SHISHA, THE ICONIC OKINAWAN LION-DOGS WARD OFF EVIL SPIRITS. THE OPEN MOUTHED MALE SCARES AWAY EVIL, WHILE THE CLOSED MOUTH FEMALE KEEPS GOOD LUCK IN.
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By the end of last year, I felt I was limping tiredly towards some kind of imaginary finishing line. Then the new year began, and my news feed was inundated with advertisements for fad diets, exercise programs, gym membership, and countless lotions, potions and elixirs, all full of dubious promises of health and eternal youth.
I’m a pretty healthy person. I’m a former long distance runner, I hike, swim, work out, practice and teach yoga. I mostly eat seasonal, locally grown foods. I steer clear of anything overly processed, drink in moderation, and have no real ‘vices’. I live in a remote, rural area, far from the temptations of fast food and takeaways, with pretty low stress levels and next to no pollution. But here I am, in my 50s, on a quest, not for fads and gimmicks, but for true longevity – living a conscious, healthy, meaningful life – for decades to come. With this in mind, I headed for Okinawa, a place where people regularly live active lives well into their 100s.
A HOSTESS IN OKINAWA WEARING A TRADITIONAL JAPANESE KIMONO
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I came to Okinawa chasing a myth: the fountain of youth. What I’d found instead was something less glamorous, but more powerful; a culture that has quietly incorporated healthy longevity into the fabric of its daily life.
Okinawa
There’s a particular quality to the light in Okinawa. It’s somehow softer, as if filtered through the abundant red hibiscus flowers, Akabanā (アカバナー), that symbolize the island’s tropical beauty. One of the first things I noticed here was the gentle pace. Mornings began with smell of miso soup drifting out of small kitchens, while elderly neighbors swept outside their homes, greeting one another in the unhurried way of people who aren’t racing time.
THE RED HIBISCUS, AKABANA (アカバナー), SYMBOLIZES OKINAWA’S TROPICAL BEAUTY
SIMON JOHN OWEN
Okinawa is Japan’s southernmost prefecture. With a population of roughly 1.3 million people, this subtropical island chain is known for its stunning beaches, coral reefs, and a unique Ryukyuan culture, that’s quite different from that of mainland Japan. Okinawans are resilient, easy-going people, with strong social connections and family ties, and recognized for their exceptional longevity.
Blue Zones
Blue Zones, popularized by researcher Dan Buettner, are places in the world with the highest concentrations of centenarians (people living to over 100), and the lowest rates of chronic disease. The recognized Blue Zones are Sardinia (Italy), Nicoya (Costa Rica), Ikaria (Greece), Loma Linda (California) and Okinawa (Japan).
THE GLOBAL BLUE ZONES
HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
Okinawa has long been studied for its unusually high number of centenarians. While headlines elsewhere promise miracle cures or anti-ageing hacks, life here tells a subtler story. Longevity is not biohacking, it’s cellular – your lifespan and healthspan is determined by the health of your individual cells. Longevity studies in Okinawa, like those of the Okinawa Centenarian Study (OCS), show that a combination of a plant-rich low-calorie diet, physical activity, strong social bonds (moai), and a sense of purpose (ikigai), have historically led to exceptionally high life expectancy and low rates of age-related disease.
OKINAWAN RESIDENT RIKIO YOKODA IS 82 AND STILL SPENDS HOURS OF EVERY DAY WORKING IN HIS FIELDS
SIMON JOHN OWENSuperAgers
In my quest for longevity, for a longer and healthier life, I came across the concept of SuperAgers, people in their 80s, 90s and beyond, who possess the cognitive and memory capabilities of people decades younger. How could I become one? The common threads were strikingly consistent: diet, movement, social networks, purpose, and stress management. In Okinawa, those pillars are not wellness trends, they’re simply life.
MEALS IN OKINAWA CENTER ON THINGS LIKE SWEET POTATO, TOFU, MISO, SEAWEED, BITTER MELON, FISH AND FRUIT.
