Japanese women live the longest

[torakris]

according to this

[Pan]

Thanks, Kris. That was interesting.

One thing that surprised me was that remark that brown sugar is high in minerals. Could anyone elaborate on that?

[helenjp]

traditional brown sugar in Japan is called "black sugar". It comes as a block, and is similar to molasses in taste. It certainly has more minerals than more refined sugar, but I can't see how a tablespoon in the simmered vegetables is going to make THAT much difference...but it's good with sardines cooked "eel-style", grilled with a glaze of black sugar and soy sauce brushed over it.

[hillvalley]

Is it true that there is not a Japanese equivalent to the term "hot flash"? I was told years ago by a family friend, who is married to a Japanese man, that because Japanese women eat so much soy they do not experience hot flashes while going through menopause.

[torakris]

Is it true that there is not a Japanese equivalent to the term "hot flash"?  I was told years ago by a family friend, who is married to a Japanese man, that because Japanese women eat so much soy they do not experience hot flashes while going through menopause.

I have heard the same thing.

I am not quite at the age yet were I would be discussing hot flashes with my friends but I did look in a couple dictionaries and either found nothingor more of an explanaition of the word, though in one place I found the words nobose (which means flush) and hoteri (which means to glow).

In general I would have to say you hear a lot less about menopause and it symptoms here.

[helenjp]

Heh heh...you're reading the wrong magazines -- you have to toss "Non-no" , "Egg", and even "Frau" or "Domani", and go for "My 40s", "Miman" and "Maple" if you want to get to the nitty gritty...

However, I think you might be right about the flushes -- I've heard people talk about "nobose" with dizziness of the "blood rushed to my head" type more often than in relation to menopause.

[torakris]

The Key to a Long Life Is What You Eat

One reason why life spans are long in Japan is the food. The traditional diet is basically a recipe for long life. What types of food and what combinations of ingredients help people live longer? Here we examine Japanese traditional cuisine to discover some secrets to extending life.

[smallworld]

Hmm. As I understand it, the long lifespans of the Japanese are a recent phenomenon. It would be nice if this article (or the many others on this subject) addressed this, and explained why "the traditional Japanese diet, part of the nation's culture since ancient times" is only now producing longer lives. Or if a little balance was added by mentioning the unhealthy aspects of the Japanese diet, like high sodium levels or the almost complete lack of nutrition offered by the staple white rice (oligosaccharide and gamma aminobutyric acid, both found in many other food sources, notwithstanding).

I don't doubt that the traditional Japanese diet is extremely healthy, but so are many other traditional diets. And hasn't the increase in lifespans coincided with the introduction of non-traditional foods, like milk and a wide variety of fruit? Couldn't the year-round availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, a recent occurance, help to explain longer lifespans? Could it not be that the long lives of the Japanese can only be explained by a combination of many factors, such as improvements in medicine, high education and literacy levels, mild climate, and increased wealth?

[prasantrin]

Interesting, yet simplistic, in my opinion. I think Japanese people are also much more active and this may be as much (or more) of a contributing factor to their long life spans than their diet. At my gym, there are many, many seniors who take aerobics, dance, etc. classes as well as use the treadmill, elliptical machines, bikes, and weights. There is one woman I talk with sometimes who is often there for hours everyday, just taking back-to-back classes. She's in her 70's. In the first article, exercise was mentioned only briefly.

As an aside (yet related to the topic), one thing that I find interesting is that happiness is supposed to increase one's lifespan, yet according to a recent issue of Time magazine, Japanese people are amongst the least happy in the world.