Okinawa diet

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Okinawa diet
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The Okinawa diet is a nutrient-rich, low-calorie diet[1] from the indigenous people of the Ryūkyū Islands. In addition, a commercially promoted weight-loss diet (which bears the same name) has also been made based on this standard diet of the Islanders.


Indigenous islanders' diet

People from the islands of Ryūkyū (of which Okinawa is the largest) are reported to have the longest life expectancy in the world.[2] This has in part been attributed to the local diet, but also to other variables such as genetic factors, lifestyle, and environmental factors.

Generally, the traditional diet of the islanders is 20% lower in calories than the Japanese average and contains 300% of the green/yellow vegetables (particularly heavy on sweet potatoes). The Okinawan diet is low in fat and has only 25% of the sugar and 75% of the grains of the average Japanese dietary intake.[1] The traditional diet also includes a relatively small amount of fish (less than half a serving per day) and somewhat more in the way of soy and other legumes (6% of total caloric intake). With exception of pork, almost no meat is consumed; virtually no eggs or dairy products are consumed either.[3] Okinawans include pork in their diets. However, the fat content of the pork is eliminated; prior to the preparation of the pork, the fat is boiled off. [4][5][6]

An Okinawan reaching 110 years of age has typically had a diet consistently averaging no more than one calorie per gram and has a BMI of 20.4.[citation needed]

Commercial weight loss diet

The diet consists of a relatively low intake of calories and contains similar foods to the traditional Okinawan diet. The principal focus of the diet consists of knowing how many calories per gram each food item contains. It has been posited that there is a tight correlation between the high proportion of Okinawans over 110 years of age and the relatively low caloric density of their diet.[7]

The proponents of this diet divide food into 4 categories based on caloric density. The "featherweight" foods, less than or equal to 0.8 calories per gram which one can eat freely without major concern, the "lightweight" foods with a caloric density from 0.8 to 1.5 calories per gram which one should eat in moderation, the "middleweight" foods with a caloric density from 1.5 to 3.0 calories per gram which one should eat only while carefully monitoring portion size and the "heavyweight" foods from 3 to 9 calories per gram which one should eat only sparingly.[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okinawa_diet