SIMON JOHN OWEN
Meals in Okinawa center on ingredients like purple sweet potatoes, flavonoid-rich tofu and miso, seaweed, bitter melon, fruit, and modest portions of omega-3 rich fish. According to Drs Bradley and Craig Willcox, authors of The Okinawa Way: How To Improve Your Health and Longevity Dramatically, older Okinawans consume an average of seven servings of vegetables a day, and follow the Confucian-inspired practice of Hara hachi bu (腹八分), the concept of stopping eating when you feel 80% full.
TRADITIONAL OKINAWAN HOT POT, SHABU-SHABU
SIMON JOHN OWEN
OKINAWA JAPAN – Fish are on ice for sale in the Makishi market in Naha
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Exercise in Okinawa isn’t scheduled; it’s part and parcel of life. As I saw, and as Dan Buettner says in his book, The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest, “Older Okinawans are active walkers and gardeners… the Okinawan household has very little furniture; residents take meals and relax sitting on tatami mats on the floor… old people get up and down off the floor several dozen times daily, building lower body strength and balance.” Buettner continues, “I once sat for two days with a 104-year-old woman who got up and down off the floor 30 times… that equates to 30 squats and helps maintain strength in the legs and core… It makes for better balance and flexibility and probably healthier backs and fewer falls.”
SENIOR JAPANESE LADY WITH AN UMBRELLA ON TAKETOMI ISLAND, OKINAWA, JAPAN
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This constant movement is not the case for many other cultures, says Janet L. Jankowiak, MD, a Boston based geriatric and behavioral neurologist, “Americans tend to be sedentary, with spurts of exercise at the gym… People in blue zones are active throughout the day, with most still working into their nineties. Gardening is a part of life, as is raising animals. And walking and biking are major means of transportation.”
A WOMAN RIDES A BIKE ON TAKETOMI ISLAND, IN OKINAWA PREFECTURE, JAPAN
VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty ImagesCellular Energy
As I sat with older Okinawans, listening to their stories and admiring their lifestyles, I wondered how I could incorporate what I was seeing and learning into my own life. I was also thinking about something that had kept turning up in my research at home – cellular health and NAD+.
Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide (NAD+) is a coenzyme found in every human cell. Research suggests that NAD+ levels decline as we age, something which could contribute to fatigue, slower recovery, and some of the other hallmarks of ageing. Blue Zone traits, like eating foods rich in vitamin B3, regular exercise, quality sleep and moderating alcohol intake, all support NAD+ production. But of course, in Okinawa, nobody is talking about NAD+s, they’re just living lifestyles that support it.
RIKIO YOKODA, 82, AND HIS WIFE, ETSUKU, 73, TALK ABOUT THEIR DAILY FARMING AND COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT.
SIMON JOHN OWENWhy Supplements Might Have A Place
For most of us, an Okinawan lifestyle is difficult to replicate and not always that feasible to follow. So, what to do? Here’s where NAD+ supplements can come in. While not substitutes for a balanced diet, if chosen carefully and used consistently, they can help maintain cell function and slow decline.
SOLGAR CELLULAR ENERGY NAD+ CAPSULES
SOLGAR
After my time in Okinawa, I decided that maybe I needed to add some supplements to my life, and that’s when I found New Jersey headquartered company Solgar. They’ve been around for nearly 80 years, and have a reputation for good, research based, science, with vitamins and supplements manufactured in the USA. Their Cellular Energy NAD+ capsules are designed to complement the cell’s natural ability to transform food into energy, and while it’s not a substitute for the diet and lifestyle of the Okinawans, I think it helps.
THE SACRED SPRING AT JOGAKU, RYUKYU (OKINAWA) 1832
Heritage Images via Getty ImagesThe Real Fountain Of Youth
If I’d arrived in Okinawa hoping to find the fountain of youth, I left understanding that longevity is not about erasing age, it’s about extending vitality. It’s eating food that nourishes, it’s moving daily without labelling it as ‘exercise’, it’s sleeping well, it’s laughing often, it’s belonging, and it’s having somewhere to be tomorrow. The fountain of youth isn’t a spring hidden deep in a jungle somewhere; it’s in small, repeatable acts every single day. As Dan Buettner says, “People in blue zones, they’re not thinking about their health or a diet or an exercise program. They’re not doing anything except living their lives.”
AloJapan.com