Flashback Friday: The Okinawa Diet - Living to 100

The traditional Okinawa diet is centered around vegetables, the most nutrient-dense food group. What would happen if your diet followed the same?

Yes, there are purple sweet potatoes (Yum!)

Why do those eating plant-based diets live longer? There are all sorts of mechanisms I find fascinating:

Thanks for watching. I hope you’ll join in the evidence-based nutrition revolution!
-Michael Greger, MD FACLM

Captions for this video are available in several languages. To find yours, click on the settings wheel on the lower-right of the video and then "Subtitles/CC."

Images thanks to cotaro70s via Flickr, klaber, jarmoluk, Taken, Joon2079, PublicDomainPictures, PublicDomainImages, Kaz, Activedia, margenauer, bykst, HebiFot via Pixabay, teen00000 and Ratana Prongjai via 123rf.

[gracemorganspeaks]

Okinawa diet is really good for the body. I wish everyone good health, joy, peace and happiness

[HenchHerbivore]

Sad that Loma Linda (where the Adventists live) is now the only blue zone left after the diet of the other four became westernised. The Okinawan's really did NOT need McDonalds and KFC opening up there! What a travesty :(

[abc_cba]

Adopting Vegan diet has been the best for my body. I'm glad I took it seriously at 30, because it's the beginning of higher aging and veganism has made me feel better especially with my depression.

[drvincentesposito]

Ahhh the Blue Zones! Love that book! I think that was the first book I read that really turned me onto nutrition. That was when I first started taking charge of my own health and at least thought about making real changes.


It took me a couple more years to really put it into action, but now that is my norm, and what I think is most helpful for the majority of my pateints/clients. It also is nice to know that there is research to back it all up!👍

[jarrad]

Can you give an update regarding nooch (nutritional yeast) and beta glucans? Do the immune boosting effects make cytokine storms like the ones caused by covid19 worse? If so, this would be an urgently needed update

[Naoquerose]

I'm a SDA vegan and practice a lot of exercise 💪😷💪

[divineinpurple]

I would love to learn how the Okinawans prepare sweet potatoes.

[QuartzTech]

i like eating sweet potatoes i knew i was onto something

[Ernie.Cantor]

Hi and thank you for your great informational videos. i was wondering if you have any data on Micro Greens?

[zehrahitit]

Bütün videolarınıza Türkçe çeviri rica ediyorum. Teşekkürler.

[mobby-djbp]

Love your videos very educational and interesting value thanks👍👍🏿👍👍🏿

[larryvietvet]

After watching all the videos regarding arsenic in rice, always wondered what percent arsenic Okinawa rice has past and present.
Also wonder if rice picks up arsenic regardless if chicken fertilizer is added to the soil. Example, grow other crops in the chicken fertilizer soil and test for arsenic levels and compare. Then same test in low arsenic soil.

[CarnevalOne]

This nutritional data was gathered during the post war famine. The traditional Okinawa diet contains lots of pork and seafood. I hope no one is stupid enough to believe that eating a nutritionally deficient diet of mostly sweet potatoes will do anything for anyone's longevity.

El video está mal traducido al Español, los subtítulos que aparecen son en Portugués o Brasileño. Por favor, corrijan los subtítulos a español

[PantherDavid]

That food survey was done in 1949- post war years of great austerity and not necessarily representative of the Okinawan traditional diet. The pig population was greatly reduced for example. I wish people who put foraward the 'okinawan traditional diet' as a whole food plant based diet would address this, and/or point to some convincing evidence that this sweet potato/plant based low animal produce diet is what the Okinawans actually ate, rather than it simply being a temporary post war austerity diet.

[emmabananna]

Thanks for your amazing videos. I have a lot of questions about How Not to Die vs. Nourishing Traditions... Can anyone weigh in here?

[Dionyzos]

It's not only diet and exercise, these people socialize more, they're happier in general.

[valentinadelvalle]

Las traducciones de español y portugués están cambiadas

[JuanRodriguez-trst]

Im currently been living in okinawa for the past three years. The food here is worse than the good in the states. I like going to market places to buy vegetable though. So much pork in all these ramen shops, dozens of Koreans barbecues and a ton of carb intake. Can’t wait to go back to states.

[jeanneamato]

Why is it that most of the things we export are plastics and poisonous food?