to be 100). Researchers describe elderly Okinawans as having young, clean arteries and low cholesterol. They have 80% fewer heart attacks and 80% less breast cancer and prostate cancer than Americans.
- Symi, Greek. This remote Greek island just off the coast of Turkey has more people who live to be 100, proportionately, than anywhere else in Europe. If you’re only moderately lucky, you live to be 85 on Symi.
- Hunza, Pakistan. The Hunza valley in northeast Pakistan is reputed to be the inspiration of the original Shangri-La. Legend has it that Hunzakuts thought nothing of walking to the nearest town, 60 miles away. Due to the lack of any real record keeping, scientists are not sure of the precise ages of elderly people in Hunza, but they have documented that their rates of cancer, heart disease, and other degenerative diseases are remarkably low.
- Bama, China. Bama, located in southwest China, is the home of many a sprightly centenarian. The county (pop. 238,000) has more than 74 people who are 100 or more and 237 residents who have reached their 90s. That's one of the highest per-capita concentrations of old-timers in the world, according to Dr. Chen Jinchao, a surgeon who for the past 10 years has run the Guangxi Bama Long Life Research Institute.
- Campodimele, Italy. A hilltop village south of Rome, Campodimele’s high number of ultra-centenarians has earned it the title in Europe of "Village of Longevity.” Rarely do the people of Campodimele die before 85 and often live to be 100 or more.
Each of these five communities has its own distinct culture-based diet. The people of Okinawa, for example, enjoy foods like goya (a vegetable) and fresh caught fish, while the people of Hunza, Pakistan eat a lot of apricots, beans, and chapattis, made from ground whole-wheat flour.
All five longevity “hot spots,” however, share many of the same basic lifestyle-related characteristics:
- A diet rich in whole, natural foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans.
- Low to moderate servings of animal protein, usually seafood or lean meat.
- Few sugar-rich foods or sugary drinks.
- Plenty of exercise. Most Okinawans are fishermen or farmers, and they enjoy activities like dancing and gardening well into their 80s and 90s. The people of Hunza also farm. For fun, they play polo. In Bama, children and adults climb mountains to get to school and work. The villagers of Campodimele and Symi are also very active throughout their lives.
Of course, you need not travel to the ends of the earth to learn how to live to be 100 like these healthy, vibrant centenarians. Their basic eating plan – tailored to please modern American palates – is taught at the Pritikin Longevity Center® & Spa in Florida.
Want to Live to be 100? Visit Pritikin's Eating Plan!
Sources:
Makoto Suziki, Bradley Willcox, and Craig Willcox. The Okinawa Program. Three Rivers Press: 2002.
Sally Beare. Secrets of the World’s Longest-Living People. Piatkus Books: 2003.
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